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I’ve had the idea for this pasta salad for a long time, but for some reason I kept putting it off when it came to getting it up on the blog! Well, that is no longer the case!
This pasta salad is full of the delicious flavors you know and love about a traditional B.L.T but with a few little twists. First, I decided to make this into a pasta salad format because summer time just screams pasta salad. Right? Second, I wanted to give this pasta salad a creamy dressing to tie it all together, but just using a plain ol’ ranch dressing just didn’t do it for me. Third, I love Frank’s Buffalo sauce and it is really not a bad way to pop in some flavor to a dish! Did you know it’s Whole30 compliant?
I’ve been a long-time fan of Tessemae’s products, but within the last year I have seen them really expand into more and more grocery stores. So my hope is that more of you out there have access to these amazing dressings. They really have the best ingredients and flavor in my humble opinion when it comes to a “healthy” dressing.
I’m taking this delicious pasta salad over to a backyard BBQ for a 4th of July party and I can’t wait for everyone to give me that look of “Holy Sh*t this is AMAZING” because it really is and it’s just a fun way to enjoy cold pasta salad that people won’t be expecting! Plus, have you ever met anyone who doesn’t like buffalo sauce, bacon or pasta? Exactly…
How is this pasta salad healthier?
I decided to make this dish as clean as possible, using Tessemae’s Ranch dressing, fresh veggies and Ancient Grain’s Quinoa noodles.
You can lighten this up even more by using turkey bacon and reducing the amount of noodles used instead including more spinach to fill up the salad. These are all ideas based on what your healthy eating goals may be! Everyone has different needs, so this recipe makes it easy to adjust and swap as needed.
Here are a few recipe tips to keep in mind:
- I chose to use spinach as the ‘L’ in this recipe because it is naturally a softer lettuce and to me it doesn’t get soggy like other more crunch lettuces tend to do when they are mixed with dressing. But if you prefer another type of lettuce, I would just add it in right before serving and it will be prefect.
- The bacon is going to be the most crisp right off the stove, which is why it is added in the very last step! There’s just something amazing that happens when you add warm, crispy bacon to a cold salad.
- Traditional Buffalo sauce dishes usually feature bleu cheese, but not this one. I personally just don’t like bleu cheese, so I subbed it for feta cheese crumbles. If you prefer bleu cheese, go ahead and swap it in for the feta at a 1 to 1 measurement.
In a large stock pot, boil up your noodles. I usually find that they need to boil for 6-8 minutes once they are in the boiling water. Once they have cooked, strain and rinse the noodles with cold water to prevent any additional cooking. I like to drizzle a little EVOO and season with a touch of salt before placing them in a large mixing bowl to prevent sticking.
Next, wash and cut all your tomatoes into bite-sized chunks. Toss them into the bowl with the noodles.
RECIPE NOTE: if you plan to make this salad ahead of time, you will go ahead and add in the dressing mix at this step, stir into the noodles and tomatoes, then cover the salad. Keep it refrigerated until you're ready to serve, then you will add in the remaining ingredients. This helps to maintain the best flavors and textures!
Next, toss in the spinach and feta cheese. Stir everything together.
Then you'll combine the ranch dressing with the Frank's Buffalo sauce in a measuring cup and then pour the buffalo ranch onto the noodles and veggies. Stir to coat everything in the dressing.
Finally, you will sprinkle the crispy bacon onto the top of the pasta salad. Sprinkle on a bit more feta cheese and ENJOY!
Serving Size 1 cup
Servings 6
xoxo Ashley
Ingredients
Directions
In a large stock pot, boil up your noodles. I usually find that they need to boil for 6-8 minutes once they are in the boiling water. Once they have cooked, strain and rinse the noodles with cold water to prevent any additional cooking. I like to drizzle a little EVOO and season with a touch of salt before placing them in a large mixing bowl to prevent sticking.
Next, wash and cut all your tomatoes into bite-sized chunks. Toss them into the bowl with the noodles.
RECIPE NOTE: if you plan to make this salad ahead of time, you will go ahead and add in the dressing mix at this step, stir into the noodles and tomatoes, then cover the salad. Keep it refrigerated until you're ready to serve, then you will add in the remaining ingredients. This helps to maintain the best flavors and textures!
Next, toss in the spinach and feta cheese. Stir everything together.
Then you'll combine the ranch dressing with the Frank's Buffalo sauce in a measuring cup and then pour the buffalo ranch onto the noodles and veggies. Stir to coat everything in the dressing.
Finally, you will sprinkle the crispy bacon onto the top of the pasta salad. Sprinkle on a bit more feta cheese and ENJOY!