A pasta salad bar makes the perfect summer meal whether you are entertaining guests or just want an easy meal for the family. Simply put out bowls of various pasta shapes and a selection of toppings and a variety of dressings. Then sit back and relax while everyone builds their own preferred salad creation.
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Pasta salad bar
I got the idea for this pasta salad buffet years ago when I was in Madrid. I was there on a work assignment and one lunchtime my colleagues took me to a little shop for lunch. It was pretty much the same as the Subway sandwich shop in the UK, where you choose your bread roll and then select the fillings you want.
The difference was, in this shop, you got to choose the pasta shape you wanted!
So they filled a bowl with your pasta shapes and then you selected from various toppings – chicken, ham, beef, mushrooms, sweetcorn, tomatoes, lettuce etc, and then drizzled the whole lot with your dressing of choice. As I said – much like Subway, but with pasta instead of a bread roll.
And it was soooooo good!
Once I got back home I made my own version of this do-it-yourself pasta salad for the family, and we’ve been eating it, especially in summer, ever since.
A pasta salad bar is a game changer in the summer. No hot kitchen, hardly any cooking, and nobody saying ‘I don’t like this’, because there’s so much to choose from, there’s something that everyone will like.
Salad bar ideas
I’ve added a few ideas and included some recipes below (or the link to an existing recipe). This is by no means an exhaustive list. You can select any combination that appeals to you, or add your own choice of protein and vegetables.
Depending on how many people you are serving you may want to make a few bowls of different pasta shapes. I find that shell/conchiglie or spiral/fusilli-type pasta shapes work best. I would be inclined to steer clear of the longer types of pasta such as spaghetti or linguine.
This is really more of a method than an actual recipe and you can mix and match from some of my suggestions below:
Protein
- honey garlic chicken breasts (recipe below)
- poor man’s crayfish
- grilled prawns or shrimp (I would tend to use shelled prawns or shrimp)
- crispy crumbed bacon
- leftover roast beef
- sliced ham
- slices of frankfurters/bockwurst
- grated cheese
- sliced boiled eggs
- processed crab sticks (yes, I know they are processed, but they do go well in a pasta salad, especially when you add tomatoes and Marie Rose sauce)
Fresh vegetables
- garlic mushrooms
- beetroot salad
- pickled red onions
- steamed asparagus
- cherry tomatoes
- shredded lettuce
- chopped spring onions
- boiled baby potatoes
- sugar snap peas or mangetout
- diced avocado
Canned/bottled vegetables
- drained whole kernel corn
- bottled roasted red peppers
- bottled pickled red cabbage
- olives
- even a can of baked beans (hey I’m not judging – kiddies love them)
Dressings
- honey mustard dressing (recipe below)
- homemade mayonnaise
- Jack Daniels sauce
- Marie rose sauce (recipe below)
- thousand island sauce
- blue cheese sauce – this is a link to my chicken wing recipe, but you will find 2 variations of a blue cheese sauce in the recipe card at the end.
- ranch dressing
The choices are endless.
I’m sure you can think of many more variations that will suit your family’s taste. You are limited only by your imagination!
How to make honey garlic chicken breasts
Honey garlic chicken breasts taste delicious when they are cold, making this an ideal recipe for your salad bar.
The chicken only takes a few minutes to cook once it’s been marinated. And if I know I’m going to be making a pasta salad bar I normally marinade the chicken the day before.
Equipment
You will need a shallow dish for marinating the chicken, and a frying pan large enough to fry the breasts. You will also need a sharp knife for cutting the chicken through the middle.
Ingredients
Chicken breasts – skinless chicken breast fillets, which should be cut in half through the middle so that you have 2 thin flat pieces.
Garlic and ginger – because this is going to be added to the marinade I like to use ginger and garlic paste from jars. You could use fresh if you prefer, but the ginger and garlic should be very finely minced.
Dark soy sauce – don’t use light soy sauce, it will be too salty for this dish.
Honey – this adds a touch of sweetness and stickiness to the chicken.
Chilli – this is optional (and not pictured) but if you like a little spice you could add a little chilli paste to the marinade.
You will also need salt for seasoning and one or two tablespoons of sunflower oil for frying the chicken.
What to do
Combine all the marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl. Coat the halved chicken breasts in the marinade, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave them in the refrigerator to marinate for at least half an hour, but you could leave it overnight.
Heat sunflower oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken breasts on a moderate heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side until they are golden brown. Remove the chicken from the heat and rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into slices.
The chicken will be cooked through when the internal temperature reaches 74C / 165F on a digital probe thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, the chicken should be perfectly white on the inside with no pink showing.
