Instant Pot Pasta Salad

Italian pasta salad is fantastic served at summer dinners alongside balsamic cucumber tomato salad, air fried corn on the cob, summer berry salad and iced honey green tea.

It's also delicious served with freshly baked homemade bread, like garlic bread, cheese bread, and Italian bread. For a rustic feel, rye bread is also a great choice. Italian pasta salad also makes a great side dish for warm grilled chicken and juicy hot dogs with classic french fries or sweet potato fries.

Instead of cooking the pasta separately and then mixing it with the dressing and other ingredients, I pressure cook the pasta with cherry tomatoes and Italian dressing right in the pot.

The pressure cooked cherry tomatoes add a bit of sweetness to balance the zesty flavor of the Italian dressing. With all other ingredients being fresh, this pasta salad has a hearty, yet refreshing and satisfying taste that's perfect for any barbecue, especially on Memorial Day and 4th of July. You should consider making a vegan pasta salad and strawberry lemon water for your next summer barbecue too!

Ingredients

• Rotini: I like to use tri color rotini. Other short pastas work great too, like farfalle or penne.
• Italian dressing: use your favorite brand for a flavor you'll love the most! Mine is Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing.
• Italian dry salami: or your favorite salami, pepperoni, pastrami or combination of all.
• Cherry tomatoes: or use grape tomatoes.
• Black olives
• Kalamata olives
• Mozzarella pearls: or any fresh mozzarella cheese that's diced into small pieces.
• Parmesan cheese: grated parmesan cheese is mixed into the pasta salad and shredded parm can be added when serving, if desired.

Step-By-Step Instructions

This easy Instant Pot pasta salad recipe has a quick prep time and only 3 minutes cook time.

1. Add the uncooked rotini to the pressure cooker inner pot. Pour in 3½ cups of cold water and the Italian dressing. Press the pasta down so it's submerged in the water as much as possible. Add one cup cherry tomatoes, left whole.
2. Close and seal the lid. Set to pressure cook/manual on high for 3-5 minutes. *Cook time depends on your pasta brand. Cut the time on your pasta box in half, then subtract 1 for soft pasta and 2 for al dente pasta.
3. When pressure cooking is complete, quickly release the pressure. If too much liquid comes out of the vent, stop the pressure release. Let it natural release for about 15 seconds, then quickly release the pressure again. Remove the lid, stir the rotini and transfer to a serving dish immediately.
4. Stir in the diced salami, sliced kalamata olives, sliced black olives, mozzarella pearls, and grated parmesan cheese. Slice the remaining cherry tomatoes in half and add to the pasta salad. Toss salad and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Recipe Variations

• Make It Spicy: Add a generous amount of crushed red pepper flakes or spicy salami.
• Make It Gluten-Free: use gluten-free pasta and make sure your Italian dressing is labeled gluten free.
• Make It Vegetarian: eliminate the meat and replace with tofu.
• Make It Vegan: eliminate the meat and replace the mozzarella pearls with a vegan mozzarella cheese.

Cooking Tips

• Remove the pasta to a serving dish immediately after it's done cooking to prevent it from overcooking over the hot heating element.
• Once the salad has been mixed, let chill in the fridge until ready to serve. This pasta salad is best served cold or at room temperature.
• The grated parmesan cheese can be added once the pasta cools to prevent it from melting.
• For extra flavor, salt the water with about 1 tablespoon of salt before pressure cooking.

How To Store

Store pressure cooker pasta salad in a covered container for up to 7 days in the fridge.