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Inspired by a chicken pasta salad recipe which was recently posted in our local newspaper, I created this Turkey Pasta Salad with ingredients I had on hand.

Pasta salad combinations are truly endless and only limited by the cook’s creativity and what is on-hand.

This Turkey Pasta Salad incorporates the following components along with a mayonnaise-based dressing.

tri-color veggie pasta spirals
fresh vegetables: celery, carrots, red bell pepper, sweet onion
turkey deli slices
cheddar cheese

To add color and spunk to this salad, I used this tri-color pasta.

The addition of fresh vegetables, celery, red bell pepper, carrots and Vidalia onion, provides additional color and texture.

Cooking Tips

Always cook pasta in salted water. The ratio is 1 tablespoon of salt to 4 quarts of water for one pound of pasta. This is known as “as salty as the ocean.” It may sound like too much salt but it is really the perfect ratio. It is hard to correct pasta if it hasn’t been first cooked in salted water.
To ever-so-slightly soften the fresh veggies, place the cut vegetables into the colander before draining the pasta right on top of the veggies. Just pour that hot pasta and water right on top of the vegetables. This will allow them to soften just a tad. After about one minute, go ahead and lightly spray or pour cold water over the pasta to stop the pasta from continuing to “cook.”

Any deli-style or leftover poultry meat may be used but I chose sliced turkey, which I diced.

Let’s bring down home, comfort food to your table!

My first and most popular cookbook contains 205 of the recipes my family asked me to write down for them — their favorites! Grab your copy of From Katie’s Kitchen, Vol. One cookbook HERE.

Mrs. Katie of Heritage Ways

Turkey Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is jazzed up by using tri-color pasta and colorful vegetables.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

12 oz. bag tri-color pasta cooked according to package directions in salt water
1 tablespoon salt use when cooking pasta
1 medium red bell pepper cleaned, cored, finely chopped
1/2 medium sweet onion peeled, finely chopped
2 stalks celery with leaves cleaned, strings removed, finely chopped
1 medium carrot washed, finely chopped or shredded
1 ½ cups deli turkey slices chopped
1 ½ cups cheddar cheese shredded

Dressing Ingredients

½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice fresh or bottled
2 teaspoons dill weed, dried
2 teaspoons oregano, dried
2 teaspoons parsley, dried
1½ teaspoons garlic powder
1½ teaspoons salt I use Redmond Real Salt.
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Method

In large mixing bowl, combine all dressing ingredients. Mix well.
Add remaining ingredients to the large mixing bowl with dressing. Stir lightly but mix well to coat all ingredients.
Refrigerate salad and allow time for flavors to "get married," as my little kids would say, at least two hours. Or, enjoy right away.

Notes

Note: In the video version of this recipe which is found at Heritage Ways Membership, I added a fresh, garden tomato. This is optional and can make the pasta a bit soggy if not eaten within a day or so.