This mason jar pasta salad is packed with flavor thanks to pesto, artichoke hearts, and sundried tomatoes and is perfect for meal prep!
This quick pasta salad is the perfect picnic pasta salad, but I also love making it as meal prep or lunches on the move!
Plus, it’s ready in just 20 minutes.
When it’s hot out, all I want is a delicious (and easy!) salad for lunch or dinner. And this pesto pasta salad is just that! It’s packed with all the good stuff like pasta, olives, and fresh basil. I also love bulking out this salad with butter beans or cannellini beans, or even some chopped up sausage!
Just like my Italian chopped summer pasta salad, these quick pasta salad jars are perfect for meal prep. Also, storing it in a mason jar? Nothing could be cuter (or more useful!)
Why you’ll love these mason jar pasta salads
- Mason jar salads are so useful for easy lunch meal prep during the week!
- You can easily substitute with gluten-free pasta if desired.
- Add extra protein in like white beans or cooked chicken breasts.
Ingredients needed for this pesto pasta salad
Pesto: Use your favorite pesto sauce from the grocery store! Or make your own pesto.
Red wine vinegar: I like to add a little zing to the pesto by using red wine vinegar; however, you can swap with lemon juice if that’s all you have
Pasta: I recommend using shells, farfalle, rotini or fusilli pasta
Vegetables: diced red pepper, artichoke hearts and olives add a ton of flavour to this mason jar pasta salad recipe.
Baby Bocconcini Cheese: Also known as baby mozzarella or cherry mozzarella! These are perfect, so you get cheese in every bite.
Nuts: I like to add some chopped nuts for crunch like pistachios, walnuts or almonds. However if you are nut-free you could add sunflower seeds instead.
Olives: I love using Kalamata olives, but feel free to swap it out for your favorite type of olive
How to make this meal prep pasta salad recipe
Step 1: Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water and then add to a medium sized bowl with half of the pesto and gently stir to combine.
Step 2: To a large bowl add the pesto, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and chili flakes. Whisk together until combined. Add the cooked pasta to the bowl along with the diced sundried tomatoes, diced ed pepper, chopped olives, chopped artichoke hearts, chopped fresh basil, halved baby bocconcini cheese and chopped nuts. Toss to combine everything with the pesto.
Step 3: Divide into two mason jars and store in the fridge for up to one day before serving.
Step 4: Take out of the fridge for about 10-15 minutes before serving for the best taste and texture! Give the jar a good shake before enjoying as some of the pesto dressing can fall to the bottom of the jar.
More delicious pasta salad add-ins:
- For a bit more crunch add 1/3 cup diced red onion.
- In the summer months, swap the diced red pepper for juicy cherry tomatoes.
- I love adding some protein to this quick pasta salad to help bulk it out! This is totally optional, but you can add 1 cup of your protein of choice. I love adding butter beans, cannellini beans, chopped chicken, or cooked Italian sausage!
Tips and tricks
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While I love serving this pesto pasta salad in a mason jar, feel free to store it in an airtight container or meal prep containers instead. You can store it for up to 3 days in the fridge.
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Serving this as a side for a summer barbecue? Double up the ingredients and serve with my
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I recommend letting the pasta salad come to room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before enjoying. It’ll have a better taste and texture versus being too cold.
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Wide mouth mason jars are the easiest to fill with this mason jar pasta salad.
Common questions
What if I’m allergic to nuts?
If you are nut-free you can use sunflower seeds instead for that added crunch.
Can I make this salad gluten-free?
YES! Just make sure the pasta is gluten-free along with any other ingredients like the store-bought pesto.
How to store
Store in mason jars or meal prep containers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
More meal prep recipes to make from the blog
Dill Pickle Chicken Salad (easy meal prep recipe)
Easy Green Summer Chopped Salad (with meal prep tips)
The Best Italian Chopped Summer Pasta Salad Recipe
Mason Jar Pesto Pasta Salad (perfect for meal prep)
Ingredients
- 200-220 grams / ½ lb Short cut pasta of choice (like shells, radiatori, rotini, fusili or farfalle
- ½ cup diced sundried tomatoes in oil drained of oil and diced
- 3/4 cup prepared pesto sauce
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp chili flakes
- 1 red pepper diced
- ½ cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives or whole
- ½ cup chopped artichoke hearts
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 cup halved baby bocconcini cheese
- ⅓ cup chopped nuts of choice pistachios, almonds or walnuts
- Optional: add 1 cup protein of choice to the salad like butter beans cannellini beans, chopped chicken or cooked Italian sausage.
Instructions
- Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water and then add to a medium sized bowl with half of the pesto and gently stir to combine.
- To a large bowl add the pesto, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and chili flakes. Whisk together until combined. Add the cooked pasta to the bowl along with the diced sundried tomatoes, diced ed pepper, chopped olives, chopped artichoke hearts, chopped fresh basil, halved baby bocconcini cheese and chopped nuts. Toss to combine everything with the pesto.
- Divide into two mason jars and store in the fridge for up to one day before serving.
- Take out of the fridge for about 10-15 minutes before serving for the best taste and texture! Give the jar a good shake before enjoying as some of the pesto dressing can fall to the bottom of the jar.
Notes
- For a bit more crunch add 1/3 cup diced red onion.
- In the summer months, swap the diced red pepper for juicy cherry tomatoes.
- I love adding some protein to this quick pasta salad to help bulk it out! This is totally optional, but you can add 1 cup of your protein of choice. I love adding butter beans, cannellini beans, chopped chicken, or cooked Italian sausage!
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