This easy greek pasta salad recipe is made with bowtie pasta, crumbled feta cheese and easy chopped vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber, and bell pepper. All tossed together with crumbled feta cheese and greek salad dressing. It’s a cold pasta salad recipe perfect for serving at your next gathering.

Greek Pasta Salad Recipe

Do you love a good cold pasta salad recipe as much as I do? I consider this type of side dish the perfect addition to bring to any barbecue, potluck or church gathering.

It can be prepared easily in advance and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. In fact, I prefer to let it sit for a couple of hours so that all the ingredients can absorb the delicious flavors of the greek salad dressing, almost like a marinade.

I’m such a huge fan of easy salad recipes – there are so many possibilities to enjoy!

You can try my dill pickle pasta salad, BLT pasta salad, tuna macaroni pasta salad, Hawaiian macaroni pasta salad, and creamy pea salad for some more delicious ideas.

Recipe ingredients in bowls including bowl of farfalle pasta, sliced grape tomatoes, greek salad dressing, chopped parsley, green bell pepper, feta cheese, black olives, kalamata olives, cucumber and red onion.

Recipe Ingredients Needed

PASTA – Bowtie pasta is also known as farfalle pasta. These create a delightful shape for this pasta salad recipe. But you can really use any style of pasta noodle here including macaroni, penne and even spaghetti noodles. If you need to make this gluten-free, that’s doable too! My personal favorite is brown rice pasta.
TOMATOES – Firm ripe tomatoes of any kind will work. I used grape tomatoes sliced in half. Cherry tomatoes or Roma tomatoes can also be good options.
CUCUMBER – English cucumbers work best because they have a thin skin and fewer seeds. Slice them into 1/2″ thick rounds, then quarter them.
BELL PEPPER – Any color of bell pepper will work here. A green bell pepper adds nice color to the salad. Remove the inner seeds and chop it into bite-size pieces.
RED ONION – Raw chopped red onion is slightly sweet and a little spicy. Swap for sweet onions, green onions, or scallions.
OLIVES – A combination of sliced black olives and sliced kalamata olives add a variety of flavors. But you can also just use one or the other.
FETA – Crumbled feta cheese adds a creaminess with a bit of salty taste. Some people prefer to chop the feta into small bite-size cubes for salads, so that’s also an option here.
PARSLEY – Chopped fresh parsley will add some freshness. Swap with dried parsley if you would like.

Greek Salad Dressing

You can either make the greek salad dressing at home using a few simple ingredients, or you can use a store-bough greek salad instead. This can help to save time. Whichever you choose will work!

You can use my homemade greek salad dressing recipe which is quick and easy. This is what you’ll need:

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 minced garlic clove
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Chopped green bell pepper, cucumber, tomato and red onion on a cutting board with a knife.

How To Make Greek Pasta Salad

This recipe couldn’t be easier! Full instructions are included in the recipe card below.

COOK PASTA – Boil a large pot of salted water. Add in the pasta and cook til al dente which is a little firm but still tender. Drain the pasta through a strainer and rinse it under cold water. Shake of as much excess water as you can while pasta is in the strainer.
ASSEMBLE – Add the pasta to a large serving bowl along with tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, olives parsley and feta cheese. Toss them all together gently.
SALAD DRESSING – Add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, minced garlic, lemon juice, oregano, basil, salt and pepper to a small bowl. Whisk it all together for 1 minute. Drizzle it overtop of the salad.
MIX – Gently toss all the salad ingredients together. I prefer to just do this with clean hands as I can scoop all the ingredients that fall to the bottom. It’s messy but it works.
CHILL – Cover the salad and place it in the fridge for 1-2 hours. This will allow all the ingredients to mix and absorb that goodness from the dressing. Give it another quick toss just before serving.

How To Store Leftovers

This salad can be refrigerated for 3-4 days after making it. Store it in an airtight container or a bowl covered with plastic wrap. For meal prep it can be stored in mason jars sealed with the lid.

