The first time I made this Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad was for a party that I was hosting. It was one of those good accidents because I was out of the pasta that I normally use so I saw these in the freezer and thought what the heck! And oh my goodness, EVERYONE raved about it! My husband thinks it is the best pasta salad in the history of the world! And that is saying a lot because he loves everything I make! This is loaded with veggies, meats and cheeses! And the combination of ranch and Italian dressing might seem strange, but I am telling you, it is DELICIUOS!
And check out these other great cookout dishes while you are here!
Grandma’s Old Fashioned Potato Salad
Sunshine Broccoli Supreme Salad
Lipton Onion Soup Roasted Potatoes
Can it be made ahead?
Yes! This can be made up to 4-5 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. I recommend giving it a quick stir every day if you do so!
What are the Ingredients?
- 36 oz bag of frozen cheese tortellini (or you can use fresh if you like)
- 1 diced red onion
- 1 diced green bell pepper
- 1 diced red bell pepper
- 4 oz cubed cheddar cheese
- 4 oz cubed pepper jack cheese
- 8 oz mozzarella pearls
- 5 oz bag of mini pepperonis
- 2.25 oz can of sliced black olives
- 1 cup sliced banana pepper rings
- 1 lb sliced andouille sausage
- 16 oz bottle of ranch dressing
- 16 oz bottle of Italian dressing
Please keep in mind that this is a very customizable dish! You can omit anything you don’t like and of course add anything too! Be creative as you like!
How to Make Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad
To start, you will boil the pasta according to the package directions. This one only took 3 minutes! Then you will drain it and rinse it under cold water until it is completely cooled.
Next you want to chop up your veggies. This is most of the prep work right here and if you want to make it really easy, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this chopper that I found on Amazon! I used to not be able to chop onions because they make my eyes water so bad. This has been a total game changer!
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You also will need to slice up your sausage but I did not get any pictures of that so use your imagination!
And now you just toss everything into a large salad bowl and mix!
You can use any type of dressing you like, I just really like this brand and it is usually what I buy!
Once you have it all mixed up, you want to let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour and then it is time to serve!
What to serve it with
Basically ANYTHING! It goes great with any kind of grilled or smoked meats such as these Garlic Butter Pork Chop Bites or this Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork. It is really meant to be a dish for a crowd, which usually means a potluck so take this to your next one and watch how fast it goes!
If you do make this recipe, please leave a comment and a rating! I love hearing from you and it helps so much! Thank you!
Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 36 oz Bag of Frozen cheese Tortellini
- 1 Red Onion, diced
- 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
- 4 oz Cheddar Cheese, cubed
- 4 oz Pepper Jack Cheese, cubed
- 8 oz Package of Mozzarella Pearls
- 5 oz Bag of Mini Pepperoni slices
- 2.25 oz Can of Sliced Black Olives
- 1 Cup Sliced Banana Pepper Rings
- 1 lb Sliced Andouille Sausage
- 16 oz Bottle of Ranch Dressing
- 16 oz Bottle of Italian Dressing
Instructions
- Prepare the tortellini according to the package directions, then drain and rinse under cold water until completely cooled.
- Transfer to a large bowl and dump the rest of the ingredients in and mix well
- Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving and enjoy!