Chez Panisse, the Bay Area restaurant where Samin Nosrat trained, has a reputation for being fanatical about seasonal produce. And while she acknowledges that she isn’t as fanatical as she once was (“Sometimes I make baba ganoush in January!”), that impulse is still foundational to her cooking. “One of the things that will never leave my body is the way you get to look forward to something returning every year, and that it feels like this reintroduction,” she reflects. This grilled salad, a tumble of the best ingredients that high summer has to offer, is one she makes every year, and is also one of the first things she cooked outside the restaurant that really felt like her own creation. “There’s a pleasure in remembering how good it all tastes again,” she smiles.

And while peak season vegetables are the star of the show here, the luxuriously creamy dressing deserves its own shoutout. It uses aquafaba, the viscous liquid from a can of chickpeas (or any other canned white bean), to create a rich emulsion that will remain thick and stable for several days in the fridge. Savory with miso, tart with lemon, and with the fun crunch of poppy seeds, it can make a great salad out of just about any vegetable (just ask a plain bowl of lettuce).

It’s That Simple is our series about recipes so easy, you can make them with your eyes closed. Think tiny ingredient lists, laid-back techniques, and results so delicious you’ll text home about them.

One of my earliest memories is slurping Japanese zaru soba prepared by my mother. I was little and shirtless, a kitchen towel wrapped around my neck, legs dangling off the chair, with the loud hum of our window AC unit nearby. These cold buckwheat noodles were instant refreshment on the stickiest of summer days, when dinner needed to be quenching as much as filling.

Now, when the humid weather rolls around, I call on this dish to replenish me from the inside out. Start with cooked, drained, and rinsed soba noodles. My mother would scrub them like laundry, ensuring every last bit of starch was washed off. This shocks the noodles to halt cooking and prevents them from clumping.

Next, make a mentsuyu, a savory noodle soup base. Now you could buy mentsuyu pre-made and stock it in your fridge for instant zaru soba. But making it at home is really straightforward. Typically, mentsuyu features dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and sake. To keep it supremely simple (and pantry-friendly), I skip the sake and my family is none the wiser. Instant dashi is a convenient umami­bomb powder I substitute in for the homemade stuff. Serving it with a couple of ice cubes both gently dilutes and intensely chills the mixture, like a martini on the rocks. I like to top my soba with sliced scallion, crisp nori, a squeeze of wasabi, and a mound of daikon. Don’t skip that last one—when grated, this bittersweet radish is like fluffy snow, melting into the sauce.

You could arrange the zaru soba in neat bowls like my mother would do, creating picture-perfect compositions. But I often devour it straight from the colander, noodles strewn about and messily dipped into the mentsuyu. Minutes later, gone.

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is perfect for summer picnics! It’s super bright and fresh, filled with tomatoes, basil, and a light balsamic dressing.

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is practically summer in a bowl! As you can probably tell from its name, it’s a delicious fusion of two summer favorites: pasta salad and Italian Caprese salad.

If you ask me, it’s a match made in heaven. A classic Caprese salad is bursting with fresh summer flavor, thanks to the famous combination of creamy mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, and aromatic basil. But it isn’t as packable as pasta salad, a staple at picnics and potlucks.

This easy Caprese pasta salad recipe combines the best of both. You get all the fresh flavor of a Caprese salad in a picnic-friendly pasta salad form. And it’s not just good for picnics and cookouts—I also love meal prepping this salad for a fresh summer lunch!

How to Make Caprese Pasta Salad

You can find the complete Caprese pasta salad recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:

Caprese Pasta Salad Ingredients

• Unsurprisingly, this Caprese pasta salad starts with tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella—the star ingredients in a classic Caprese salad. Cherry or grape tomatoes are best in this salad—they hold their shape and have a delicious super-sweet flavor. They go well with “ciliegine,” or cherry-size, mozzarella balls.
• I also use red onion and pecorino cheese in the salad. They add nice savory depth.
• I round it out with pasta (of course!). I think screw-shaped cavatappi are really fun here, but another short pasta like fusilli or rotini would work well too.
• A simple dressing ties it all all together. Made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice, it adds bright, tangy flavor to the salad.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

To make the salad, start by cooking the pasta. Two big tips here:

1. Cook the pasta until it’s slightly past al dente. I will always tell you to cook your pasta just until al dente when you’re making a hot pasta dish. But for a cold pasta salad, it’s better for the pasta to be a little softer. That way, it will stay tender once it cools. (Al dente pasta would harden!)
2. After cooking, allow the pasta to cool. If you toss the hot pasta with the other salad ingredients right away, the fresh basil and onion will wilt.

While the pasta cools, make the salad dressing. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic, grated pecorino, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.

Next, assemble the salad. Add the cooled pasta and toss to coat in the dressing, then add the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, red onion, and basil and toss again. Top with shaved pecorino and gently toss.

Before serving, season to taste and garnish with more basil.

Enjoy!

What to Serve with Caprese Pasta Salad

This Caprese pasta salad is a great side dish for summer cookouts and picnics. Serve it with veggie burgers or black bean burgers and other summery sides like grilled corn, potato salad, and coleslaw.

I also love it for lunch. It pairs perfectly with a side of fresh fruit!

• Tip: Make this a heartier lunch salad by adding chickpeas for plant-based protein.

More Pasta Salad Recipes to Try

If you love this recipe, try one of these fresh pasta salads next: