Pasta salad with red pesto and crispy bacon. This quick fix salad is super easy to make and comes together in about 20 minutes. Tossed with an insanely delicious pesto dressing packed with sun-dried tomatoes and finished off with toasted caper breadcrumbs for a delicious crunch. Enjoy this salad any night of the week or serve as a side at your next backyard grill party with friends.
I kept it easy, yet you’ll find big flavors here by simply tossing the pasta with red pesto. Using pesto is a simple go-to way to add heaps of delicious flavors.
This recipe is super flexible, too. You can add tons of extra veggies, serve for dinner, save the leftovers for lunch, add some grilled meat,… whatever you do, don’t leave out the caper breadcrumbs. They’re easy to make and let every salad or pasta shine.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.
RECIPE NOTES
- this red pesto recipe contains pine nuts, you can replace them with sunflower seeds
- if you don’t have time to make homemade pesto, use store-bought
- store the red pesto in the refrigerator for up to 5 days
- use leftover pesto to dress up sandwich or bruschetta, stir into hummus for a delicious dip, drizzle over chicken or shrimp skewers and throw it on the grill
- use your favorite small-shaped pasta that holds the sauce, like shells, orecchiette, penne or fusilli
- add other flavors to the salad like black olives, roasted red peppers or corn kernels
- serve this pasta salad with grilled meat or fish
- leave out bacon for a vegetarian version
- add mayonnaise for a creamy touch
- if you can’t find panko, just tear some ciabatta or sourdough bread into small pieces
More super fast pasta, please!
- Smoky Bacon Tomato Sauce Pasta
- Pasta with sun-dried tomato ricotta pesto
- Buttery Mushroom & Chickpea Pesto Pasta
Cooking Video
Calories Per Serving: 535 kcalRed Pesto Pasta Salad with Bacon
Ingredients
Red Pesto
Instructions
Notes
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.