Summer Pasta Salads

Pasta Salad for Hikers

Versatile and easy to prepare the night before, pasta salads are a great alternative to onigiri on a hike.

Below we present some of our favourite recipes, including a simple Tuna Sweetcorn recipe, Taco Pasta Salad and Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad. Follow our recipes or use them as a base to experiment with your favourite flavours.

We'd love to see your pasta salads. Show us your versions with #cookinthecloudsjp

Pasta Types

You can use any type of short pasta that you like in pasta salads. However, it is best to use pasta that grips onto the dressings and ingredients. We like spirals (rotini/fusilli), but shells (conchiglie), butterflies/bowties (farfalle), wheels (rotelle/ruote), radiatori, pipette etc., are all great for pasta salads.

Taco Pasta Salad

  • Ingredients


  • Short Pasta (your favourite kind) 250g
  • Mince (your choice - beef / pork / turkey / Quorn or meat substitute) 300g
  • Taco Spice Mix 2 tbsp (We like Old El Paso's Spice Mix for Tacos)
  • Thousand Island Dressing 180ml (We like Kewpie 180ml bottle)
  • Piman 1/2 cup
  • Fresh chopped vine or baby tomatoes 1 cup
  • Shredded lettuce 2-3 cups
  • Doritos (or similar) slightly crushed 1 bag
  • Grated cheddar 1 cup
  • Spicy Salsa (optional)
  • Canned sweetcorn (optional)

  • Instructions

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cooking Time: 20 mins

  1. Cook Pasta

    2. Cook the pasta in lightly salted water for recommended cooking time. Once cooked, rinse with cold water to prevent overcooking.


  2. Cook Mince

    3. While the pasta is cooking, cook the mince. After cooking well, drain off any extra fat, turn off the heat and add taco spice.


  3. Mix Together

    4. Stir the mince and dressing into the cooked pasta.


  4. Chop Vegetables

    5. Cut up the tomatoes into quarters and chop the piman into small pieces. Add to the pasta.


  5. Grate Cheese

    6. Grate the cheese and stir it into the cool pasta.


  6. Cover and Refrigerate

    7. Divide your pasta into lunch boxes or transfer it to an airtight Tupperware and refrigerate for later. Of course, it can be served immediately if you wish. In an airtight container, pasta salad will keep for three days.


  7. Shred Lettuce

    8. Cut the lettuce up, ready to add when you serve.


  8. Serve or Prepare in a Lunch Box

    9. If taking on a hike, put the pasta in a separate container or layer your toppings. We tend to put our Doritos into a ziplock to keep the crunch. Stir lettuce, Doritos, and selected toppings like corn or salsa into your pasta before eating.

  • Tips

Pasta Types

You can use any type of short pasta that you like in pasta salads. However, it is best to use pasta that grips onto the dressings and ingredients. We like spirals (rotini/fusilli), but shells (conchiglie), butterflies/bowties (farfalle), wheels (rotelle), radiatori, pipette etc., are all great for pasta salads.

Dressings

Most American-style Taco Pasta Salads use French dressing. Catalina French dressing (or Red French Dressing) is also popular. Some people like to add ranch dressings or creamy cheese dressings. Kewpie sells both red and white French Dressings, as well as Thousand Island Dressing. We love this dish with Thousand Island dressing but experiment with different flavours to find the one you like best.


Simple Tuna Pasta Salad

Simple, easy and delicious. This pasta salad is great for people who are new to cooking or are in a rush.

  • Ingredients


  • Short Pasta (your favourite kind) 200g
  • Tuna canned in water 2~3 cans (drained)
  • Sweetcorn 1 small can (drained)
  • Cucumber 1/2 sliced
  • Mayonnaise (American style) 2 heaped tbsp
  • Lemon Juice 1 tbsp (or to taste)
  • Ground Black Pepper to taste


  • Instructions

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cooking Time: 15 mins

  1. Cook Pasta

    2. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Rinse with cold water to prevent further cooking.


  2. Slice Cucumber

    3. While the pasta is cooking, cut the cucumber into small chunks. We like to quarter it lengthways and then slice.


  3. Add Everything Together

    4. Add tuna, mayonnaise, lemon juice, cucumber, and black pepper into the pasta pot and stir.


  4. Refrigerate

    5. Divide pasta into lunch boxes or put in a Tupperware and refrigerate. This pasta salad will keep up to four days in the refrigerator.

