This dirty martini pasta salad was inspired by the viral recipe for blue cheese stuffed olive lovers! The blue cheese basically dissolves into the dish to create a tangy, slightly funky, and absolutely delicious pasta salad recipe that's perfect for warm weather!
Table of Contents
What is Dirty Martini Pasta Salad
Dirty Martini Pasta Salad is a cold pasta dish that was inspired by the viral instagram recipe from @LegallyHealthyBlonde.
Unlike the original recipe, this is served chilled with tons of buttery castelvetrano olives, tangy blue cheese crumbles, fresh parsley, toasted pine nuts and lemon.
The dressing is a combination of garlic expressions (or your favorite garlicky Italian dressing), lemon juice and olive brine.
And even if you don't really like blue cheese, trust me on it. The blue cheese dissolves into the dressing and makes a creamy, salty, and slightly tangy taste without being too funky or strong.
It is heaven and I know you're going to love it!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pasta - I'm using Mafalda Corta which I got at Trader Joes but you could use any pasta shape you desire!
- Parsley - If you don't have parsley, it's prob best to use arugula rather than an herb since it doesn't have too strong of a taste.
- Castelvetrano Olives - These buttery olives make all the difference! Unlike regular olives, they aren't super salty and briney but they are buttery and slightly sweet which makes them perfect for this recipe!
- Blue Cheese - Blue cheese isn't 100% necessary but it's sooo good! Even if you don't like it, start with ¼ a cup then taste! Add more if you can because it is so good!
- Toasted Pine Nuts - I added these for textural value and they add the perfect little nutty touch. If you don't have them, I'd leave them out.
- Lemon - Since you need the zest and the juice, there is no real sub for it!
- Garlic Expressions - If you don't have garlic expressions, you can make your own simple garlicky vinagrette or just use another italian dressing like Aldi's House Dressing. The roasted garlic cloves in the Garlic Expressions bottle just give it so much flavor!
How to make it
Making this easy blue cheese pasta salad recipe is super easy!
To begin, just cook the pasta, strain it, and while it's cooling off, you'll want to prep the other ingredients!
Once the pasta is cool, add it to a large bowl then add the rest of the ingredients.
Stir everything together and toss it around.
Give it a taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
What goes with this Pasta Salad?
I love bringing this pasta salad to bbqs, picnics and pretty much every summer get together ever!
If I were making it for lunch, I'd pair it with these teriyaki turkey burgers or even these italian sliders on hawaiian buns.
If you want more tasty pasta recipes, try out this creamy white lasagna soup, this viral tiktok one pot lemon pasta, or this sun dried tomat orzo.
Save this post for later
Want to save this dirty martini pasta salad recipe for another time? You know I have your back!
You can pin any image on this page or use the pretty ones I made below specifically for your summer picnic pinterest boards.
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And if pinterest isn't really your thing, you can always scroll down to the bottom of this post and print the printable recipe card.
Recipe
Dirty Martini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- ½ lb malfa corta pasta
- ½ cup parsley roughly chopped
- 1 heaping cup castelvetrano olives smashed
- ¼ cup of the brine from the olives
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 2 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
- 1 medium lemon zested
- ½ lemon, juiced
- ⅓ cup garlic expressions
Instructions
- Prepare pasta al dente and rinse off with cool water until its cool to the touch.
- Pour it in a bowl and add parsley, olives, the olive brine, blue cheese crumbles, toasted pine nuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic expressions.
- Add a pinch of flaky salt and some cranks of fresh cracked pepper.
- Stir it up and enjoy!
Jeff Winett says
I saw this recipe on Instagram. MacKenzie thew out that if you wanted the recipe, just send her a message. I did just that, and she sent me the link. That part was warm and just so neighborly of MacKenzie. I made this for our dinner last night, and it is a stunner. So much flavor, and pleasing textures. I've never been a big fan of pasta salads until I started using my pressure cooker for short stubby types of pasta. Pasta becomes so tender. If I were Italian, I would be a bad one I guess...I just don't go for al dente. Besides which, when al dente pasta meets liquid I find that it soaks into the noodle, becoming a tad too dry. LOVE this dish.