If you love dill pickles, this Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is for you! Pasta is combined with a creamy dressing, cheese, and of course – pickles! This is a great side dish salad, and great for potlucks.
If you love this pasta salad, you’ll also love this Hawaiian Macaroni Salad or this Caesar Salad with Pasta.
My youngest is always begging for me to make pasta salad. I don’t think he ever really cares what kind it is – he just loves pasta salad – but when I started making this Dill Pickle Pasta Salad, it became an immediate favorite not only for him, but for the whole family.
I love it because it’s easy to make. And easy to make ahead. And it’s great for potlucks or bbqs or even just family dinner.
Because I say – you can never go wrong when you add pickles!
Ingredients
- Pasta: You want to use a short cut pasta. I like to use rotini.
- Mayonnaise: You can use regular mayonnaise, light mayo, or even an olive oil mayonnaise or avocado mayonnaise. Just know that you will get that flavor from whatever mayonnaise you choose to use.
- Sour Cream: This adds to the dressing, giving it more flavor and thickness.
- Pickle Juice: Part of the pickle flavor comes from the pickle juice. This is just the juice that is in the pickle jar alongside your pickles.
- Dill: I will usually use dried dill, but if you have fresh dill on hand you can definitely use it! You’ll need 1 tablespoon of fresh dill to substitute the 1 teaspoon of dried dill.
- Paprika: This just adds a little bit of extra flavor.
- Salt and Pepper: I salt and pepper this to taste. It has a lot of flavor and saltiness, so you may not even want to add any.
- Pickles: You want dill pickles. I like to chop them.
- Cheese: My favorite cheese for this salad is Colby Jack, but you could also just use cheddar.
- Onion: The onion gives the salad extra flavor. If you are super sensitive to raw onion flavor, you can add in some onion powder instead, but I don’t think the onion flavor is super strong.
How to Make Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
STEP 1: Cook your pasta in salted water. You’ll want to cook it according to the package directions. Once it is cooked, drain it and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking and let it cool.
STEP 2: In a large bowl, make the dressing for the salad. Combine 2/3 cup of the mayonnaise, the sour cream, pickle juice, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
STEP 3: Add the cooled pasta to the dressing and stir everything together. Then cover the bowl and refrigerate the pasta salad for at least 2 hours.
STEP 4: When you are ready to serve, take the remaining 1/3 cup of mayonnaise and stir it in. Serve the pasta salad cold.
Tips and Tricks
I like to cook the pasta just to al dente. It will soak up the dressing as it sits, and I don’t like when the pasta gets soggy.
As tempting as it is to serve this dill pickle pasta salad right away, it really is best if it’s had some time in the refrigerator. The pasta soaks up the flavors, and everything has time to meld together.
You can make this a little heartier by adding chunks of ham or crumbled bacon.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
Bow Tie Pasta Salad
Oriental Pasta Salad
Caprese Pasta Salad
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Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz short cut pasta
- 1 cup mayonnaise divided
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup pickle juice
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup diced dill pickles
- 4 oz Colby Jack cheese cut into small cubes
- 3 tablespoons minced onion
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt generously, then add the pasta. Cook according to the package directions until al dente. When done, drain and rinse under cold water to stop the pasta from cooking. Set aside.8 oz short cut pasta
- In a large bowl, combine 2/3 cup of the mayonnaise, the sour cream, pickle juice, paprika, and dill. Add salt and pepper to taste.1 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup pickle juice, 1 teaspoon dried dill, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, Salt and pepper
- Add the cooked pasta to the dressing, along with the pickles, cheese, onion, and dill. Stir to combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.3/4 cup diced dill pickles, 4 oz Colby Jack cheese, 3 tablespoons minced onion
- Before serving, stir in the remaining 1/3 cup of mayonnaise. Serve cold.
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