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    Home » Recipes » Sides

    Modified: Feb 3, 2025 · Published: Jul 1, 2020 by Melinda O'Malley Keckler · This post may contain affiliate links · this blog generates income from ads.

    Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas is a delicious, homemade pasta salad that's super easy and ready in a snap. Pasta, pesto sauce, frozen peas and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. That's it. The result is a zesty, aromatic pasta salad that's ready to serve in 20 minutes!

    This is a versatile side dish that goes well with any protein, especially chicken or grilled meats. Serve it with Smoked Salmon on a Pellet Grill or Buttermilk Chicken Tenders for a wonderful meal!

    Pesto pasta salad being served from a bowl with parmesan cheese on top
    Jump to:
    • 🥗 Ingredients to Have on Hand
    • 🥣 How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas
    • 🍽 How to Serve Pesto Pasta Salad
    • ⭐ Pro Tip
    • 🍲 Pasta Shapes for Pesto Salad
    • ⭐ Pro Tip
    • 💭 Recipe FAQs
    • 👩🏻‍🍳 The Inspiration
    • 🌡️ How to Store Leftovers
    • 🥙 More Salad Recipes
    • Recipe
    • Comments

    🥗 Ingredients to Have on Hand

    Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas is by far one of the easiest recipes to prepare, but the lack of a lengthy ingredient list or long preparation time is no reflection on the flavor factor. Here's all you need:

    Pasta: Use three cups of pasta in a variety of shapes, one cup of each shape. This gives the salad a unique texture. It's great to keep a variety of pasta shapes on hand in the pantry for recipes such as Sweet Corn Pasta Salad, Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese and Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese.

    Peas: Regular, frozen peas from the freezer section of the grocery store are perfect. I like to keep frozen peas on hand for my English Pea Salad too!

    Pesto Sauce: You can either make fresh pesto at home or buy store-bought pesto.

    Parmesan Cheese: This adds a hint of saltiness to the pasta salad and it balances the sweetness of the peas while bringing out the natural nuttiness of pesto.

    Scroll to the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

    🥣 How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas

    cooked pasta

    Step 1: Cook 3 cups of pasta in various shapes. Boil in salted water according to the directions on the box, likely at least 10-11 minutes but cook the pasta until it's tender, not chewy. Drain the pasta, rinse lightly with a little cool water from the kitchen faucet and place it in a medium-sized bowl. (Photo above.)

    Frozen peas in a small bowl.
    Step 2: You won't need to be precise when you add the peas to the bowl with the pasta, roughly 2 cups of frozen peas is perfect and the peas can be added straight from the freezer, no need to defrost. (Photo above.)
    Pesto sauce in spoon over a bowl of pesto
    Step 3: You can either make fresh pesto or use store-bought pesto. You'll need one cup of pesto, but again measuring with precision is not required with this pasta salad recipe.
    A bowl of pesto pasta salad with parmesan cheese shredded on top

    Step 4: Stir the pasta, pesto and peas together. The warm pasta will help defrost the frozen peas. Then add freshly grated Parmesan cheese. (Photo above.)

    A bowl of pesto pasta salad with a serving spoon on the side

    🍽 How to Serve Pesto Pasta Salad

    It's especially convenient to serve Pesto Salad with Peas in the summer as a BBQ side dish, but honestly, it's equally delicious served any time of year with burgers, Cheeseburger Pie with a Flaky Crust, Dutch Oven Chicken, No Ketchup Meatloaf or a pork loin. It's ideal for potlucks or office parties too!

    ⭐ Pro Tip

    This can easily be served as a main dish. Just top each serving with a grilled chicken breast, or cooked fish like Skillet-Glazed Salmon. Delicious!

    You can serve Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas warm, at room temperature or chilled. I think It's best served cold, but there's no reason to chill it for hours before serving.

    Simply toss the ingredients with the cooked pasta and refrigerate until you are ready to eat. It doesn't matter if that's in 15 minutes or a few hours.

    🍲 Pasta Shapes for Pesto Salad

    I recommend using at least two, but ideally three different shapes of pasta for this recipe. Those various shapes give the pesto plenty of space to hide and add a lot of eye appeal.

    ⭐ Pro Tip

    Be sure to cook the pasta just past the al dente stage. Boiling it for one or two minutes in addition to the cooking time listed on the pasta box is usually perfect. Cooking time varies depending on the shape of the pasta.

    This is one of those rare pasta recipes where you want the pasta to be slightly soft instead of chewy. That way the pasta doesn't get hard or even crunchy after being blended with the other ingredients and cooled.

