This BLT Pasta Salad Recipe is that perfect summertime pasta salad for potlucks and barbecues. The pasta combined with juicy tomatoes, lettuce, and bacon is like having a classic BLT Sandwich served as a salad.
If you love Creamy Macaroni Salad the BLT Chopped Salad, then this BLT Pasta Salad is sure to become a new favorite side dish.
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The Best BLT Pasta Salad
A BLT Pasta Salad is essentially cooked pasta combined with crispy bacon pieces and tomatoes in a creamy homemade dressing. This has the best salad dressing which really makes this salad.
This is the perfect pasta salad for a large party, family gathering, or even a summer picnic. It’s so easy to throw together and is such a crowd-pleaser. It can also be enjoyed as a quick dinner or lunch as it’s so filling.
Ingredients
The ingredients for the pasta salad are so simple and inexpensive, and you most likely already have them on hand in your pantry and refrigerator.
- Bacon – Any bacon will work in this recipe. We like to use our Oven Baked Bacon or Air Fryer Bacon for perfectly cooked bacon.
- Lettuce – We used romaine but iceberg lettuce will work just fine.
- Pasta – Any short pasta will work. You can use bowtie, rotini, elbow, penne, ziti, etc.
- Tomato – Any tomato on hand will work, just cut it into small bite-size pieces.
- Onion – You can use either red onion or sweet onion.
- Dressing – The dressing consists of Ranch, sour cream, mayo, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
How to Make BLT Pasta Salad
- Cook Pasta – Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water.
- Cook bacon – Cook the bacon using your favorite method of cooking.
- Cut lettuce – Rinse, chop and dry the lettuce.
- Make the dressing – In a bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.
- Combine – Add salad ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine. Pour the dressing just before serving and gently toss to combine.
Pro Tip: To make sure the salad is not watery or soggy, after rinsing and chopping your lettuce, use a salad spinner to remove any excess water. This will also help keep your greens crisp longer.
Variations
There are so many different ingredients you can add to the classic salad recipe. Here are some of our favorite add-ins for BLT Pasta Salad:
- Diced avocado
- Cheddar cheese, grated or diced
- Chopped bell peppers
- Diced cucumbers
Common Questions
If you don’t want to use our homemade dressing, you can use your favorite store-bought ranch dressing. You can also try the dressing from our Classic BLT Salad.
Yes, rinsing it under cold water stops the cooking process of the pasta and keeps the pasta from sticking together and becoming mushy.
Yes, you can use any short pasta for this recipe.
This salad is best when enjoyed fresh as the lettuce will start to get soggy. Store any leftover salad in the refrigerator.
Make-Ahead
- Refrigerating – This pasta salad can totally be made up to one day in advance! Keep the salad ingredients in one bowl and the dressing in a separate container or mason jar. Cover both and refrigerate.
- To Serve – Once you have added the salad dressing, serve right away so the lettuce doesn’t get soggy.
More Salad Recipes
- Fancy Chicken Salad
- Caprese Salad
- Wedge Salad
- Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing
- Cauliflower Broccoli Salad
- Kani Salad Recipe
BLT Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 1/4 cup Ranch dressing
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain the pasta and rinse under cold water, set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the dressing and whisk until creamy.
- In a large salad bowl, add the cooked pasta, chopped romaine, halved tomatoes, cooked bacon, and chopped red onion and toss.
- Just before serving, add the dressing to taste and gently toss until combined.
Nutrition Per Serving
Valentina Ablaev
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I finally made Natasha’s BLT Pasta Salad. It is just delicious. Made exactly as printed, even added the garlic to dressing and finely chopped onion to the salad. So delicious! It’s what’s for supper on this hot day.
I’m so glad you loved this recipe!
I made this with Ranch dressing and then a second time with a plain Greek yogurt recipe for dressing. Both still made the recipe a bit bland, so added black olives and garlic and that enhanced it quite a bit.
I made this great summer salad this evening and it was delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Laurie!
My mom’s been making a version of this salad for decades (it’s her go-to for summer potlucks!).
I really enjoyed the addition of red onion (though I used a shallot because that’s what I had).
And I also used 1-2 Tbsp of Ranch dressing seasoning instead of actual dressing, just added a little more mayo for the 1/4.
Really delicious! And was a huge hit at the potluck I brought it to!
Thank you for your wonderful review, Noell! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe.
Hi Natasha, I made your BLT pasta salad recipe and doubled everything as we had a big fathers day picnic today. I’ve made so many of your recipes over the last few years and loved everyone. However I’ve never left feed back so today I am. The salad was to die for. I didn’t make near enough as everyone loved it. Wish I would have made this salad a long time ago. Thanks for being such a great chef and sharing your recipes with us.
I appreciate you sharing that with us, Russell. Thank you so much!
Hi Natasha Im looking for your recipe caramel cheese cake cups and I cant find it please help thank you Ken and deb mcewen
Hi Debbie, I think you’re referring to my Mini Cheesecake with Caramel sauce.
I really enjoy your recipes I have made a couple of the recipes and my family can’t get enough of it and of course they want the recipe just like to thankyou for sharing your recipes to everyone
Thank you for sharing that with us, Patrice. I’m so happy that it was a hit!
Hi Natasha
Sorry to ask but how much of each ingredient when making the dressing? This looks banging and I can’t wait to make it 😍
Hi Kerri! I have the ingredient list and instructions for the dressing in the recipe card. Click on “jump to recipe” at the top of the page. 🙂
I hope you love it!
How about combining the dressing with the pasta salad ahead and refrigerate? When it’s time to serve toss in the lettuce or serve over the lettuce.
Hi Jeri, I address that in the Make Ahead section of the recipe post. I hope this helps!
This was a big hit for my family. I love all your recipes and am looking forward to your new cook book! Your recipes are the only ones I seem to follow now.
I can’t wait for you to get my cookbook, Jeananne!
I can not wait to try this! Could tell me how much is the measurement for one serving?
Thank You!
Hi Wanda! This recipe serves 6 as a side salad. I don’t have the exact measurement. If you have a food scale, you can weigh the salad and divide it by 6. I hope you love the salad!
This may be a great “summertime” salad, but we paired it with grilled chicken and your roasted cauliflower last night – December 2nd with freezing temps and snow on the ground. And we all LOVED it! It was a nice, light meal after a day playing in the snow. We will definitely keep it in the mix – any time of the year!
Hi Molly! Thank you for trying my recipe. I’m so glad you found another to add to your rotation. 🙂