Dilly Pickle Pasta Salad

Closeup of the Shell Pasta Salad with Dill pickle slices and cheddar cheese.

5 from 12 votes

Dilly Pickle Pasta Salad

This Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is an irresistible pasta salad that’s loaded with freshly sliced dill pickles for tangy flavor and crunchy texture, soft pasta, cheese, and a creamy salad dressing. Don’t expect any leftovers!

Prep Time10

Cook Time12

Refrigerate1

Total Time1 22

Course: pasta salad

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 239kcal

Author: Marisa Franca @ All Our Way

Equipment

Ingredients

8 ounces Dry shell pasta About 3 cups
¾ cup Dill pickles sliced
⅔ cup Cheddar cheese cubed
3 Tablespoons White onion diced
2 Tablespoons Fresh dill
½ cup Pickle juice

Pickle dressing

⅔ cup Mayonnaise
⅓ cup Sour cream
⅛ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
4 Tablespoons Pickle juice
Salt and Pepper (quanto basta) season to taste

Instructions

In a large pot, boil pasta to al dente which is about 1 minute less than package directions.
Remove the pasta and transfer to a colander. Run cold water over the pasta to stop cooking.
Pour the pasta into a large glass mixing bowl.
Toss the pasta with ½ cup of the pickle juice and set aside for about 5 to 6 minutes.
Drain the pasta and discard the pickle juice.
Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to blend.
Toss the remaining ingredients in with the pasta. Pour the dressing over the ingredients and mix well.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Notes

Storage: Store this dill pickle pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I don’t suggest freezing this pasta salad as the creamy dressing may separate.

Tips:

Real mayonnaise will also provide a better flavor and consistency for the salad dressing than a whipped dressing.
Pre-sliced dill pickles can be purchased to reduce preparation time.
It’s important to rinse the cooked pasta under cold water to stop it from cooking any further and to get rid of excess starch. It will also cool the pasta down so that ingredients such as the cubed cheddar won’t melt when added to the pasta salad.
You’ll find that this pasta salad tastes even better the following day as all of the flavors have had plenty of time to mix together.
Don’t use yellow onion instead of white onion. Yellow onion is too strong for this recipe and won’t blend as well with the pasta salad dressing as white does.
If you’re in a rush then you can serve this pasta straight after assembling it but I do prefer allowing at least 1 hour in the fridge for the flavors to mix together well.

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