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This BLT pasta salad with herbed mayo dressing has all of the elements you love about a classic BLT sandwich, with pasta in place of bread. This easy side dish is packed with fresh flavors, color and crisp texture. Perfect for a potluck!

Looking for picnic side dish recipes? Two favorites of ours are seven layer salad and amish macaroni salad. But if you like a hearty bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, this BLT pasta salad with mayo dressing is the one you need to make.

You’ll find all of our favorite BLT flavors in an easy-to-make cold salad loaded with pasta, crispy bacon, tomatoes, red onion and romaine lettuce. The creamy mayo dressing has hints of lemon, garlic and parmesan cheese that makes the flavor pop.

Just as many other pasta salad recipes, it’s loaded with texture. You have the tender noodles combined with the crispy bacon and onion, then juicy tomatoes. The creamy herbed mayonnaise dressing lightly covers every bite.

BLT Pasta Salad Ingredients

There are 6 main parts to this BLT pasta salad recipe:

lettuce, tomato and onion on a cutting board

Pasta. Choose whatever pasta shape makes you happy. Rotini pasta, fusilli or elbow macaroni are classic, but this time I chose radiatore.
Bacon. If you can find maple bacon, I recommend using it. It gives additional flavor and adds an unbeatable sweetness. Turkey bacon is lower in fat.
Grape tomatoes. Or cherry tomatoes. And I recommend slicing them in half.
Red onion.
Romaine lettuce. Romaine lettuce is perfect for this recipe since it is sturdy.
Dressing. Jazz up that mayo a little with some herbs and seasonings. Sour cream and lemon juice add tang. Parsley, garlic and ground mustard add flavor. And sugar rounds it all out and mellows the mayo dressing.

See the recipe card for full ingredients and amounts.

How to Make BLT Pasta Salad with Mayo

Bacon. Fry the bacon in a skillet, or bake in the oven on a baking pan to fully cook the bacon. Place paper towels or napkins on a plate and place the cooked bacon on the paper towels to allow it to drain and cool.

Pasta. Boil the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk or stir together the ingredients for the herbed mayo. Set aside.

tomatoes, onion, bacon, dressing and pasta in a bowl

Assemble. Prepare the salad by placing the cooled pasta, crumbled bacon, grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), red onion and herbed mayo in a large bowl. Toss well to coat the ingredients. Then fold in the lettuce right before serving. Top the BLT pasta salad with Parmesan. Add salt and black pepper as you’d like.

overhead view of a plate of blt pasta salad with bread

Recipe Variations

Add rotisserie chicken for more protein and to make it a complete meal.
Instead of sour cream, try adding ranch dressing. Many love that ranch flavor with the bacon, lettuce and tomato.
Add more cheese! I put Swiss cheese slices on my BLT sandwiches, so shredded Swiss would be excellent. But cubed cheddar cheese or Colby is always a great option.
Want less pasta and more toppings? You can easy adjust the BLT pasta salad recipe to be the ratios that you would like. We often add quite a few more tomatoes when they are abundant in the garden.

Make it a meal.

What should you serve with BLT pasta salad?

Other Recipes to Love

BLT Pasta Salad with Herbed Mayo Dressing

4.73 from 18 votes

This BLT pasta salad has all of the elements you love about a classic BLT sandwich, with pasta in place of bread. This easy side dish with herbed mayo dressing is packed with fresh flavors, color and texture.

Servings 12

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

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Ingredients

For the salad:

1 pound bacon
1 pound radiatore pasta or other fun pasta shape
2 cups grape tomatoes halved (1 dry pint)
3/4 cup red onion
1 bunch Romaine lettuce about 2 ½ cups

For the herbed mayo:

1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 garlic cloves* minced
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

For topping:

1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Instructions

Fry the bacon in a skillet, or bake in the oven on a baking pan to fully cook the bacon. Place paper towels or napkins on a plate and place the cooked bacon on the paper towels to allow it to drain and cool. 1 pound bacon
Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside. 1 pound radiatore pasta
In a medium bowl, mix together the ingredients for the herbed mayo. Set aside. 1 ¼ cup mayonnaise, ⅓ cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 2 garlic cloves*, ½ teaspoon ground mustard
Prepare the salad by placing the cooled pasta, bacon, grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), red onion and herbed mayo in a large bowl. Mix well to coat the ingredients. 2 cups grape tomatoes, ¾ cup red onion,
If you are serving the salad right away, add the lettuce and mix. If you are not serving the salad right away, cover it and refrigerate. Then add the lettuce right before serving. 1 bunch Romaine lettuce
Top the salad with parmesan and salt to taste. A note about the salt…bacon is salty, so go easy on the salt until you taste the salad. Serve cold. ½ cup parmesan cheese, salt

Video

Notes

Don’t have garlic cloves? Try adding ½ teaspoon garlic powder or 1 teaspoon minced garlic.
An easy alternative to the herbed mayo is a creamy ranch dressing.
Store this BLT pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Pasta salad does not freeze well so if you just have a few to serve, make ½ a recipe.
Make Ahead Pasta Salad: If you need to make BLT pasta salad in advance, make the pasta and cook the bacon, then mix up the dressing. Store each part of the salad in different airtight containers and combine it together just before serving.
Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.

The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 12, with 1 serving being 1/12 of the salad. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**

Nutrition

Author Julie Clark

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Calories 500

Keyword easy pasta salad, picnic salad, summer salad recipe

BLT Pasta Salad with Mayo Dressing