Tortellini Caprese Pasta Salad – 🥗🍅🌿🧀 All the flavors of traditional caprese salad including tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, but with cheese tortellini to add a comfort food factor that everyone ADORES! Tossed in a light balsamic vinaigrette which adds loads of flavor without being heavy. So EASY, ready in 20 minutes, perfect for summer days, a quick work lunch, or as a family favorite dinner side dish!
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Easy Tortellini Caprese Pasta Salad Recipe
Who doesn’t love a good caprese salad? My family and I will almost order it if it’s on a restaurant menu. And I’ve got many caprese recipe versions on my site including Balsamic Chicken Caprese Salad, Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad, and many more. Make sure to check out the recipe suggestions below the recipe card in this post for ideas!
For this caprese salad version, which includes juicy cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil, I beefed it up (not with beef) but with cheese tortellini and a bit of fresh spinach. Anytime pasta is involved, the comfort food factor goes way up. Not to mention, you’ll feel full longer.
I dressed this easy tortellini pasta caprese salad with a quick homemade whisk-together vinaigrette that consists of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic, and onion powder. It’s light yet packed with flavor that enhances these simple ingredients without weighing them down.
A final drizzle of balsamic glaze is the pièce de résistance! Ever so slightly sweet, tangy, and the perfect finishing touch for this easy pasta salad recipe that’s naturally vegetarian – perfect if you’re serving it to a mixed group.
It’s great for summer holidays like Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, pool parties, graduation parties, or casual backyard entertaining. It’s also a great easy lunch that’s ready in 20 minutes or a great side for dinner.
Ingredients in Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Tortellini – I use cheese tortellini but any type of tortellini you like are fine
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Garlic cloves
- Balsamic vinegar
- Italian seasoning
- Onion powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Cherry or grape tomatoes
- Mozzarella pearls (mozzarella balls)
- Fresh baby spinach
- Fresh basil
- Balsamic glaze – store bought is fine or make homemade balsamic reduction (or glaze)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Caprese Tortellini Salad
- Boil the tortellini in a large pot of water according to package instructions, rinse under cold water, drain, strain, and transfer to a large bowl.
- While the pasta is boiling, in a separate medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, balsamic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- To the large mixing bowl with the cooked tortellini, add the tomatoes, mozzarella, spinach, and basil.
- Drizzle with balsamic glaze, toss, and serve immediately. Or cover and chill the salad until you’re ready to serve it.
what to serve with tortellini caprese salad
Storage + Make Ahead Directions
Refrigerator Storage: This recipe will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. It’s not suitable for freezing.
Make-Ahead: If making this for an event or party, feel free to prep it 24 hours in advance and store covered in the fridge until your event.
Recipe FAQs
There’s actually quite a big difference between these two – and the recipe calls for both. Balsamic vinegar is vinegar made from unfermented grape juice so as vinegar goes, it’s slightly sweeter than other types of vinegars (red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or just ‘regular’ white vinegar).
Balsamic glaze, or sometimes called balsamic reduction (but they mean the same thing), is balsamic vinegar that’s been simmered together with sugar over time on the stove. It’s much thicker, and much sweeter, than balsamic vinegar. However, it’s still not what one would call ‘sweet’ per se, but it’s just sweet enough when drizzled over a salad to give the perfect light touch of sweetness.
With both of these ingredients, add to taste.
Any type you want! Cheese feels the most logical for me, but if you have another type such as ricotta and spinach, sausage, etc. go for it. If you want to omit the tortellini, that’s fine too, to create what I’d call a deconstructed caprese salad.
You can go either way here. With some grape tomatoes (especially the ones I buy at Trader Joe’s), they’re already slender and quite small and I don’t find it necessary to halve them. With cherry tomatoes, which can sometimes be quite a bit larger, you can halve them if desired.
You can definitely use other types of tomatoes. Truthfully, cherry and grape tomatoes tend to be quite a bit more expensive ounce-for-ounce than other types of tomatoes. So if it’s tomato season and your garden is overflowing with heirloom tomatoes or you bought lots at the market, use those. Roma, hothouse, whatever you like. Seed them if they’re abundantly seedy.
Yes you sure can if you’d like to amp up the greenery and nutrients. Arugula is great, most any “spring mix” will work, butter lettuce, chopped kale, there’s really no wrong lettuce here. I also love adding fresh mint if I have it on hand in addition to the fresh basil.
I am all about trying to increase protein when it’s easy and convenient. Adding leftover chicken such as 20-Minute Perfect Baked Chicken, Grilled Lemon Chicken, shredded rotisserie chicken, or whatever you’ve got on hand is what I would do.
I have also have Balsamic Chicken Caprese Salad or Pesto Chicken Caprese Salad which both have chicken built into the recipe and are both wonderful.
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Tortellini Caprese Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 14 ounces cheese tortellini, (or your favorite tortellini)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 16 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved if desired (grape tomatoes or other tomatoes may be substituted)
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese pearls, drained if sold in liquid
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced (chiffonade)
- Balsamic glaze, for drizzling as desired
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. While the tortellini are boiling, move on to the steps.
- To a medium bowl or large glass measuring cup, add the oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper, and whisk to combine. Taste the vinaigrette and make any necessary flavor tweaks, i.e. more salt, pepper, and you may want to consider a pinch of granulated sugar. I find it balances the overall flavor profile, but everyone's preferences vary. Set vinaigrette aside.
- To the large bowl with the cooked tortellini, add the tomatoes, mozzarella, spinach, basil, evenly drizzle with the vinaigrette, and toss to coat evenly. Taste and check for seasoning balance. Flavoring Tips – If it tastes at all flat or boring, it may need more salt (or pepper) so don't be afraid to add them. Add another splash of balsamic vinegar if it lacks acidity or a bit of 'bite'.
- Evenly drizzle balsamic glaze over the salad, as desired, if you plan to serve the salad right away. Please see Notes below for a link to my homemade recipe or for store bought links.
- Serve the salad immediately if desired. Or, cover, and refrigerate to chill for 30-60 minutes, or as desired. Then drizzle with balsamic glaze.
- Make-Ahead – You can make the salad up to 24 hours ahead of time. Don't drizzle with the final touch of balsamic glaze until you plan to serve it. Another tip is to not halve the tomatoes unless you really need to, if you plan to make it ahead of time. As the cut surfaces of the tomatoes are exposed to the vinaigrette, their natural juices will release and the salad will become a bit more watery.
- Storage – Extra will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4-5 days, however like with any salad, fresher is better.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Caprese Salad Recipes:
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Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad — Tender pasta, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella are coated in Parmesan cheese and DELICIOUS pesto sauce!! EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and great for easy meals with planned leftovers or for parties because it feeds a crowd!!
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