Whip up a batch of these creamy dill pickle pasta salad for your next holiday or picnic. Pasta salad with dill pickles has a ton of flavor, texture and kills it at potlucks.
If you’re into cold pasta recipes, check out my Deviled Eggs Pasta Salad, Pasta Salad with Crab, Classic Macaroni Salad, and Ensalada de Coditos recipes.
Dill Pickle Pasta Salad Recipe
Pickles in macaroni salad is a match made in heaven. Pair it with cubes of creamy cheese, sharp onions, pickle chunks and tangy dressing and you’ve got yourself the best pasta salad recipe.
Pasta Salad With Dill Pickles
This dill pickle pasta salad takes only 30 minutes to prepare. Make the dressing, cook the pasta and mix and mix. That’s it. It’s best to let it sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour before enjoying.
Add In Ideas
Bulk up this pickle juice pasta salad with any of the below:
- Diced Smoked Ham
- Pickled Peppers
- Pickled Banana Peppers
- Pickled Red Onions
- Two Words: Wicked Pickles
- Shrimp
- Tomatoes
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Smoked Deviled Eggs
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Many of these ingredients will also go well inside Egg Salad, Tortellini Pasta Salad or Tuna Macaroni Salad.
Recipe Tips
- If you’re making this the night before, whip up two batches of the dressing. Most of the dressing is soaked up overnight so you’ll want to mix in some extra dressing before serving to keep the creamy consistency.
- The noodle shape doesn’t matter in this pickle juice pasta salad recipe. Have macaroni? Use it. Bowtie? Sure. It works.
- Make sure to only cook the pasta to al dente. You won’t want mushy pasta shells.
- If made the day before, we keep the cheese cubes out of the salad until right before serving. It keeps the cheese firm vs mushy.
- For a slightly spicier flavor, use this Dijon Mustard recipe in place of yellow mustard.
- This cold salad goes well with our Ensalada de Papa Recipe (puerto rican potato salad).
Serve This Pasta Salad With
Creamy Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Pasta Salad:
- 8 oz Pasta Shells
- ½ cup Pickle Juice
- 1 cup Diced Dill Pickles (*Note 1)
- 6 oz Cheddar Cheese, Cubed
- 3 tbsp Finely Diced White Onion
Pasta Salad Dressing:
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- ⅛ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ¼ cup Pickle Juice
- 2 tbsp Fresh Dill
- 1 tsp Yellow Mustard
- ½ tsp Garlic Salt
- Black Pepper, To Taste
Instructions
- Add all the dressing ingredients to a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside for the flavor to meld while the pasta cooks.
- Cook pasta al dente, according to the package directions. Transfer the shells to a colander and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
- Toss the pasta with 1/2 cup of pickle juice and let soak in for 5 minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta, diced pickles, diced cheese and onion to a large bowl along with the dressing. Toss well to combine.
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour before serving.