15 Minute BLT Pasta Salad ~ Easy 15 Minute Dinner (2024)

An easy and unique pasta salad, this BLT pasta salad is made with plenty of bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes and covered with a mayo based dressing.

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BLT Pasta Salad Is a Perfect Picnic Dish.

This BLT pasta salad is one of my all time favorite easy picnic recipes. I always transport it in this stainless steel spill proof lidded mixing bowl because I can make it, store it, and transport it right in the same bowl (which means less dishes!)

We bring this recipe to meet friends at the brewery for trivia nights and with the kids to the playground in the summer.

BLT pasta salad brings me back to warmer (better) days without fail, and even if it’s not summer when you’re reading this and the best tomatoes you can get your hands on are of the supermarket variety, this salad does not disappoint.

It’s an explosion of flavor, and a new twist on your classic BLT sandwich.

There’s No Need To Cook Bacon!

Like the sandwich, it’s quite simple to make, so simple that we don’t even have to cook bacon. We just use Real Bacon Pieces sold with salad toppings at the store (not the artificial kind though! Those will get soggy!). That makes this salad super easy to whip up and if you happen to have extra time and want to make bacon from scratch- go for it. But I’ve had it both ways and never think it’s worth the extra effort to fry bacon for this- it’s still delicious with a jar of bacon pieces.

Not sure where to find real bacon pieces? This is what the Great Value brand looks like (they can be found at all Walmart stores). But they aren’t hard to find- they’re usually with the salad toppings (like imitation bacon bits and spices) or near the pepperoni.

Start With Tomatoes.

If you can pick your own, all the better, but these little beauties above are from the supermarket, so store-bought works just fine.

Grape tomatoes are great because they can be quickly and easily sliced in half, but if you can’t find them, Romas will work just fine, sliced into bite-sized pieces.

Chop Your Lettuce.

You’ll need 3-4 cups of chopped Romaine lettuce. I buy it and cut it myself because it’s cheaper, but it obviously takes a little more time. If you don’t mind spending a few extra pennies, you can buy a 10-oz bag of pre-cut, pre-washed lettuce.

If you opt to cut your own, make sure to pat it dry with paper towels before adding it to your salad.

Now that you’ve prepped your produce, prepare your pasta according to the instructions on the box. I used “Gemelli” shaped pasta because I liked the way it looked, but rotini or even macaroni noodles would work just as well.

Prepare The Dressing While Pasta Boils.

Now, if you don’t want to make your own dressing, you can absolutely substitute one cup of Ranch dressing instead.

This dressing is very easy to make, though, and you probably have everything you need handy.

It’s made of a mayonnaise base, amped up with a touch of sour cream, and then seasoned with salt, pepper, and other spices.

It’s a lot better than plain ranch and worth the minute it takes to mix up.

Stir it up nicely and set aside.

Once your pasta is done boiling, strain it well. Now, you are going to need a large bowl to combine your ingredients.

Lettuce (patted dry), grape tomatoes (sliced in half), cooked pasta, a simple homemade dressing, and cheddar cheese all go into the bowl.

But don’t forget about possibly the most important part — the BACON.

You can fry your own bacon, pat it dry, and crumble it. You would need about 12 or so pieces for this BLT pasta salad.

Or, you can do what I do, and buy pre-cooked, crumbled bacon.

Not artificially flavored bacon bits, but real bacon bits or pieces. You can find them right by the salad dressing (the brand that I used for this particular recipe was Hormel). You can do pieces or bits (just smaller pieces), whichever you prefer, but while I used the pieces for the photographs here, I actually think I preferred the bits — smaller pieces of bacon, but more in every bite — your choice!

Once you’ve got everything in the same bowl, mix it well and serve it up!

Keep any uneaten salad (unlikely!) refrigerated in an airtight container.

Get The Dinner Inspiration Binder Free!

Before you grab the 15 Minute BLT Pasta Salad Recipe, you can also grab our Dinner Inspiration Binder for FREE right now– which includes tons of cheap and easy meal ideas for people who get easily overwhelmed with mealplanning and cooking. 90% of our meals come right from this binder and it’s made meal planning so simple because it includes all of the “typical” easy meals and you can just throw in a few new things when you have extra time.

Get your copy of the Dinner Inspiration Binder While it’s still free here…

15 Minute BLT Pasta Salad

INGREDIENTS

For the Dressing:

• ¾ cup mayo (I prefer to use olive oil mayo to cut some fat & calories)
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper — optional

For the Salad:

• 8 oz spiral pasta
• 3-4 cups chopped romaine lettuce (or 10-oz package pre-cut romaine lettuce)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes — halved
• 1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 ½ cup bacon bits or pieces (not artificially flavored — about 6 oz)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare the dressing by stirring together mayo, sour cream, milk, pepper, salt, garlic powder and crushed red pepper (if using) until smooth and well-combined. Set aside.
2. Prepare pasta according to package instructions. When finished cooking, drain well and transfer to a large salad bowl.
3. Add chopped lettuce, grape tomatoes, cheddar cheese, bacon bits/pieces, and your prepared dressing.
4. Toss/stir very well, until ingredients are well-combined.
5. Enjoy!

Did you try it? What did you think?