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Fresh, flavorful, and so easy to make, you’re going to love this Lemon Herb Mediterranean Pasta Salad! Made with simple everyday ingredients that are good for you and your family, this pasta salad will keep you feeling satisfied! Even better, the homemade salad dressing can be whipped up in seconds.
Hearty and refreshing, this Lemon Herb Mediterranean Pasta Salad is perfect for all occasions, from picnics to potlucks. Made with quality ingredients, it’s also a recipe you can feel good about.
Plus, this recipe uses Pearls Olives. If you haven’t heard of them, Pearls Olives come from the Musco Family Olive Company, olive experts since the 18th century in Sicily, Italy and still family-owned and run today in California. Pearls Olives are one of the most passionate and high quality olive brands out there.
Great Facts on Pearls Olives
- Peals Black Ripe Olives are 100% grown and produced in California from Manzanilla olive trees, picked at the peak of freshness.
- They use a unique California curing process that removes the bitterness from the olives and produces a rich black buttery olive.
- Being locally grown, the Musco family is committed to keeping jobs in the U.S. and ensuring the highest quality olives in their sunny yellow package.
- Pearls takes care of earth, running a 99% zero waste facility and recycles more than 2 billion gallons of water!
People who love olives, trust Pearls. They believe in “making a good thing even better”, so definitely grab a can of their olives the next time you’re grocery shopping, you won’t regret it.
Looking for more salad recipes? Why not also try my Greek Tuna Pasta Salad Recipe and my Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad! Both are a great work-lunch as they pack really well!
Why You’ll Love This Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- So flavorful! This Mediterranean pasta salad is packed with flavor. You MUST get the Pearls Ripe Black Olives for this pasta as they are so flavorful, buttery and fresh.
- The perfect lunch! If you’re in need of an easy packed lunch idea, then this recipe is for you. It travels well and you don’t have to reheat it.
- It can be easily customized. Swap the vegetables to whatever you have in your fridge. No need to stick exactly to the recipe down below. That’s the best part about pasta salads!
What You’ll Need
- Pearls Black Ripe Olives Extra Large: Pearls Black Ripe Olives are 100% grown and packed in sunny California, picked at the peak of freshness. You can see and taste the difference. No mushy mystery olives in their cans.
- Farfalle pasta uncooked: also known as bowtie pasta.
- Red onion: sliced into bite-sized pieces.
- Artichoke heart: get the ones that are marinated in a jar.
- Sundried tomato: get the ones that are in oil and already julienned cut into bite-sized pieces to save time.
- Red bell pepper: red peppers are the sweetest ones but you can opt for yellow or orange bell pepper as well.
- English cucumber: I like English cucumbers as they’re seedless and don’t have a waxy skin to peel. It’ll save you on the prep time.
- Feta cheese: to save time, you can buy pre-crumbled feta!
- Avocado: make sure they are ripe or it will not be creamy!
- Baby arugula: or a leafy green of your choice.
Lemon Herb Dressing
- To make the Lemon Herb dressing, you’ll need lemon juice, honey, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, lemon zest, olive oil, black pepper, garlic, salt, oregano, and basil to make this homemade dressing.
How To Make Lemon Herb Mediterranean Salad
- Make the pasta: Cook pasta al dente according to pasta directions. Drain and cool with tap water.
- Make the dressing: In a cup or bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients. Set aside.
- Slice the onion, cucumber, and dice the red bell pepper. Drain the artichokes, olives, and sundried tomatoes.
- Combine: Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour over the dressing. Toss together to coat the salad well.
Tips and Notes
- When cooking the pasta, after dropping it into the boiling water, stir immediately to avoid the pasta sticking to the pan.
- You can cook the pasta ahead of time and store that in the fridge so you can quickly toss this together.
- The dressing can also be made ahead of time as well! Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
- If you don’t have Dijon mustard you can use normal yellow mustard or honey mustard.
- Avoid using bottled lemon juice as the bottled juice tends to have a bitter aftertaste. I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice!
- If you have leftover olives, Pearls Olives on Instagram has great inspiration and recipes for olive lovers so go give them a follow. Learn about their olives and where to buy them at Olives.com.
FAQs
If you want to use a different olive, you definitely can. Pearls also offer a full line of Specialties Olives, from Kalamatas to Queen Olives stuffed with garlic or blue cheese!
Try adding chickpeas, corn, fresh basil, fresh dill, pine nuts, shredded chicken, and more. I like to change things up when I make this based on what I have in the fridge. We love making this when it’s close to restock day and there’s a lot of odds and ends in the fridge.
The pasta is best eaten within 24 hours. Store the pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge. Don’t worry about the pasta getting soggy with the dressing, the pasta salad is actually even tastier once it has had time to marinate in the lemon herb dressing.
A medium shape pasta works well for this recipe like rotini or shells if you do not have farfalle pasta. The nooks and ridges allow the dressing to cling well and add loads of flavor!
More Salad Recipes You’ll Love
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Lemon Herb Mediterranean Salad recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it, and share it with your friends and family!
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Lemon Herb Mediterranean Salad
Ingredients
- 6 oz. Pearls Black Ripe Olives, Extra Large, Pitted
- 2 cups farfalle pasta, uncooked, aka bowtie pasta
- ¾ cup red onion, sliced
- 8 oz. artichoke heart, marinated, in jar
- ¾ cup sundried tomato, julienned and marinated in oil
- ¾ cup red bell pepper, petite diced
- 1 cup English cucumber, halved and sliced
- 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 large avocado, pitted and cubed
- 1 handful baby arugula , fresh
Lemon Herb Dressing
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 2 tsps. Dijon mustard, old fashion
- 1½ tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. lemon zest, zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup olive oil, extra virgin
- ½ tsp. black pepper, fresh cracked
- 2 cloves garlic, mined
- ½ tsp. salt, more to taste
- 1 tsp. oregano, dry
- ¾ tsp. basil, dry
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente according to pasta directions. Drain and cool with tap water.
- In a cup or bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients. Set aside.
- Slice the onion, cucumber, and dice the red bell pepper. Drain the artichokes, olives and sundried tomatoes.
- Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour over the dressing. Toss together to coat the salad well.
- Transfer into a large dish and serve.
Notes
- When cooking the pasta, after dropping it into the boiling water, stir immediately to avoid the pasta sticking to the pan.
- You can cook the pasta ahead of time and store that in the fridge so you can quickly toss this together.
- The dressing can also be made ahead of time as well! Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
- If you don’t have Dijon mustard you can use normal yellow mustard or honey mustard.
- Avoid using bottled lemon juice as the bottled juice tends to have a bitter aftertaste. I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice!
- If you have leftover olives, Pearls Olives on Instagram has great inspiration and recipes for olive lovers so go give them a follow. Learn about their olives and where to buy them at Olives.com.
Best salad I ever had. My family enjoyed it so much.
Thanks for the rating Rita, we are glad your enjoyed the recipe.