The Kitchn: How to make the best pasta salad without mayo
I have to admit an unpopular opinion: I am not into mayonnaise-based summer salads. When it is hot out, I want to eat light and refreshing salads; not thick and creamy ones. So when I say this is the best pasta salad ever, it's with that opinion in mind. But a mayo-free pasta salad can still come with a degree of creaminess. In this case it's by way of an olive oil-rich vinaigrette and a sprinkling of flavorful soft cheese.
The best pasta for pasta salad isn't actually elbow macaroni, which is susceptible to sogginess. Instead choose a small, short pasta like fusilli or even penne. Dry pasta -- not fresh or frozen (sorry, tortellini!) -- will hold up much better to dressing, storage and stirring.
Boil the pasta to al dente, as recommended by the manufacturer, in nicely salted water. Then drain and rinse; but don't "shock" the pasta, as doing so tends to water log the pasta and rinse away flavor. Instead, have your pasta salad's dressing ready to go when the pasta is done and dress the salad soon after rinsing. The pasta will absorb more flavor this way.
An oil-heavy vinaigrette creates a creamy texture
Have you ever heard the saying, "Fat is where the flavor's at"? It is entirely true. Fat, be it oil or mayonnaise, is a vehicle for flavor. Instead of dressing your mayo-free salad with more vinegar or vegetables or herbs to get flavor from it, add more oil. Soft cheese helps too (more on that below).
For this pasta salad, make a vinaigrette that is 50/50 acid for oil. Then coat the pasta with half of the vinaigrette. This half is going to be absorbed by the pasta, and it also seasons the vegetables. The second half should go on relatively close to serving so that the pasta doesn't absorb the oil and become simultaneously soggy and dry.
Adding vegetables? You're going to have to cook some.
Raw vegetables are delicious, but in pasta salad raw vegetables can be jarring. After a bite of supple pasta, crunchy raw broccoli just doesn't jive. This isn't true of all vegetables -- finely diced red onion, cucumbers and tomatoes get a pass, but your pasta salad will be improved tenfold by either cooking vegetables or using jarred vegetables.
Here are a few suggestions, if you want to go off recipe and add other vegetables.
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