This pizza pasta salad brings all the flavors you love from pizza into a fresh, satisfying, high-protein meal. It’s the perfect make-ahead lunch you can customize with your favorite toppings and finished with a simple homemade Italian vinaigrette.
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Pizza is always a delicious idea, and this recipe brings those flavors into a fresh and nutritious pasta salad. It’s dietitian-designed with protein and fiber to support your gut and keep you full, turning those classic toppings into a lunch that’s easy to prep ahead and enjoy straight from the fridge.
Looking for more healthy and flavorful salads? try my Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, Jalapeño Popper Chicken Salad, or my Chopped Antipasto Salad.
Recipe Highlights
- Perfect for meal prep. This pasta salad actually gets better as it sits in the fridge, making it ideal for prepping ahead and enjoyed straight from your lunch box.
- Easy to customize. Use your favorite pasta, swap the protein, or add any pizza toppings you love to make it your own.
- Balanced and satisfying. This recipe was designed by a dietitian to include 29g of protein and 7g of fiber to help keep you full and energized for longer.
Extra Dietitian Tip
When you cook and cool pasta it develops resistance starch! Resistant starch acts like fiber in the gut to feed your good gut bacteria, and help slow the blood sugar response. It’s a good hack for pasta lovers who are trying to stay on top of their blood sugar too.
Key Ingredients And Swaps
- Protein pasta: Protein pasta helps boost the protein and fiber in this recipe, making the pasta salad more filling and balanced. I love using Catelli or Barilla because they hold up really well, but feel free to use any pasta you have on hand.
- Rotisserie chicken: Rotisserie chicken is an easy shortcut that adds plenty of protein without extra cooking. You can also use leftover grilled chicken or bake your own chicken breast if preferred.
- Kidney beans: Beans are a great way to add fiber and plant-based protein to this pasta salad. You can use red or white kidney beans, or swap in chickpeas if that’s what you have available.
- Pizza toppings: I love using turkey salami, olives, bell pepper, onion, and cherry tomatoes, but you can easily customize this with your favorite pizza toppings.
- Italian vinaigrette: A simple homemade Italian vinaigrette ties everything together and gives the salad that classic pizza-inspired flavor.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full ingredients list and detailed recipe.
How To Make Pizza Pasta Salad
Step 1: Whisk together the Italian vinaigrette until smooth.
Step 2: Add all ingredients for the pasta salad to a large mixing bowl and toss with the dressing.
Storage instructions
This pizza pasta salad will stay good in the fridge for up to four days. Prepare as normal and let it marinate in dressing in the fridge. You can store in single-serve containers or a covered mixing bowl.
Miranda’s Tips
Tips From My Test Kitchen
- Make sure your pasta is cooked in well salted water for the most flavor!
- Feel free to customize by using your favorite pasta, swapping the protein for what you have at home, using a store bought dressing, etc. You could also up the greens by serving over a bed of arugula or baby spinach.
Absolutely. Regular pasta works just fine in this recipe if that’s what you have on hand.
Yes! Simply leave out the chicken and salami and add more beans or vegetables instead. You could also add vegetarian protein options like chickpeas, tofu, or a plant-based deli slice if you’d like to keep the pizza-inspired flavor.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
High Protein Pasta Salad
Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
Lemon Basil Pasta Salad
4-Ingredient Pasta Salad (Healthy)
Pizza Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Italian Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise, olive oil mayonnaise preferred
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp salt, adjust to taste
- pinch red pepper flakes, optional
- 1-2 tsp honey, adjust to taste
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Pasta Salad
- 6 oz dry protein pasta, cooked in salted water, drained, and cooled
- 1 cup kidney beans, (white or red), drained and rinsed
- 1 cup diced rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed
- 1 bell pepper, diced small
- ½ small red onion, sliced very thin
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ⅓ cup sliced black olives
- 2 oz turkey pepperoni or salami, sliced into strips
- handful basil, sliced
Instructions
- To the bottom of your large mixing bowl, add all ingredients for Italian vinaigrette. Whisk until smooth.
- To the same bowl, add all ingredients for pasta salad. Toss until all ingredients are coated in dressing.
- For best results, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. When you’re ready to eat, gently toss your pasta salad to redistribute any dressing that fell to the bottom. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
