BLT Pasta Salad
This loaded BLT Pasta Salad recipe with a creamy ranch dressing is a perfect summertime pasta salad for gatherings and potlucks. With bacon, tomato, lettuce, cheese, and pasta – it’s like having a classic BLT sandwich served as a salad.
Last year we attended a pot luck and of course one of the perks is the huge variety of foods from appetizer trays to desserts. There was one particular cold pasta salad that I tried, and immediately loved.
I managed to find the woman that brought the salad, and that is how I scored the recipe for this amazing BLT Pasta Salad made with classic blt ingredients! This is the best pasta salad recipe that quickly replaced my usual go-to for gatherings.
Here are more great salads for you to try: Taco Salad, Broccoli Salad, and this Garden Fresh Pasta Salad!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Total Time: 20 Minutes
- Serves: 6
Ingredients and Notes
Simple ingredients are needed to make this easy blt pasta salad recipe, which is the perfect summer side dish. The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
BLT Pasta Salad Tips
Optional Additions
While this recipe is great as is, there are ways to bring it to the next level. To make your pasta salad a little extra, here are some ideas on what to add.
How to Make BLT Pasta Salad
- Cook the pasta according to directions until cooked al dente.
- Drain pasta and toss with enough ranch dressing to lightly coat the pasta, so it doesn’t stick together. Refrigerate until cold.
- In a large bowl toss the cold pasta with tomatoes, Swiss, onions, bacon and lettuce (either iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce).
- Add enough dressing to generously coat everything. Taste and season with salt and black pepper if needed.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this pasta salad at a summer bbq or a potluck, it’s a real crowd pleaser, just like our Chicken Greek Pasta Salad recipe.
This bacon lettuce tomato pasta salad is also a filling and hearty salad that can be enjoyed as a light lunch or for dinner. Alone or as a side with pretty much anything.
Storage and Leftovers
Cover this salad with aluminum foil or plastic wrap (or place in an airtight container) and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. This salad is just as good the next day, so you can make it ahead of time.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This blt salad with pasta 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. When ready to serve, add the salad dressing, serve right away so the lettuce doesn’t get soggy.
Recipe FAQ
It’s like a blt sandwich, in a bowl. So bacon, lettuce, tomato, dressing, cheese onion and pasta. Yet there’s plenty of room of recipe variations.
Our recipe calls for ranch dressing, yet you can also make your own. You want a creamy dressing for this salad, so you could even do a combination of ranch and mayonnaise.
More Salad Recipes
If you’ve tried this BLT Pasta Salad or any other recipe on my blog please let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Finally, consider leaving a 🌟 star rating while you’re here. Thanks!
BLT Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spiral pasta ((or another type of medium-sized pasta))
- 1 bottle Ranch Salad Dressing
- 1 1/2 cup tomatoes (diced )
- 1 cup Swiss cheese (cubed )
- 1/2 cup red onions (thinly sliced )
- 1 pound bacon (cooked until crispy and chopped)
- 2 cups romaine or iceberg lettuce (finely chopped )
- salt and black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to directions until cooked al dente.
- Drain pasta and toss with enough ranch dressing to lightly coat the pasta, so it doesn’t stick together. Refrigerate until cold.
- In a large bowl toss the cold pasta with tomatoes, Swiss, onions, bacon and lettuce.
- Add enough dressing to generously coat everything and season with salt and pepper to taste
This sounds like the perfect bbq recipe!! We have been invited to a couple of them this summer, I will have to tr this recipe out.
Definitely going to make this on the weekend for our bbq
Perfect dish for summer! Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try 🙂
My husband says that everything is better with bacon. This salad looks awesome!
This looks delicious! I love potlucks, a chance to try something new.
This sounds wonderful . I’ve been craving a BLT sandwich lately, but should try this instead! 🙂 Always looking for something different to take to parties.
Looks easy enough and very colorful. I really love bacon so this great.
Looks perfect for BBQ season! We have already been grilling and this would go great with it!!
I love pasta salad… never thought of turning it into a BLT..love the idea…. looks delicious thanks for sharing, will pin so I can dish it up soon, too
Any recipe that includes bacon is A-okay in my book!! This would be great to serve at our cookouts this summer. I bet it would be the first thing to go!
This definitely sounds like a recipe my whole family would eat right up! We’re big ‘salad’ fans in the house (I.E. potato salad, egg salad, tuna salad, etc) so this will probably be tried out 🙂
Thank you for sharing!
YUM! Anything with bacon is a plus, this is the perfect summer BBQ recipe!!
This is one of my favorite salads. This is a must try everyone!
Sounds like a delicious pasta salad! BLT is one of my favourite sandwiches, so this has to be good!
Thanks.
I seem to stumble upon your food posts when I am hungry! I think I will be making this today and perhaps just calling it dinner. However, I don’t want to wait that long.