A quick and easy pasta salad side dish that is LOADED with flavor! This is the perfect potluck salad because it is so stinkin easy to create! Make it ahead of time to allow the flavors to meld for an even zestier salad. The bold flavors of pesto, fresh basil & feta pair well.
Today was the first day we grilled for the season. It was a little daunting cleaning off the grill, but the savory, juicy chicken it helped perfect was worth every minute scrubbing! The seasoned chicken paired well with this Mediterranean Diet inspired Tasty Shrimp Pesto Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese — which took just minutes from start to finish.
Just when you thought pasta salad couldn’t get any easier, I have a version that now takes just 5 minutes thanks to Barilla Ready Pasta. This new Barilla product available at Walmart is made with 3 ingredients that consist of sea salt, olive oil, and pasta. It is available in pouches that serve two each. To prepare each pouch in just 60 seconds, clip the top of the bag to vent, and microwave. After 60 seconds, you have perfectly cooked pasta.
We purchased our Barilla Ready Pasta at Walmart. If you have Shopkicks app, be sure to use your app to earn more kicks!
Normally, my Pesto Pasta Salads take about 20 minutes to make, but with Barilla Ready Pasta it is greatly reduced to just 5 minutes! I purchased the feta cheese, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and Barilla Basil Pesto & Barilla Ready Pasta at Walmart. I had the basil plant at home because I love the fresh flavor of basil.
To make a platter of Shrimp Pesto Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese I used 2 bags of Barilla Ready Pasta. It made enough pasta for 8 people once I added the fully cooked 1/2 lb of shrimp, veggies, and Barilla Basil Pesto Sauce.
Use tongs or a wooden spoon to serve. This dish is my NEW favorite for potlucks because it is so darn easy!
Tasty Shrimp Pesto Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese
Ingredients
- 17 ounces Barilla Ready Pasta Elbows (2 8.5 ounce bags) or 16 ounces regular pasta
- 1 large cucumber chopped
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 8 leaves basil
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 6 ounces feta cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoons red onion diced
- 1/2 lb fully cooked shrimp tails off, peeled
Instructions
- Cook Barilla Ready Pasta for 60 seconds. If you are not using Ready Pasta, cook elbow macaroni pasta until al dente.
- While pasta is cooking, chop/prep veggies in a large bowl.
- When pasta is done, rinse with cold water, and drain.
- Add drained pasta, shrimp, feta, veggies, and pesto into a large bowl and mix well.
- Allow salad to chill. See notes.
Now this is something my hubby would LOVE! His favorite food is anything with Feta! He loves feta! This would be a great side dish for a Father’s day meal!
That looks so good! I love how light and fresh it is.
That pesto looked so tasty and I will try and get some at my next shop. That pasta that cooks up so fast so it makes cooking so much easier.
My daughter loves pasta. I need to try making these Ready Made Pasta’s for her when I am in a time crunch. Super convenient!
This looks SO GOOD. I didn’t even think of using ready pasta for a pasta salad but that is the perfect use case. It is done super fast and in the fridge to chill. Perfect.
Omg that really looks SO fresh and fun! I could eat this for lunch every day… I absolutely love pesto, too and the fact that it’s so quick to make is really awesome.
Oh my word, this looks absolutely incredible. My husband LOVES shrimp, so I need to make this. 5 minutes??
This sounds like the absolute perfect summer side dish (or lunch!)! I can’t even believe that the pasta is ready made and you don’t need to turn on the oven – perfection!
This looks so delicious and easy to make. I am always looking for new easy meal ideas. Feta cheese is my favorite.
Oh my gosh – that looks so good. And I love how quick and easy it is to make. My kind of meal.
This looks delicious! I need an easy and yummy meal a few times per week or I just can’t keep it together. Thanks for sharing!
This is my kind of salad. I love how quick it is to make using Barilla Ready Pasta.
This salad looks simply scrumptious. I am actually looking to add more Mediterranean foods to my diet. Can’t wait to try this.