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This tangy Strawberry Pasta Salad is full of punchy flavors, like balsamic vinegar, salty Feta, and crunchy walnuts. Perfect for summer, this pasta salad is great for potlucks, BBQs, or just a simple, refreshing meal.
Want more pasta salads to try? How about my Simple Pasta Salad or Greek Pasta Salad!
Why We Love This Salad
- Perfectly Refreshing and Flavorful – Full of flavor like balsamic vinegar and feta cheese, this salad will set your palate soaring!
- Simple to Make – No cooking required. Just combine all of the ingredients together.
- Good for You – Made with tender chicken, crisp spinach and crunchy walnuts for a meal you don’t have to feel guilty about.
Recipe walkthrough
Before Your Begin
Gather up all of the ingredients and tools you need to make this recipe. Having everything right there at once will make things go much smoother and faster.
How to Make Strawberry Pasta Salad
Begin by making the salad dressing. To make the dressing, pulse the strawberries, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a blender or food processor until nice and smooth.
Give the dressing a taste, then add honey, salt and pepper as desired. The dressing is very forgiving – don’t worry about adding too much of one thing, you can always adjust later.
Refrigerate any leftover dressing in a tightly sealed container until ready to use.
For the salad, simply toss the chicken, pasta, spinach, Feta, walnuts and strawberries together.
Pour on the dressing, as much as desired. I recommend starting with a little, then toss, and add more as desired.
Storage Tips
The Best Way to Store
This pasta salad will remain fresh for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Store in a tightly sealed container and give it a good shake before serving again. You can also make it ahead no more than 24 hours.
Recipe Tips
- Cut strawberries using a strawberry or egg slicer to get perfectly uniform cuts.
- Go easy with the dressing to begin with. A little goes a long way.
- Crumble the feta gently. Larger chunks make for a nice bit in the salad.
More Pasta Salads
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
- Lightened Up Broccoli Pasta Salad
- Tropical Chicken Pasta Salad
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
Balsamic Strawberry Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Pasta Salad
- 1 pint strawberries hulled and sliced
- 2 cups spinach leaves roughly chopped
- 8 ounces small pasta cooked to package instructions
- 1 cup diced chicken
- ¼ cup toasted walnuts
- 4 ounces crumbled Feta cheese
- Salt & Pepper
- Balsamic glaze bottled, optional
- Fresh basil for garnish; optional
Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
- ½ pint strawberries hulled and sliced in half
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey or more to taste
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Dressing:
- To make the dressing, pulse the strawberries, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a blender or food processor until smooth. Taste and add honey, salt and pepper as desired. Refrigerated in a tightly sealed container until ready to use.
Salad:
- Toss strawberries, spinach, pasta, Feta cheese, chicken and walnuts together in a large bowl.
- Pour on Strawberry Vinaigrette and toss to coat.
- Garnish salad with fresh basil and drizzle with Balsamic glaze.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
It was a hard No, for my family. I ended up throwing it away. It was flavorless and the dressing didn’t add to the flavor. Sorry, I wanted to like it.
Oof, harsh review. I’m sorry you disliked it so much you had to toss it. My family loves it. The flavor of the strawberries with the balsamic is such a great combo, plus the feta and the walnuts all add different flavors. I wonder if perhaps your strawberries weren’t sweet enough or didn’t have enough flavor.
What a great salad for summer! Love your photos
I added the sunflower seeds and they were great! Added a “bite” to the salad….we enjoyed it!
Hi Kristin,
In the recipe method it includes sunflower seeds but they weren’t in the ingredients list. Would you advise/correct the above.
My mistake, I had planned to add them but never did, which is why they aren’t in the ingredients list. Sorry about that – I do think they’d make a great addition though!
I did and I loved it!