The veggies will lose some of their crispness over time. The longer you store the salad, the more the vegetables will become a bit soggy. Personally, I don’t like to leave leftovers longer than 2 days, but that’s just my preference.

Various vegetables and pasta noodles all in a large bowl.

Recipe Tips

This pasta salad makes a very large serving, so use the biggest bowl you have when mixing all the ingredients together.
It will taste the best when served on the same day that you make it. I recommend making it 2-3 hours before you plan to serve to allow enough time for veggies to absorb the flavors of the dressing.
Cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap in the fridge to keep the ingredients fresh and crisp.

Salad dressing poured overtop of a greek pasta salad in a large white serving bowl.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can it stay out on the counter for a couple of hours?

Yes this pasta recipe can be left out at room temperature for a few hours. This is good to know if you’re bringing it to a picnic, potluck or church gathering. It can also be a great lunch idea to bring to work!

Why is my pasta salad watery?

Overtime the vegetables will begin to release excess water into the salad. This can contribute to a watery pasta salad. This salad definitely tastes best when it’s serve the same day you make it!

How do you keep pasta salad from getting soggy?

A few things can help with this. First, make sure to cook the pasta til al dente. This is when it’s still a bit firm, but tender enough to chew. If you cook it too long, the pasta will be soggy and start to fall apart as you mix together the ingredients.

Second, you’ll want to remove the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes. Personally, I didn’t do this with grape tomatoes, but I definitely would if using regular-sized ones like roma tomatoes.

The longer the salad is stored in the fridge, the soggier it may get. This is because the vegetables will release their liquid into the salad over time.

You don’t need to worry about this as much on the same day that you make the salad. But you’ll definitely start to notice it by day 2 and especially on day 3 of storing it in the fridge.

Looking down at a greek pasta salad with farfalle pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, olives and feta cheese.

Variations

SWAP PASTA – Any style of pasta noodles will work here including macaroni, penne, rotini, and spaghetti noodles. You can also make this gluten-free by using brown rice pasta noodles. Just a quick note that not all gluten-free pasta tastes good when it’s cold, for example, chickpea pasta, so you’ll have to test it out first to check and see.
CHANGE DRESSING – Toss with a vinaigrette or Italian salad dressing. Make it creamy by mixing it with ranch or Caesar dressing. Play around with my 6 easy salad dressing recipes for different flavors.
VEGGIES – Try adding celery, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage.
CHEESE – You can use any type of cheese instead of feta. Cubed cheddar cheese, mozzarella, or parmesan would also work.

Close up of pasta, cucumber, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese in a greek pasta salad.

Greek pasta salad is the perfect side dish to serve at your next family event, barbecue, picnic, or church gathering. It couldn’t be easier to prepare. Just cook some pasta noodles, then mix them with tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper and crumbled feta. Drizzle and toss with some greek salad dressing and you’re ready to go!

More Salad Recipes

Greek Pasta Salad

This easy salad is made with bowtie pasta, crumbled feta cheese and easy chopped vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber, and bell pepper. All tossed together with crumbled feta cheese and greek salad dressing.

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Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Chill Time: 1

Total Time: 1 25

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

16 oz uncooked farfalle pasta - aka bowtie pasta
2 cups grape tomatoes - sliced in half
1 ½ cups english cucumber - sliced thick into rounds, then quartered
1 large green bell pepper - diced about 1.5 cups
⅔ cup feta cheese - crumbed
½ cup diced red onion
¼ cup sliced Kalamata olives - drained
¼ cup sliced black olives - drained
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup greek salad dressing - see notes

Instructions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package instructions. Cook al dente. Add to a strainer and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
Add all the ingredients to a large salad bowl: cooked pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, kalamata olives, black olives, and fresh parsley. Toss everything together.
Pour the salad dressing over top and sprinkle on the feta cheese.
Gently toss the salad ingredients together. Place covered in the fridge to chill 1-2 hours. Then gently stir just before serving.

Recipe Notes:

You can use a store-bought greek salad dressing or make your own using my recipe:

2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 minced garlic clove
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper