This Light Pesto Caprese Pasta Salad is the perfect summer side dish. Pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, shallots, mozzarella, pesto and balsamic vinegar combine to make this the most delicious salad. This recipe is easy enough to throw together for lunch meal prep with only a handful of ingredients, but flavor-packed enough to take to a BBQ. Serve this alongside lean grilled protein for the perfect meal prep.

What you’ll need to make Light Pesto Caprese Pasta Salad

farfalle (bowtie) pasta
- I used Jovial gluten free pasta, but feel free to use the pasta of your choice.
- I like to use fun shapes for pasta salads such as farfalle, but any shape will work.
bouillon cube
- For this recipe I used bouillon in the water, which ensures that the pasta is flavored without the addition of calories.
- Chicken broth could be used in place of the bouillon.
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil
mozzarella balls
shallots
kosher salt
pesto
- This is one of my favorite short cuts. It adds so much flavor without the need for a ton of ingredients.
balsamic vinegar

Is this pasta salad difficult to make?

No. The beauty of this pasta salad is how easily it comes together with only a handful of ingredients that you likely have on hand. The only work involved in making this salad is cutting tomatoes, shallots and basil. Everything else just gets stirred into the bowl. By using pesto it cuts down on the need for a ton of ingredients because it already has oil, herb, and spices included. It is the ultimate short cut.

How to make this pasta salad

Cooking the pasta

To cook the pasta, fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. In order to help flavor the water, drop in half a bouillon cube. If you don’t have a bouillon cube, you could use some chicken broth here in place of water and bouillon. This step is key to pre-flavoring the pasta and will give the salad more depth. Boil the pasta according to the package directions, and then drain once it is cooked through. Do not rinse the starchy cooking water off’ this step helps the dressing stick to the pasta better and will result in a more flavorful dish.

Putting the salad together

Once the pasta is cooked, combine it in the mixing bowl with the halved cherry tomatoes, minced shallot, chopped basil, and mozzarella balls. To dress the salad, add in the pesto, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Then, toss to combine making sure all the pasta is covered with the pesto/vinegar dressing. You can serve this immediately or chilled. It will stay fresh stored and covered in the refrigerator for several days.

How to adapt this Light Pesto Caprese Pasta Salad to make a meal prep lunch

This pasta salad makes the great base for a meal prep lunch. There are a couple of changes you could make to turn this dish into a meal prep. The first option would be to add a lean grilled protein like chicken, fish or shrimp. Simply grill up the protein of your choice and serve it on the side. You can also slice or chop it and serve it on top or mixed in. The second option would be to change the pasta to a protein pasta such as Barilla Protein+ Farfalle Pasta. If you really wanted to increase your protein intake, you could do both options. It’s important to note that whatever route you chose to go, you will need to adjust the macros/WW points.

Other pesto or caprese recipes: