Fresh summer tomatoes are showcased in this easy deconstructed BLT into a pasta salad. I’ve added avocado to the creamy ranch dressing for a delicious salad that’s perfect for a potluck party or a lunch or dinner meal.
We have a bumper crop of sweet and juicy red tomatoes, this year. The funny thing is, the plants were labeled as cherry tomatoes. Nope. I have no idea what variety we ended up with, but I am thinking up ways to use them so they don’t go to waste.
My husband loves bacon, so I thought of making some BLT sandwiches. Then I got an idea, inspired by recipes I’ve seen for BLT Pasta Salad.
I rarely buy salad dressing, but I do keep a jar of Ranch Dressing Seasoning on hand. The dressing is pretty basic: mayonnaise, milk, lemon juice and black pepper. I picked a few tomatoes off the vine, and cooked some fusilli pasta.
Before I bought my Ninja Dual Air Fryer , I used my oven to cook bacon. Nowadays, I air fry bacon at 400F for 12-15 minutes. Perfect! The bacon is nice and crispy.
I have all of the components to make the pasta salad: Cooked and cooled pasta, chopped bacon, tomato, romaine lettuce, green onion (raw red onion is a bit too strong for us). I added half of the bacon into the salad, and topped the salad with the remaining.
To assemble the pasta salad, hold back on adding the bacon and dressing until you are ready to serve– lest you have soggy bacon! This is our dinner, on a warm summer evening, so I added everything and we were ready to enjoy.
I added half of the dressing, so that I wouldn’t drown my salad. It’s a good thing, as this was perfect.
TASTING NOTES: The texture of the crispy lettuce and the “al dente” pasta was really good. Of course, what’s not to love about bacon? The sweet tomatoes and creamy avocado was complimented by the creamy Ranch dressing. I’m glad I chose green onion, rather than red onion. We find green onion to be much milder and it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the dish components. The recipe I made was cut in half, but you can easily double this for serving a larger crowd of 8-10 people.
The Best BLAT Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 6-8 slices bacon I use thick-cut Applewood Bacon
- 8 oz fusilli, farfalle or curly pasta
For the dressing:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- ½ packet ranch dressing seasoning mix one packet = 1 oz.
- juice of one lemon
- 1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar optional; add to your personal taste
- 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese grated
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Vegetables:
- ½ pint grape tomatoes I used three small tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cups romaine lettuce (one head) chopped
- ½ cup red onion we prefer 2 green onions, as it's milder
- 1 medium avocado diced (optional)
- ¼ cup fresh dill or parsley I didn't use; I added the green stalks of the green onion, chopped
Instructions
- Cook the bacon the way that you prefer until it is crispy. Drain and place onto a paper towel. Cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.NOTE: I cook my bacon in my Air Fryer on 400° for 15 minutes, turning halfway through until fully cooked.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Rinse with cold water and cool.
Make the dressing:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, milk, ranch dressing mix, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese and black pepper. Taste. If desired, add a splash of apple cider vinegar (I like the extra sweet-tartness.
Make the pasta salad:
- In a large bowl, add the cooled pasta, and vegetables: lettuce, tomato, onion avocado.Add half of the chopped bacon.
- Add half of the dressing and gently stir to combine, and to evenly coat the salad. You might have leftover dressing, depending on how much want. Add the remaining back on top, and either the chopped herbs or green part of the green onion.
- NOTE: If you're not serving the pasta salad right away, reserve and add the bacon right before serving, so it doesn't become soggy.
Notes
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