Herby Pasta Salad with California Ripe Olives

This herby pasta salad with California Ripe Olives is the perfect spring side dish. It’s delicious, crunchy, and light and indulgent at the same time!

I share about and partner with only the most fabulous brands. The wonderful folks at California Ripe Olives sponsored this blog post and the recipe that goes with it, in partnership with CA GROWN.

A Note from Teri on Herby Pasta Salad

People have long asked me for a pasta salad recipe, and as soon as we thought up this dish, I knew it was going to be a favorite. With beautiful greens and California Ripe Olives, it’s the most amazing recipe that feels like spring in a bowl.

To keep it feeling bright and fresh, we created a fabulous spin on a zesty Italian dressing to go with it. It’s packed with spring vegetables and herbs, paired with the dressing, it is pretty much divine. My trick to making the vegetables stay bright and delicious is blanching. It gives them the perfect bite and keeps them vibrant and green!

If you need a dish to bring to a party, this pasta salad would be wonderful. It’s easy to take on the go, because the flavors just get better and better as it sits. This recipe is the perfect side dish to a beautiful steak or a roast chicken. Or you could add some tinned tuna or shredded chicken to make it more high protein and serve it on its own!

What Makes California Ripe Olives The Best

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know about my love affair with California Ripe Olives. With hundreds of farmers and their families across the state growing olives, California is responsible for 95% of olives grown in the country! They are cured in a salt brine, and you can find these canned olives in your grocery store. Olives are the perfect ingredient to add to so many recipes.

California Ripe Olives are such a versatile ingredient, and I’ve used them in just about everything, from my take on a muffaletta, to a chimichurri sauce which you can add to a pasta, to creamy olive dressing. Plus, you’ll find them in so many of my salads, like this strawberry salad, pomegranate chopped salad, and chopped salad with citrus.

Ingredients

• Small pasta of choice, we used orecchiette pasta 
• Kosher salt (for salting the water and seasoning) 
• Sliced asparagus (leave the heads intact and cut the trimmed stalks into 1/4-inch pieces)
• Frozen peas 
• Marinated red onions 
• Roasted unsalted pistachios 
• Chopped celery 
• Green California Ripe Olives, sliced in halves or thirds
• Chopped herbs (we used equal parts dill, parsley, and mint) 
• Cheese crumbles 
• Red pepper flakes, optional

For the Dressing:

• Red wine vinegar
• Garlic clove, pressed, minced or grated
• Dried oregano or Italian blend
• Dijon mustard 
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Kosher salt 
• Extra virgin olive oil

Variations

If you are gluten-free, I love to make this recipe with rice instead. You could follow the instructions for this tuna rice salad recipe and add in the olives and any other spring vegetables you would like!

It could be very fun to make this pasta salad into a potato salad instead! Quarter and boil your potatoes until fork tender and use it in place of the pasta in this recipe.

For your vegetables, you could certainly add any in season vegetables you love. When in season, zucchini, arugula, or French green beans would all be great additions to your pasta salad with olives.

How to Make Pasta Salad with California Ripe Olives

Step One: Make the Dressing

To a blender, add the vinegar, garlic, oregano, Dijon, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt. Blend and slowly add the olive oil while the blender is still going so it can emulsify completely. You can also add all the ingredients to a jar with a lid and shake until it emulsifies and all the ingredients have blended. Set aside. 

Step Two: Cook Pasta and Blanch Vegetables

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a good amount of salt, 1-2 tablespoons, and cook the pasta 1 minute over al dente, according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside to cool completely. Drizzle ½ cup of the dressing onto the pasta while it’s warm to keep it from sticking and to soak up the flavor of the dressing. 

Prepare a large bowl with iced water. Place a medium pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Add salt to the boiling water then the asparagus and par-boil until tender, about 1 minute and 45 seconds. Add the frozen peas to the pot with the asparagus and cook another 30 seconds. Remove the vegetables from the boiling water with a slotted spoon or mesh strainer and transfer them directly to the ice water bath. Once the asparagus and peas are cooled, transfer them to a paper towel to dry. 

Step Three: Assemble The Pasta Salad

To a large bowl, add the pasta, asparagus, peas, marinated red onion, pistachios, celery, olives and herbs. Toss to mix completely. Drizzle about 1/2 a cup of the prepared Italian dressing over the salad and toss. Continue adding more dressing, a little at a time, until the salad is dressed to your liking. Taste and add more salt if needed. Crumble feta cheese on top and sprinkle with a pinch of red chili flakes (if using) and gently fold into the pasta salad. Serve immediately or refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Squeeze remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice over the pasta and give everything one last toss just before serving.

Storage

Store leftover pasta salad in the refrigerator for up to three days in an airtight container such as a glass jar. It makes the most perfect lunch the next day!

If you make your own Pasta Salad with California Ripe Olives, be sure to review it below and let me know what you think! If you’re looking for more inspiration, subscribe to my Substack, and follow along on Pinterest,  Instagram, and TikTok to join in all the fun!

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