This easy to make delicious pasta salad is the perfect side dish for your next backyard BBQ or a main course for these endless hot summer days! Fresh basil, ripe cherry tomatoes, creamy mozzarella cheese all combined with a simple dressing add a classic caprese salad flavor to this easy pasta salad recipe.
We love adding thin sliced prosciutto and artichokes to the mix making this salad a complete main course! Olive oil and lemon juice have always been a favorite flavor combination and together they add so much flavor to this simple pasta salad. You could use any fresh mozzarella cheese for this recipe; however, we love using pearl mozzarella balls. They are the perfect bite sized creamy mozzarella treat!
If you love pasta as much as we do try our Easy One Pan Shrimp Linguine or our Spinach Artichoke Asiago Pasta
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What You're Going to Need!
- Fresh mozzarella - we used pearl mozzarella, but any fresh mozzarella cut into small pieces will work.
- Pasta - most pasta shapes will work as long as it's a short pasta like bowtie pasta and it's cooked Al dente.
- Fresh basil - adds so much flavor to this simple pasta salad.
- Prosciutto - thin sliced then cut into small pieces is what we used for this recipe.
- Artichokes - jarred artichoke quarters are perfect for this pasta salad.
- Sweet cherry tomatoes - grape tomatoes or even a large tomato cut into small pieces.
- Extra virgin olive oil - is key in creating the simple dressing for this recipe.
- Lemon juice - fresh lemon juice always adds so much flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
Recipe
Lemon Basil Pasta Salad with Mozzarella & Prosciutto
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook the pasta al dente according to the package directions. Rinse the pasta under cold water until cooled down. And place it into a large bowl.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Cut the prosciutto, and artichokes into small pieces of similar size and add them to the large bowl.
- Chiffonade the fresh basil leaves and add them to the bowl. See instructions on how to chiffonade basil in the post.
- Juice the lemons and add the lemon juice to a small bowl followed by the extra virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic. Using a small whisk or a fork combine the ingredients in the small bowl.
- Add the simple dressing in the small bowl to the remaining ingredients in the large bowl. Using a kitchen spoon stir to combine the ingredients and evenly and coat the pasta.
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!How to Chiffonade Basil & Leafy Greens
If you have ever been confused by a recipe direction asking you to chiffonade basil leaves or for that matter any leafy green, leaves let us help you understand what that term means! The meaning of the word chiffonade in French is "made of rags" or "little ribbons". So, in order to make little ribbons with your basil leaves, you are first going to remove the leaves from the stems and stack them in a pile. From there you will roll the leaves into what looks like a small cigar. Then using a sharp knife slice the basil cigar from the tip to the end creating small thin ribbons of the basil leaves! You can use this same technique with any flat leaf green herb or vegetable.
How to Make the Best Lemon Basil Pasta Salad
- After cooking the pasta al dente and cooling it down, add it and the fresh basil, cherry tomatoes (cut in half), fresh mozzarella, prosciutto (cut into bite sized pieces), and artichokes to a large bowl. Combine the olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and remaining ingredients to a small bowl and combine using a small whisk.
- Using a kitchen spoon stir to combine all of the ingredients ensuring the pasta is evenly coated with the salad dressing.
Chef Tip
The best part of making a large batch of this pasta salad is it gets better as it sits! For the best results the next day add a small amount of olive oil to the salad and stir it to coat the ingredients. Taste the pasta and adjust the seasoning to taste.
Substitutions & Variations
- Vegetarian - omit the prosciutto and this recipe becomes vegetarian!
- Gluten free - substitute the pasta with a gluten free pasta of your choice.
- Vegetables - add as many favorite vegetables as you like! Summer is a great time of year for fresh vegetables.
Storage & Helpful Hints
This delicious simple pasta salad only gets better when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours before serving. It will last for at least 4 days in the refrigerator.
When you are ready to serve the pasta add a little bit more olive oil and stir to loosen it. The pasta while it sits will absorb the dressing and will benefit from adding a bit more oil and seasoning.
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FAQ
You sure can! Grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the finished pasta before serving.
sallylive2025 says
nice to see you on COS Town Tidings today!!!
Jason Miller says
I was happy to see our recipe there too!