This cold tortellini salad is the ultimate side dish for bbq and potlucks! With tortellini, spinach, tomatoes, olives, and parmesan tossed in Italian dressing, this Tortellini Spinach Salad is packed with all the best flavors!
It’s so simple and so delicious, which means you can’t go wrong with it. This salad is also easy to customize and is great for any BBQ along with potato salad and baked beans!
Tortellini salad with spinach + MORE
Our family is constantly looking for yummy salads that we can add to our meals. Today, I’m sharing one of my personal favorites.
This tortellini pasta salad is especially perfect for summer barbecues and potlucks because it is PACKED with amazing flavor, yet the ingredients are so simple.
In addition to the tortellini, this recipe calls for chopped spinach, olives, parmesan cheese, and cherry tomatoes. It’s all topped off with some Italian dressing—the perfect compliment to these fresh ingredients—and served cold. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser!
how to make spinach tortellini salad
TORTELLINI. Start by cooking your tortellini according to the instructions on the package. Once it’s cooked, rinse with cold water and drain. If the cold water doesn’t completely cool the pasta down, you can stick it in the fridge until it’s cold enough to mix with the other ingredients.
MIX. Add the remaining ingredients (spinach, tomatoes, olives, cheese, and whatever else you decide to include), and toss with the dressing.
CHILL. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve or chill for at least one hour.
Additional ingredients:
We love the flavors of this recipe as it is, but like to change it up occasionally by adding:
- mini pepperonis
- Feta cheese (instead of Parmesan)
- cucumbers
- peppers or pepperoncinis
- Greek dressing (instead of Italian)
If we go the Greek route, we often add fresh basil too. Completely changes the flavor but still so good!
Can I use fresh spinach? Yes! Of course. The equivalent will be about a cup (or one large handful) of fresh spinach. Make sure you chop it up extra fine before mixing it with all the other ingredients.
How to Make Ahead + Store
Can it be made ahead of time? You can combine the tortellini, spinach, cheese, tomatoes, olives, and any other ingredients you’re including up to a day before you plan on serving.
Make sure you don’t add the dressing until right before serving to ensure the ingredients don’t get soggy.
How to store leftovers? To store leftovers, cover the dish with plastic wrap or put the leftover salad in an airtight container. Keep in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. The veggies may get soggy sooner than that, so try to use up quickly.
Can you freeze this salad? This specific tortellini salad should not be frozen. Some of the ingredients, like tomatoes, do not freeze well and when thawed out they become very watery and mushy.
What goes with tortellini salad? We love to serve this side dish with…
For more pasta salad recipes, check out:
- Easy Classic Pasta Salad
- Bowtie Pasta Salad
- Asian Pasta Salad
- Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad
- Greek Pasta Salad
- BLT Pasta Salad
- Tuscan Pasta Salad
Spinach Tortellini Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 9 oz. package cheese-filled tortellini
- 1 10 oz. package frozen, chopped spinach thawed and drained
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 2 oz. can sliced black olives
- 1 cup Italian dressing
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook tortellini pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
- In a large bowl, combine the tortellini, spinach, cheese, tomatoes and olives. Toss with Italian dressing and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- DIFFICULTY: Crazy Simple
- HOW MANY DOES IT FEED: 8
- ANY CHANGES MADE: used ½ of suggested spinach amount and Italian dressing
- ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT TIME: We liked the Italian dressing, but you can change it up if you'd like.
Adapted from: allrecipes.com
I made this recipe over the weekend and it was so yummy! And really easy to prepare – my favorite kind of recipe 😉 Kids and the hubby loved it!
Those are the best kind of recipes! Thank you so much for letting me know!
This should be refrigerated and served cold, correct? I am making it for a potluck at work and wanted to make sure.
Thanks!
Yes, it can or eaten right away. No wrong way to eat it 🙂 Hope it was a hit!
I just made this. It fed 3. 🙂 Very yummy!! Will be making this again very soon… my teenager requested that I do.
I love hearing that!! Thanks so much for sharing and for trying it!
Made this tonight it turned out wonderful thank you for sharing. I did change the dressing just because I didn’t have Italian dressing. I used an olive oil dressing it worked great.
Sounds perfect!! I’m glad you liked it! Thanks so much!
We do this with bottled Asian sesame dressing and add crunchy rice noodles and lots of fresh spinach. Love your Italian version, which makes more sense with the tortellini- LOL! I Can’t wait to try your version – yum!
Thanks for sharing and I’d love to know what you think!
Glad you enjoyed this salad—it comes from my own original recipe on all recipes.com!
Oh, it’s great!! Thank you for sharing great recipes!
This might be a dumb question but for the frozen spinach, you don’t cook it at all right? Just leave it out to thaw?
Correct. I like to run it under hot water & then squeeze all the liquid out.
Is it really one 9oz bag of tortellini? I’ve only been able to find 19oz bags?
Yes, you have to just use half the bag 🙂 I hope you do try it!
Wow! This is the best tortellini salad I have ever tried. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Recommending this everyone.
You are so welcome! Thank you so much for letting me know 🙂 And, thank you for spreading the word!
So good! I did take out the olives though haha
A hearty pasta salad that goes with any barbecue. Easy to put together and not mayo based. So yummy!
Has anyone added chopped garlic and if so how did it turn out?
Ive made your easy pasta salad that useS italian dressing and LOVE it! I really liKe this variation using the tortellini as well.
I am a huge fam of tortellini & especially love it in salads! This looks super tasty & easy to make!
Perfect for summer BBQs and picnics!
i haven’t tried this recipe yet but it is on my menu plans for this week! I am sure the whole family is gonna love it! It looks amazing!
This recipe is a go to of mine that I always bring to bbqs and party throughout the year.
It was delicious! I don’t like olives so we sauteed some minced garlic and mushrooms instead. Also I’ve never used frozed spinach so i sauteed fresh spinach. Didn’t use Italian dressing just a pinch of olive oil, salt and pepper. And since I’m not a fan of rosemary i subbed out 2/3 of the Italian seasoning for basil and oregano.
Sounds great! Glad you liked it. Thank you so much!
This dish was so easy and yummy too!!!
Glad you think so 🙂 Thank you so much!
SO happy you liked it! Thank you!
I used less than half the required dressing and it was way too much.
Thanks for trying it!
Can you use fresh spinach instead of frozen
Yes! Of course. The equivalent will be about a cup (or one large handful) of fresh spinach. Make sure you chop it up extra fine before mixing it with all the other ingredients.
Can’t wait to try this. Has anyone tried kalamata olives or are we just suppose to use black olives as it says in the recipie ??
Natalie
I have only ever tried black olives, but you could certainly swap them out for the olives of your choice. You’ll have to let us know how it turns out if you do!
Can I make this the night before and still be good? Or is it better to make day of?
Yes! You can combine the tortellini, spinach, cheese, tomatoes, olives, and any other ingredients you’re including up to a day before you plan on serving. Make sure you don’t add the dressing though until right before serving to ensure the ingredients don’t get soggy.
My family loves this salad, I use fresh spinach
So happy to hear your family enjoys the salad!!
I used fresh spinach and added avocado. It was delish. Our grocery store has pre cooked fresh tortellini so it literally took 5 mins to throw this dish together and was enough for a quick dinner.
I use fresh spinach, absolutely delish!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!! Thanks for giving it a try.