Cobb Pasta Salad is the perfect summer meal alongside a cold refreshing glass of iced tea! Loaded with juicy tomatoes, crisp bacon, avocados and cheese, this pasta salad can save the day at dinner time or be the star dish at any picnic or potluck spread!
I’m not sure about you, but I’m loving that I can finally soak in some sunshine, send my daughter outside to play and harvest veggies from my garden! Summer is a time for fresh air and enjoying being outside instead of fussing around in the kitchen all day long. I really try to keep meals simple and since it gets so hot here in the afternoon and early evening, I like to prep ahead as much as I can. Pasta salads fit the bill perfectly!
Everyone loves a good pasta salad recipe, and even better, this recipe can be made well ahead of time, doesn’t take a ton of work and keeps in the fridge for days! The perfect meal to enjoy while sipping on a NESTEA Iced Tea!
As much as I love a great pasta salad (especially Dill Pickle Pasta Salad), I love a fresh garden salad too! Cobb salad is a favorite around here since I love pretty much every single thing in it … bacon, avocado, cheese, boiled eggs all tossed in a creamy dressing… what’s not to love!
In fact, Cobb Salad has been wildly popular for about 80 years and has become an essential summer salad recipe! Last week I was going to whip up a pasta salad and I knew the flavors of a Cobb Salad would be amazing as a Cobb Pasta Salad… I was right!
To make this extra quick, I usually buy a salad dressing in either blue cheese or ranch but if time allows (and your garden is overflowing with herbs) you can use my homemade buttermilk ranch dressing recipe.
A fun little trick to always remember exactly what to put in your Cobb Salad lies in the acronym EAT COBB; Eggs, Avocado, Tomatoes, Chicken, Onion, Bacon and of course Blue Cheese! (If blue cheese isn’t your thing, you can use feta, swiss or sharp cheddar).
We love to sit out on the deck, grab frosty bottles of NESTEA Peach Tea and enjoy our meal on a warm summer evening. If you haven’t tried NESTEA Peach Tea, it’s delicious… refreshing and just the right amount of sweet with a summery peach flavor. Perfect alongside ANY pasta salad recipe! You can also find more great Simple Solutions here including lots of quick and easy recipe ideas plus a chance to win a three day trip for two to Vail, Colorado, $500 cash, and a supply of Nestea products (enter here)!
Ok back to the pasta salad… here are a few tips to make sure you always have the absolute PERFECT pasta salads!
How to Make Pasta Salad
- Cook your pasta al dente (firm) according to package directions. Over cooked pasta = a mushy salad.
- Salt your pasta water. Don’t skip it, it makes a difference!
- If your pasta salad is being made ahead of time, add extra dressing. The pasta will soak up dressing and if you don’t have enough it’ll seem dry.
- The ratio for a typical pasta salad is:
- 1 lb pasta
- 6-8 cups of add ins (meats, veggies etc)
- cheese and/or olives for flavor
- 1 cup of mayonnaise or dressing
- seasonings to taste
- Save a little bit of each “add-in” to garnish the salad.
The creamy avocado, bacon, soft eggs and ripe juicy tomatoes that taste like the summer sun and the heartiness of penne pasta create a salad that I could eat almost every day! When this delicious Cobb Pasta Salad is paired with a NESTEA Peach Tea, it tastes like all of the great flavors of summer have been captured and are waiting to be savored!
Cobb Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne or other medium pasta
- 1 ½ cups grape tomatoes halved
- 8 slices bacon cooked & crumbled
- 2 cups chicken diced
- 4 hard boiled eggs peeled & chopped
- 1 large avocado peeled & diced
- 4 green onions sliced
- ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 cup ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Run under cold water.
- Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add dressing and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nestea. The opinions and text are all mine.
More Recipes You’ll Love
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nestea. The opinions and text are all mine.
I want to just think this young lady for putting her recipes on line I am saving several of them we have a ladies Bible study once a month where we all bring a dish of some sort we have game night at our church once a month where we actually like 42 and Uno and whatever else they can come up with again everybody brings a dish and I can’t hardly wait to use some of these recipes I’m going to give it five stars because all the ingredients sounds exactly what I would use it’s just been so long since I’ve done a lot of this kind of cooking I usually make a roast or something I just want something different for the ladies meeting especially I was looking for a chicken salad sandwich and found all these other recipes so thank you this is Karen King from Fort Worth Texas
So happy these recipes have been turning out so good for you, Karen!
Look good
I am vegan and I love your recipes because I can exchange the ingredients with my vegan choice items. I love the way your instructions are very clear to understand. Thank you for sharing your dishes❤
So happy to hear that Damaris! So glad you are able to enjoy our recipes.
Excited to get new ideas
I hope you find many to try Mary!
I was wondering if you have to finish the salad I need a night before the avocado turns or do you have a way to keep it fresh? Thanks sounds amazing
We make it as written and still enjoy it the next day. You could also add the avocado just before serving (or to each serving) if you’d like.
This looks awesome! I love the Cobb twist with the eggs and the avocado! And yes in the summer, keeping things as simple and easy as possible is the way to go!
Thank you Averie! I love avocado too!