A creamy pasta salad, made with shell pasta, bell pepper, red onion, black olives, cheddar cheese, tomato and bacon and tossed with a mayo, sour cream, vinegar dressing, seasoned with onion powder, garlic salt.
Creamy Pasta Salad
I love pasta salad. Any kind.
It is another one of those dishes that I have no loyalty to though, so I love switching it up, different veggies, different dressing bases. This one is a mayonnaise-based pasta salad and my interpretation of one that was once served at a local favorite BBQ joint.
Looking for a pasta salad made with no mayonnaise? Click here for my Tri-Color Rotini Pasta Salad with Shrimp & Italian Dressing.
Here's what you'll need to make my Creamy Pasta Salad:
- 1 pound shell shaped or corkscrew pasta
- Olive oil, optional
For the Dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Creole mustard
For the Salad:
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 a medium red onion, chopped
- 1 (6 ounce) can black olives, sliced in half
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- Couple splashes of milk, optional
- 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
- 4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
Here's how to make it!
Boil the pasta according to package direction; drain, rinse well and set aside to dry. Toss with a light sprinkling of olive oil to thinly coat the pasta. Add to the bottom of a serving bowl. Top with the veggies, except for the tomatoes and the olives.
Reserve a tablespoon of the chopped bacon and set aside. Add the remaining bacon to the salad bowl and top with the shredded cheese.
Give it a toss.
Add the seasonings.
Combine all of the dressing ingredients until well blended.
Add dressing to the pasta salad.
Give it a toss. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Just prior to serving, moisten with milk if desired, add the chopped tomato, stir and sprinkle the reserved crumbled bacon on top.
For more of my favorite pasta salads, check out this collection on my Pinterest page!
Unable to view the printable above on your device? Tap/click here for a backup printable.
Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, do not copy and paste post or recipe text to repost or republish to any social media (such as other Facebook pages, etc.), blogs, websites, forums, or any print medium, without explicit prior permission. Unauthorized use of content from ©Deep South Dish is a violation of both the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and copyright law. All rights reserved.
Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.
20220602rhp
