Antipasto Pasta Salad
It’s not an oxymoron – it’s a happy hour platter in a pasta salad! Packed with olives, cheese, and salami, and a balsamic shallot vinaigrette this will be a hit at your next picnic or happy hour!
Dish Count :: 1 Large Mixing Bowl, 1 Cutting Board

We don’t have kids yet, but date nights have taken on a new form in our house hold. When Ben and I were dating, it was long distance, so we had dedicated weekends of nothing but fun, driving through wheat fields, hikes, and whatever cute couples do.

Then, when you start cohabitating, get married and live together a while, weekends aren’t dedicated to fun so much any more, so much as they are to getting to all of those necessary things that you couldn’t fit in during the rest of the week. Our one day together over Labor Day weekend was much like that. Grand plans were attempted to be dreamed up – I thought of putt putt golf at a local bar (I know, I bar that has mini golf!), and then…. we ended up going grocery shopping. Wild Monday night, y’all!
We have become the epitome of the couple who spends an hour on a Friday night flipping through Netflix trying to find something to watch together, then having me fall asleep on the couch 30 minutes into whatever we have picked out. I would say I was complaining, but at the end of the day – we are both so busy, and never get to see each other, so just the fact that Ben and I get to sit next to each other on the couch is something special. And I get to hold his hand. And we get to fight off having our two person couch invaded by the 85 pound hound, who inevitably gets on the couch to plop right between the two of us and fall asleep snoring so loud we have to turn the volume up on our movies…
But at least it’s all done together! So no matter how much I want us to be “those people” who go out on a Friday night to some new restaurant and be out on the town, it’s not who we are, and at the end of the day, I’m just glad we get to be homebodies together. Plus, I get to stay in yoga pants.

But if we were the people who did go out on the town, one of my favorite things is a glass of wine and an antipasto platter. Instead, I threw an antipasto platter into a pasta salad and loaded it with a shallot balsamic vinaigrette!! Huzzah!!
Ingredients for Antipasto Pasta Salad
- Penne Pasta
- Herb Crusted or Deli Salami
- Red Onion
- Roasted Red Pepper
- Mozzarella Balls
- Feta
- Olive Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Garlic
- Shallots
- Salt/Pepper
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Italian Seasoning
- Black and Green Olives

I was looking through my local shopping newsletter, and they were charging $9 a pound for their version of this!! That’s the equivalent of minimum wage per pound – which is terrible bang for your buck! I made double that for the same price they were charging for half. And, it was so much BETTER! I highly suggest you take my word for it and make it yourself. Like, now. And get that glass of wine and Netflix queue ready for you and your hunny.
Inspired Homemade Recipes To Try
Easy Pesto Chicken Pasta Skillet
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Antipasto Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chopped
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
It’s not an oxymoron – it’s a happy hour platter in a pasta salad! Packed with olives, cheese, and salami, and a balsamic shallot vinaigrette this will be a hit at your next picnic or happy hour!
Ingredients
- 1 pound Penne Pasta
- 6 ounces Herb Crusted or Deli Salami, sliced into quarters
- 1/2 cup Red Onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup Roasted Red Pepper, chopped
- 15 Mini Fresh Mozzarella Balls (Bocconcini), sliced in half
- 1/2 cup Crumbled Feta
- 1/3 cup Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 2–3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp Shallots, minced
- Salt/Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups Black and Green Olive mix
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring heavily salted water to a boil. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare other ingredients, chopping red peppers, salami, mozzarella, etc. Set ingredients aside.
- When pasta is done, drain and immediately rinse with cold water until pasta is cold. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper to taste, red pepper flakes, and Italian Seasoning.
- Add all remaining ingredients and pasta to the mixing bowl and fold the ingredients together until evenly mixed.
- Cover and place in the fridge to allow the flavors to meld for at least one hour.
- Mix once more prior to serving.
Keywords: antipasto salad, italian pasta salad, antipasto
Hi Megan! I’m with you girl – a well put together antipasto platter with a glass of wine is my idea of a perfect meal to enjoy on date night. Hubby and I fall into the same trap you do when life gets hectic. Glad you were able to carve out some time to take your night “out” into a special night “in”…afterall, it’s about who you’re with not where you are right? 🙂 Love the idea of turning the traditional platter into a pasta salad. Great post! Thanks for sharing. – Liz
Ha! I’m the same way – I always end up falling asleep in Matt. And this dish- love it!
This pasta dish looks great, so full of goodies and flavor. And I know what you mean, Naomi and I are so busy that anytime next to each with out kids is a rarity.
Totally understand friend. Mr. B and I are currently doing yoga once a week and trying to grab something afterwards for a mini date night. Finding time together is hard these days! But this pasta salad will keep anyone together!
What’s a date night? I feel like we haven’t been on one in a long time. One of these days.
Love this recipe because I’m a sucker for antipasto pasta salad.
This pasta salad looks delicious, love the antipasto additions
I love how easy this is!!! I think I’d add some marinated artichokes too – the oil they come in is so tasty! 🙂
I had a jar of marinated artichokes and I FORGOT to put them in here!! They really would be perfect!!
Ahh these are all of my favorite savory flavors in a bowl!! Come to mama!
This pasta salad looks perfect for lazy weekends. Now that I’m married going on a true date almost seems impossible. There is always “real life” stuff getting in the way. I can’t even imagine what my life would look like with children….haha