This pasta salad combines all the right flavors and textures and will be a hit at your next cook out or potluck. The dressing is creamy, sweet, and tangy. The grapes add sweetness, the bacon contributes saltiness, and the pecans and broccoli add crunch.
I’ve never been a huge fan of pasta salads but I could eat a whole bowl of this. I altered the original Southern Living Recipe some, reducing the amount of sugar and red wine vinegar from 1/3 cup each to 1/4 cup and found the dressing to be plenty sweet and tangy. But you may want to add more according to your tastes.
I also didn’t add all of the dressing (only about 75%) of it. If you don’t add it all in, save it in the refrigerator. If you have leftovers that you want to eat the next day, the pasta can get a little dry as it soaks up the dressing and you may want to add in a touch more dressing.
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Broccoli and Grape Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 8 ounces farfalle pasta
- 3 cups finely chopped broccoli florets
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups seedless red grapes,, cut in half
- 6 cooked bacon slices,, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecans on baking sheet and toast in oven for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring half way through.
- Prepare pasta according to package directions, cooking to al dente. Drain pasta and place in a large bowl.
- In a medium bowl combine mayonnaise, sugar, red wine vinegar, red onion, and salt. Whisk well.
- Add broccoli and grapes to the large bowl with pasta. Gradually add mayonnaise mixture (you may not want to add the whole amount).
- Cover and chill for 3 hours. Stir bacon and pecans into salad just before serving.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Source: adapted from Southern Living
I just love this salad but because I have a friend with a nut allergy, I substituted feta for the pecans. Absolutely wonderful.
I used cheese tortellini instead of farfalle pasta; received rave reviews at a July 4 potluck.
We all loved it. A super summer salad. I’ll surely be making it again.
Great salad! I used Rice Wine Vinegar.
This salad is my family’s FAVORITE. I’ve been making it for the past couple of years. To suit my taste, I use toasted almonds instead of pecans, and I make a little extra dressing because I love it. (If I make the salad the day before a gathering, I make the dressing and store it alone in the fridge (not on the pasta), giving the flavors a chance to develop overnight and not soak into the pasta and dry up. I’ll also have the bacon, broccoli, and the grapes already chopped so that I can just combine it all the morning of.) People love this salad!
Do you use real mayo or miracle whip?
I’ve only used fresh. Would frozen get “mushy” after thawing? The fresh broccoli is firm and a pretty bright green.