Just slice it up and serve it on a bed of lettuce.
Easy honey mustard dressing
This is a sweet and tangy dressing that complements the vegetables, meat and pasta perfectly.
It’s super easy to make – just combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk thoroughly. You can also make it in a screw-top jar, and shake well until combined.
These are the ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white spirit vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco (or to taste)
Once it has been mixed, taste and adjust if necessary. Add a touch more honey if you prefer a sweeter sauce, or add more vinegar for extra tang. If you like it really spicy, add more Tabasco.
This will make just over a quarter cup of dressing – you can double up on all the ingredients (except the Tabasco) to make a larger batch. Add the Tabasco a few drops at a time to your own taste.
It’s quite a thick dressing so you will need a spoon to drizzle it over your salad.
Marie Rose sauce
This is sometimes called seafood sauce. It goes particularly well with seafood, but I also enjoy it drizzled over pasta and vegetables.
Just combine all the ingredients in a small bowl:
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- A few drops of Tabasco sauce (to your own taste).
This makes about one-third of a cup of sauce. Double up the ingredients to make more, but be careful with the Tabasco.
Pasta salad bar FAQ
You will need half to three-quarters of a cup of uncooked pasta shapes per person (that’s between 50 and 75 grams).
You can certainly cook the pasta in advance. Once cooked, drain, rinse it under cold water and mix in a teaspoon of olive oil to stop it from sticking together. Store it in an airtight container for up to 2 days until you are ready to serve it.
For the remaining ingredients, it all depends on what you are serving. Eggs for example can be boiled a day or two in advance and stored in the refrigerator. But softer vegetables such as lettuce should be prepared fresh on the day, as should avocado which will turn brown if left for too long.
If you are serving honey garlic chicken, you can put it in the marinade the day before you need it and fry it an hour or two before you intend to eat it to give it a chance to cool down.
I would be inclined to say ‘No – you shouldn’t store leftovers’. A pasta salad bar is normally served in summer when the weather is quite hot so it would not be a good idea to store food that has been at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. It would be safer to discard it. Use your own discretion.
Absolutely – this would be an ideal way to entertain. Your favourite pasta shapes plus any of these combinations:
– Seafood pasta salad bar – prawns/shrimp, calamari rings, mussels, fish nuggets, served with tomatoes, shredded lettuce, samphire, broad beans, steamed asparagus, chopped boiled eggs and a lemon and herb dressing
– Mediterranean salad bar – chicken and/or shrimp with orzo pasta, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, feta cheese, red onions and an Italian-style dressing.
– Tex Mex salad bar – thinly sliced grilled steak marinated in lime juice, cumin, garlic and chilli served with avocado, tomatoes, beans, corn and bell peppers with a lime and chipotle dressing.
I’m sure you get the idea – the possibilities of this meal are endless. You can customise it exactly to your own taste.
Save for later
If you would like to make this pasta salad bar yourself, why not save this recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can make it later? Just click on the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
The recipe
Pasta salad bar
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Ingredients
Honey garlic chicken
- 2 large chicken breast fillets
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste or use the equivalent amount of freshly crushed garlic
- ½ teaspoon ginger paste or a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger peeled and finely grated
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1½ tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon chilli paste optional
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 – 2 tablespoons sunflower oil for frying
Honey mustard dressing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijoin mustard
- 1 tablespoon white spirit vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Tabasco
Marie Rose sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Instructions
Honey garlic chicken
- Cut the chicken breasts in half through the middle so you end up with 2 thinner pieces of chicken.2 large chicken breast fillets
- Combine all the marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl. Coat the halved chicken breasts in the marinade, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave them in the refrigerator to marinate for at least half an hour, but you could leave it overnight.1 teaspoon garlic paste, ½ teaspoon ginger paste, 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce, 1½ tablespoons honey, ½ teaspoon chilli paste, ½ teaspoon salt
- Heat sunflower oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken breasts on a moderate heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side until they are golden brown. Remove the chicken from the heat and rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into slices.1 – 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Honey mustard dressing
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or screw-top jar and whisk or shake until well combined.1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Dijoin mustard, 1 tablespoon white spirit vinegar, ½ teaspoon Tabasco
- This will make just over a quarter cup of dressing – you can double up on all the ingredients (except the Tabasco) to make a larger batch. Add the Tabasco a few drops at a time to your own taste.
Marie Rose sauce
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or screw-top jar and whisk or shake until well combined.2 tablespoons tomato ketchup, 4 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- This makes about one-third of a cup of sauce. Double up the ingredients to make more, but be careful with the Tabasco.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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