Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

Earlier this summer, I finally got around to finally hashing out and perfecting a recipe I’d been mentally working up for a while - a Dill Pickle Potato Salad, that used a technique from my Gramma's Potato Salad.

Her recipe involved marinating hot potatoes in Italian dressing, then chilling them before adding the mayonnaise and other ingredients.

It’s an absolutely spectacular potato salad, and using the same basic idea made a WONDERFUL pickle based potato salad.

My husband and I are suckers for all things dill pickle flavoured, so it really didn’t take long before I decided to ALSO do a pasta salad, using the same idea.

I don’t have many pasta salad recipes - just my Antipasto Salad and - more traditionally - my ”Marie's Pasta Salad” recipe.

This one is more like the latter, than the former - a relatively traditional pasta salad format, just very much pickle themed!

The flavours and textures are all perfectly balanced, with a fantastic pickle flavour that is JUST right!

It’s super easy to make and is sure to be a crowd pleaser... so let’s take a look at what you’ll need, to throw on a batch!

Ingredients

This recipe uses pretty basic ingredients - you won’t have any trouble finding everything you need in pretty much any large grocery store.

As always, I have some ingredient notes for you:

Pasta

This recipe was developed using Rotini Pasta, because really... we find it the most fun to eat. Fusilli Pasta and Cavatappi pasta will be the best substitutes, on that front.

That said, feel free to substitute whatever pasta you prefer, with just one caveat:

This amount of dressing is perfect for Rotini, which has a lot more surface area than most pastas.

If you’d like to use a different pasta, you’ll likely need less dressing. Start with about ⅔ of the dressing this makes, and add more if you like!

Pickles

Pickles are used three times in this recipe - actual pickles in the finished pasta salad, and pickle brine - AKA pickle juice - both to “marinade” the pasta, and as the acidic ingredient in the dressing.

You can use any kind of pickles you like, just keep in mind that they’re forming the base flavour for this recipe - that “That you like” part is key!

I recommend using some variety of dill pickles, as that’s what this recipe was designed around.

That could be my wild bias against sweet pickles coming out, but even if I didn’t think they were inedible monstrosities... I really do think dill pickles - or garlic dill pickles - would work best, here.

We tend to use (mass market, not super authentic!) Polskie Ogorki pickles.

Dill

I use two forms of dill in this recipe - dried dill / dill weed in the dressing, and fresh dill / baby dill in the assembly of the pasta salad.

If you don’t have dill weed, you can use ¼ cup fresh dill in the dressing - just chop it really fine.

Fresh dill really is best for the actual assembly of the pickle pasta salad, but if you don’t have it, you can add ~1 tablespoon Dill Weed when you mix the veggies in.

Cheddar Cheese

I like to use either Mild Cheddar Cheese or Sharp Cheddar cheese in this pasta salad recipe - it’s just what I’m used to, for pasta salad!

That said, have some fun with it.

Gouda or Havarti would work really well also. If you want to boost the dill flavour, feel free to use a Dill Havarti!

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Mayonnaise (Full Fat Mayo is best)
Greek Yogurt (or Sour Cream)
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Celery Ribs
Green Onions
Salt

I really don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!

How to Make Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a pictorial walk through, with full step-by-step instructions.

Dill Pickle Dressing

In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste, then cover and chill until ready to use.

Pasta Salad

Get a large pot of water boiling, salt it well. Cook pasta to al dente, according to package directions.

Drain the pasta well, and place in a large mixing bowl.

Pour ½ cup of pickle juice over the hot pasta, gently toss to coat. Allow to cool to room temperature, gently stirring once in a while.

Once pasta is cool, stir one last tome to incorporate any remaining pickle brine.

Add the cheese, pickles, green onions, celery, and dill to the bowl, gently stir to combine.

Pour the creamy dill pickle dressing over pasta salad, gently toss to completely coat.

Taste, season with additional salt and/or pepper, to taste.

Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Leftovers

Leftover pickle pasta salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

It’s best eaten within the first 3 days, though - just give it a quick stir before serving.

More Side Salads!

Looking for more side salad recipes? Here are a few great options for your next BBQ or potluck:

Antipasto Salad
Best Coleslaw EVER!
Canadian Candy Bar Salad
Cold Smoked Potato Salad
Creamy Cucumber Salad
Creamy Dill Pickle Coleslaw
Dill Pickle Potato Salad
"Extreme" Caesar Salad Recipe
Gramma's Potato Salad
Keto Broccoli Salad
Keto Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Low Carb Cauliflower "Potato" Salad
Mango Salad
Marie's Pasta Salad
Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
No Tomato Quinoa Tabbouleh
Rainbow Salad with Carrot Dressing
Roasted Corn & Potato Salad
Roasted Radish Salad
Wild Rice & Edamame Salad