Bringing a pasta salad to one BBQ can turn into a standing request for every cookout that follows. These 11 recipes cover creamy, vinaigrette-dressed seafood, chicken, bacon, pesto, and steak options, so the bowl can match nearly any grilled menu. Most can be made ahead and served chilled, which leaves the last-minute cooking focused on the grill. The range runs from familiar picnic flavors to fuller salads that can double as lunch.
Picnic Bacon Pasta Salad
A crowded picnic table has room for a bowl of Picnic Bacon Pasta Salad, which makes six servings in 50 minutes. Farfalle carries a creamy mayonnaise and sour cream dressing, while bacon, cheddar, grape tomatoes, green bell pepper, and green onions add smoky, crisp, and rich bites. It can be mixed ahead and refrigerated before guests arrive. Serve it beside burgers, ribs, or grilled chicken when one sturdy side needs to cover several plates.
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Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Shrimp
Bright colors and a lemony dressing make Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Shrimp an easy bowl to place between heavier grilled dishes. The eight-serving salad combines orzo, shrimp, feta, chickpeas, cucumber, grape tomatoes, red pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes with dill and parsley. A full hour in the refrigerator gives the dressing time to soak into the pasta. Bring it to a BBQ where guests may want either a seafood side or a lighter main.
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Salmon Pasta Salad
Cool, creamy, and substantial enough for lunch, Salmon Pasta Salad uses cooked salmon with chilled orecchiette, grated cucumber, sour cream, mayonnaise, dill, and lemon. The recipe makes 10 servings, with 5 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking before everything is combined. Keeping the salmon in larger pieces gives the bowl more texture. Set it near grilled vegetables or smoked pork when the BBQ spread needs a chilled seafood option.
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Deviled Egg Pasta Salad
The familiar filling of a picnic classic takes a different form in Deviled Egg Pasta Salad, a 20-minute recipe that serves eight. Elbow macaroni, six hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, sweet relish, Dijon, celery, red onion, and red bell pepper create a creamy bowl with plenty of crunch. The mashed yolks become part of the dressing, so the egg flavor reaches every forkful. Chill it before serving beside fried chicken, burgers, or grilled sausages.
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Summer Bow Tie Pasta Salad
A vegetable-heavy bowl brings more color to the table with Summer Bow Tie Pasta Salad, ready in 33 minutes for eight servings. Farfalle is tossed with grape tomatoes, orange bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, black olives, red onion, and parsley in a red wine vinaigrette. The reserved dressing refreshes the pasta just before serving. Pair it with grilled chicken, steak, burgers, or ribs when a mayo-free side makes the menu easier to balance.
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Rotisserie Chicken Pasta Salad
A grocery-store shortcut does the main work in Rotisserie Chicken Pasta Salad, a 30-minute recipe that serves six. Bowtie pasta and diced chicken are mixed with roasted red peppers, red onion, basil, parsley, and garlic, then coated in a Greek yogurt dressing with lemon and white wine vinegar. Keeping the dressing separate until shortly before serving prevents the pasta from soaking it up too early. Pack it for a BBQ where one salad may need to stand in for lunch.
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BLT Pasta Salad – With Bacon!
Crunchy lettuce is folded in near the end of BLT Pasta Salad – With Bacon!, so its sandwich-inspired texture survives the trip to the BBQ. The 25-minute recipe makes eight servings with pasta, eight slices of bacon, grape tomatoes, romaine, red onion, and parsley in a mayonnaise, sour cream, Dijon, and lemon dressing. A 30-minute chill helps the bowl settle before serving. Store extra lettuce separately if the salad will sit out in rounds.
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Pizza Pasta Salad
Pizza toppings move into a chilled bowl with Pizza Pasta Salad, an eight-serving recipe built from fusilli, pepperoni, pepper Jack, bell pepper, red onion, tomatoes, Italian dressing, and parsley. The prep and cooking take 20 minutes, followed by at least an hour in the refrigerator. Small pieces spread the pepperoni and cheese evenly through the pasta. Serve it beside grilled chicken or fish when the BBQ crowd prefers familiar flavors over a traditional macaroni salad.
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Pesto Orzo Salad
Small pasta and a creamy green coating give Pesto Orzo Salad a fuller texture than a plain vinaigrette bowl. Ready in 20 minutes for six servings, it combines orzo with basil pesto, mayonnaise, Parmesan, mozzarella pearls, grape tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, lemon juice, and toasted pine nuts. A short chill lets the dressing settle around the orzo. Place it beside smoked chicken or grilled steak, then add basil and pine nuts right before serving.
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Steak & Pasta Salad
A chilled steakhouse-style side arrives in Steak & Pasta Salad, which makes eight servings in 25 minutes. Cooked pasta, sliced steak, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, corn, radishes, blue cheese, red onion, and optional candied walnuts are tossed with a buttermilk ranch dressing. The recipe uses leftover steak without making the bowl feel like leftovers. Serve it when the BBQ needs one salad substantial enough for guests who skip the burger or ribs.
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Italian Pasta Salad
Glossy instead of dry after chilling, Italian Pasta Salad holds back part of its vinaigrette until just before serving. The eight-serving recipe takes 1 hour and 32 minutes and combines fusilli, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion, black olives, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon, garlic, Dijon, and herbs form the dressing. Make it the day before, then refresh it as the grill is being cleared.
Get the Recipe: Italian Pasta Salad