Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

5 from 5 votes

Refreshing and flavorful, this Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is packed with deliciously salty and sour dill pickle flavor!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dill pickle pasta salad, pickle pasta salad

Servings:

Calories: 1.174kcal

Author: Jordan

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions. I like to add a drop of olive oil to the pot to keep the noodles from sticking. Drain and rinse under cool water when it’s finished cooking.
When the pasta is finished cooking, drain and transfer the pasta to a sheet pan. Toss the pasta with 2 tbsp of olive oil and spread it out on the sheet pan in a single layer to cool.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mexican crema, greek yogurt, pickle juice, lemon juice, ranch seasoning, and dill.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the panko and toss occasionally for 3-5 minutes or until it turns golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the lemon zest, dill, and parsley.
Add the cooled pasta to a large mixing bowl with the pickles, shredded cheddar, ranch dressing, parsley, and dill. Mix to combine then top the pasta salad with the toasted panko and serve.

Five mistakes to avoid when making pasta salad:

Making it too far ahead of time: You can prepare this dill pickle pasta salad a day or so ahead of time, but if you prepare it too far ahead the noodles will get soggy and floppy and the pickles may also break down a bit. If you do make it ahead of time, I would serve it the next day and make sure it's stored in an airtight container!

Overcooking the pasta: The best part of pasta salad is the nice hearty bite of the pasta! Cook the pasta to a nice al dente—if you cook it too long it'll end up soft and mushy.

Not dressing pasta while still warm: Try to dress the noodles while still a little warm. This will help the flavors develop, but if you're preparing ahead of time, save some of the dressing to mix in until right before serving.

Rinsing the pasta: After being cooked, pasta has a nice layer of starchiness, which leads to a more hearty and flavorful pasta salad. Don't rinse this off!

Using the wrong pasta shape: Many shapes of pasta are great for pasta salad like rotini pasta, penne, farfalle (or bowtie pasta) and fusili are great for pasta salad, but you'll want to avoid long cut pasta like spaghetti.