This creamy pesto tortellini salad is easy to make and loaded with summer flavor. Fresh and colorful, this tortellini pasta salad can be made ahead of time and is the perfect side dish to serve at summer parties or to take to a potluck.
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❤️About This Recipe
This pesto tortellini salad has a brilliant fresh flavor from homemade spinach pesto (with basil) tossed with fresh cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls. It’s so good, you’ll be adding this to your summer staples.
- It’s fresh, light and loaded with herby, vibrant pesto.
- Quick to make: It takes only 20 minutes (from making pesto to a ready salad). Or it can take just 10 minutes if you’ve pesto ready or use a store-bought one.
- It’s healthy and super simple to make.
- It is perfect for picnics or summer gatherings.
- Make this pesto tortellini salad ahead of time as meal prep and enjoy it as a quick lunch.
🧾Ingredient Notes
Here is the pic of the ingredients to make homemade spinach basil pesto.
- Baby spinach & Basil: Use fresh ones. Frozen spinach or dried basil won’t work here.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic or use readymade minced garlic.
- Walnuts: It adds a nice nutty flavor. Another classic option is to use pine nuts.
- Lemon juice: Again use freshly squeezed lemon juice. It’s much better than bottled lemon juice.
- Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil should be used while making any pesto as it has a mild flavor. Plus, pesto is eaten raw, and fresh so extra virgin should be used.
- Parmesan cheese: As being vegetarian, I only buy vegetarian parmesan cheese and not the original Parmigiano Reggiano that has rennet.
Here is the pic of the ingredients you’ll need to make pesto tortellini salad.
- Tortellini: I prefer to use fresh cheese tortellini from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. You can use frozen cheese tortellini as well. Cook as per the package instructions.
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes: Highly recommend using cheery or grape tomatoes as these baby tomatoes are sweeter and more crisp. Plus, they don’t leave excess juice so perfect to toss into salads.
- Fresh pearl mozzarella cheese: These mini mozzarella balls are perfect for this pesto tortellini salad. Drain the liquid, slice them in half or keep them whole and toss them into the pasta salad. The package is often labeled as Fresh mozzarella pearls.
- Pine nuts: Toasted pine nuts add some crunch and nutty flavor.
🎥Watch The Recipe Video
👩🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
Make Spinach Basil Pesto:
- To a food processor, add baby spinach, basil, parmesan, walnuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
- Also, add oil.
- Cover and run the processor until it is a pesto consistency.
- You may need to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula and blend again. You’ll need ½ cup of pesto and store the rest for later use.
Make Pesto Tortellini Salad:
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and then add a generous pinch of salt. Add tortellini and cook as per the package instruction or until al dente. Drain the water, toss the pasta in a tablespoon of olive oil and let them cool down.
- Take cooked tortellini, halved grape tomatoes, mozzarella pearls and pesto in a large bowl.
- Toss everything together until every nook and cranny of the cheese tortellini is covered with pesto.
- Lastly, garnish with toasted pine nuts.
💭Expert Tips
- Always add salt once the water comes to a boil. Salted water takes longer to come to a boil.
- Cook tortellini until al dente meaning slightly underdone (toothsome bite). The remaining cooking is done while the pasta is cooling down and they become perfectly soft.
- Don’t forget to toss the cooked tortellini pasta in some olive oil to prevent them from sticking to each other.
- Toasting pine nuts: Dry roast them in a pan on medium-low heat until lightly brown and aromatic. Or toast them in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes on a baking sheet in a single layer.
- You can use store-bought pesto instead of making it at home.
- Add pesto to room temperature or cold pasta to retain pesto’s vibrant green color. Though you can add it to warm tortellini, the pesto will get cooked slightly and result in the loss of that vibrant color. Either way, it tastes good.
Check Out Other Pasta Recipes
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Pesto Tortellini Salad
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This creamy pesto tortellini salad is easy to make and loaded with summer flavor. Fresh and colorful, this tortellini pasta salad can be made ahead of time and is the perfect side dish to serve at summer parties or to take to a potluck.
Calories: 408kcal
Servings 5
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml) See details
Ingredients
For Spinach Basil Pesto:
- 2 cups Baby spinach packed
- 1 cup Basil leaves packed
- ½ cup Walnuts
- ¼ cup Vegetarian parmesan cheese
- 3 cloves Garlic
- ⅓ cup Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 3 teaspoons Lemon juice
For Tortellini Salad:
- 10 oz Cheese tortellini
- 1 cup Grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, cut into half
- 6 oz Mozzarella pearls or balls, cut into half
- ¼ cup Pine nuts toasted
- ½ cup Pesto from the above recipe or use store-bought
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and then add a generous pinch of salt. Add tortellini and cook as per the package instruction or until al dente. Drain the water, toss the pasta in a tablespoon of olive oil and let them cool down.
- While the pasta water is coming to a boil, make pesto. To a food processor, add baby spinach, basil, parmesan, walnuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Also, add oil.
- Cover and run the processor until it is a pesto consistency. You may need to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula and blend again. You’ll need ½ cup of pesto and store the rest for later use.
- Take cooked, cooled tortellini, halved grape tomatoes, mozzarella pearls and pesto in a large bowl.
- Toss everything together until every nook and cranny of the cheese tortellini is covered with pesto.
- Lastly, garnish with toasted pine nuts.
Notes
- Always add salt once the water comes to a boil. Salted water takes longer to come to a boil.
- Cook tortellini until al dente meaning slightly underdone (toothsome bite). The remaining cooking is done while the pasta is cooling down and they become perfectly soft.
- Don’t forget to toss the cooked tortellini pasta in some olive oil to prevent them from sticking to each other.
- Toasting pine nuts: Dry roast them in a pan on medium-low heat until lightly brown and aromatic. Or toast them in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes on a baking sheet in a single layer.
- You can use store-bought pesto instead of homemade pesto.
- Add pesto to room temperature or cold pasta to retain pesto’s vibrant green color. Though you can add it to warm tortellini, the pesto will get cooked slightly and result in the loss of that vibrant color. Either way, it tastes good.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 408kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 504mg | Potassium: 111mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 750IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 246mg | Iron: 2mg
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate for 1 serving
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