    Pesto pasta salad being served from a bowl with parmesan cheese on top

    💭 Recipe FAQs

    Can I swap peas for different veggies?

    You sure can, and it may be delicious that way, but I recommend sticking with the peas. Let me know in the comments if you tinker with the ingredients and love the outcome.

    What's a good substitute for Parmesan cheese?

    Pecorino Romano has a similar taste, but the texture is more crumbly. Aged Asiago is also good, although the flavor is more mild than Parmesan.

    👩🏻‍🍳 The Inspiration

    There's a grocery store in Boise, Idaho called the Co-op, it's a community-owned natural foods store (not affiliated with this blog or sponsored) and they sell delicious deli salads, including one called "Four P Salad." This recipe for Pesto Pasta with Peas is my copycat version of their delicious pasta recipe.

    🌡️ How to Store Leftovers

    Pesto Pasta Salad stays fresh for 2 - 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Keep it covered. I love to keep a bowl is this on hand because it's so easy to scoop up a serving for a fast lunch.

    🥙 More Salad Recipes

    Looking for more side salads to share? Here are a few of my favorites!

    • A small bowl of shrimp cocktail with lettuce, lemon, celery and avocado.
      Shrimp Cocktail Cups
    • Four photos of summer salads plus text.
      20 BEST Potluck Salads & Sides for Summer
    • A bowl of green bean salad with a serving spoon, a napkin on the side and peppers near the bowl.
      Mixed Bean Salad
    • A serving of chicken curry with grapes, held over a plate.
      Chicken Curry Salad with Grapes

    If you make Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas I'd love to hear how it turned out. Please leave a 🌟 star rating and a comment below. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

    Recipe

    Pesto pasta salad being served from a bowl with parmesan cheese on top

    Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas

    Pasta, pesto sauce, frozen peas and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. That's it! The result is a zesty, aromatic pasta salad that is the perfect complement to burgers, grilled chicken, ribs, steaks or simply a potluck side dish. Serve with Cheeseburger Sliders made with Hawaiian Rolls for a wonderful flavor combination!
    4.99 from 97 votes
    Print Rate Pin Recipe
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Servings: 6 people, as a side dish
    Calories: 378kcal
    Author: Melinda O'Malley Keckler

    Ingredients 

    • 1 cup mini penne pasta
    • 1 cup rotini pasta
    • 1 cup elbow pasta
    • salt to taste
    • 2 cups peas - frozen
    • 1 cup pesto - store-bought or better yet, make your own fresh pesto - it's easy!
    • ½ cup parmesan cheese - fresh grated for garnish

    Instructions

    • Place all three pasta types in boiling water, add salt and cook for 10 - 11 minutes or until pasta is slightly past the al dente stage, you'll want the pasta to be soft.
      Drain and rinse with cold water, just enough to take the steam off the hot pasta, but it can still be warm.
      Place pasta in a large bowl and add the frozen peas. Stir gently to help defrost the peas.
      Add 1 cup pesto and stir to combine. Refrigerate until chilled. Serve right away, or cover and let the flavors mingle until the next day.
      Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Delicious.

    Notes

    I recommend using fresh pesto in this recipe, but in a pinch, store-bought works fine - but be sure to use frozen peas.
    Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas goes great with pizza! Make your own Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza and top it with Garlic Parmesan Pizza Sauce for an incredible flavor combination with this pasta salad. 
    Calories: 378kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 13gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 525mgPotassium: 206mgFiber: 5gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1268IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 185mgIron: 2mg

    Please note, the nutrition details are estimated using a food database, so they’re just a rough estimate not an exact science.

    Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment below or @crinkledcookbook on Instagram, snap a photo and tag it #crinkledcookbook

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    Comments

      4.99 from 97 votes (94 ratings without comment)

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    1. Sarah says

      June 22, 2021 at 2:56 am

      5 stars
      Well that looks fresh and delicious. You could pair this with some roast chook from the supermarket for an easy and delicious meal, yum! 🙂

      Reply
    2. Gabriela Herrera says

      June 20, 2021 at 5:55 pm

      5 stars
      Carbs on carbs dont threaten me with a good time. The fact that there are peas and pesto in here is just divine. Great as a dinner before a long run.

      Reply
    3. Kalin says

      June 19, 2021 at 5:56 pm

      Loving all the p’s! It’s hard to not love anything with pasta and Parmesan 😉

      Reply
    4. Gregory Halpen says

      June 19, 2021 at 3:50 pm

      5 stars
      Yum! This is so up my alley! I love this salad. 🙂

      Reply

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