  • Tips

Pasta Types

You can use any type of short pasta that you like in pasta salads. However, it is best to use pasta that grips onto the dressings and ingredients. We often use penne rigate or casarecce in this salad, but spirals (rotini/fusilli), shells (conchiglie), butterflies/bowties (farfalle), wheels (rotelle), radiatori, pipette etc., are all great for pasta salads.

Instead of American Mayonnaise

You can change this recipe up; use your favourite kind of mayonnaise, salad cream, or a creamy salad dressing. We like Lemonosco salad dressing with this recipe.


Sundried Tomato, Salami, and Feta Pasta Salad

  • Ingredients


  • Short Pasta (your favourite kind) 250g
  • Jarred Sundried Tomatoes in oil with herbs 200g
  • Salami 40g
  • Pancetta Bacon 50g
  • Garlic 1 clove (or garlic paste)
  • Feta Cheese
  • Fresh Sweet Basil 1 pack
  • Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  • Red Onion and/or other toppings (optional - see tips tab)
    Optional Dressing (See Tips)
  • Honey 1 tbsp
  • Balsamic Vinegar 2 tbsp

  • Instructions

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cooking Time: 20 mins

  1. Cook Pasta

    2. Cook the pasta in lightly salted water for recommended cooking time. Once cooked, rinse with cold water to prevent overcooking.


  2. Cook Bacon

    3. Fry bacon bits until they are crispy. Drain excess oil and put aside on kitchen paper.


  3. Cut Salami

    4. Cut up salami into small blocks.


  4. Prepare Sundried Tomatoes and Dressing

    5. Put half the tomatoes into a blender with 2 tbsp of the oil they were packaged in, 1 garlic clove, 2 tbsp of vinegar, 1 tbsp honey, and half a packet of sweet basil; choose the smaller leaves with more flavour. You don't need to make it completely smooth. If the dressing seems a little dry, add a little more olive oil.

    (If you like salty foods, as some of our team do, you can skip the vinegar and honey and make this with just the oil, garlic, and basil. The vinegar and honey are used to cut the saltiness of the salami, bacon, and feta. )

    Slice the other half of the tomatoes into strips lengthways. Roll the larger basil leaves up and slice them into ribbons.


  5. Mix Together

    6. Put the pasta into the pan that you used to cook the bacon. Stir in the dressing, then mix in the bacon, salami, sliced tomatoes and basil. Add some freshly ground black pepper to taste.


  6. Cover and Refrigerate

    7. Divide your pasta into lunch boxes or transfer it to an airtight Tupperware and refrigerate for later. Of course, it can be served immediately if you wish. In an airtight container, pasta salad will keep for three days.


  7. Toppings

    8. Put the feta cheese and other toppings into a separate container or layer of your lunch box.


  8. Serve

    9. Stir feta and any other toppings into your pasta before eating. For topping ideas, see our tips tab.

  • Tips

The Science of Dressings

We use vinegar and honey to balance the saltiness of this dish. However, if you like salty food after a hot day of hiking, feel free to skip the honey and vinegar when making the dressing. If, on the other hand, you like very sweet dressings, add in another 1 tbsp of honey. If you added too much honey and want a little extra salt, add 1 tsp of soy sauce (not salt!). Everyone's palate is different; use our recipe as a base and adjust to your taste.

Toppings

Try this recipe with any kind of deli sausage, such as salami or chorizo. If you love anchovies or olives, add them in. If you're not into feta, try mozzeralla, or chunks of taleggio, asiago, or carciocavallo. Experiment with different varieties of salad leaves such as rocket, spinach, kale, watercress, or baby leaf. Raw red onion also tastes great in this salad.

Pasta Types

You can use any type of short pasta in pasta salads. However, it is best to use pasta that grips onto the dressings and ingredients. We like spirals (rotini/fusilli), but shells (conchiglie), butterflies/bowties (farfalle), wheels (rotelle), radiatori, pipette etc., are all great for pasta salads.


Lana Stephenson

Founder of Hike To The Clouds. When she's not hiking, Lana loves coding, cooking and playing with her cats Benji and Leia.