BLT Pasta Salad
I’ve partnered with Kraft and Collective Bias to create this delicious BLT Pasta Salad. It’s perfect for summer picnics and dinners on the back porch!
This post may contain paid links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.
Back when my wife and I lived in Atlanta, we grew tomatoes in our backyard like it was our job. We planted a small garden on the side of our house, and every year we had a bumper crop of tomatoes. And thanks to the warm weather down South, our tomato plants started growing in late February…and didn’t stop until early November. Seriously. We literally ate tomatoes all the time. And we gave them away to everyone we knew. And we still had too many tomatoes. The solution? BLT’s. Delicious BLT’s.
We ate BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato) sandwiches almost every day for lunch. That is until my mother came to visit and showed us the trick of adding a couple of basil leaves to our BLT’s…um, woah! (If you’ve never added basil to your BLT sandwich, then stop reading this post and go do it. Now.) So now our BLT’s turned into BBLT’s…and they were an amazing summer-time staple in our house. There were definitely nights when we ate BBLT’s for dinner because we just didn’t feel like cooking. And I was ok with that!
I remember flipping through a summertime issue of Food Network Magazine one year, and they had a BLT Pasta Salad in there. Of course I was intrigued. After all, BLT’s were pretty much a food group in and of themselves in our house! And cold pasta salads are one of my favorite things ever in the summer. So of course I loved the BLT Pasta Salad! Over the years, we’ve tweaked the recipe a bit…and of course, we’ve added basil thanks to mother’s ingenious suggestion. Now this BLT Pasta Salad is one of our go-to summer side dishes.
This BLT Pasta Salad is perfect for picnics and summer barbecues, but we often just make a big batch and use it for easy weekday lunches. We now live in upstate New York where the tomato-growing season is significantly shorter than it was down South. But that’s ok. I’ve had great luck finding tasty tomatoes at the local markets, so this BLT Pasta Salad still makes regular appearances in our house!
Of course, I only use Kraft mayonnaise when making this BLT Pasta Salad. I also use lite mayo to cut back a bit on the calories, too. But the best part is the recipe only calls for 1/2 cup of mayo. And this recipe makes a big bowl of pasta salad! You may have noticed in previous posts that I was chosen to be a Kraft VIP Blogger at this year’s Social Fabric Conference (SoFabCon) in northwest Arkansas. This trip was a truly amazing experience, and I picked up loads of awesome blogging tips…I can’t wait to start using them here on Spiced. (I even got to ride in The Wienermobile…check out this recent post for pictures!) I regularly pick up Kraft products on my weekly grocery runs to Walmart, so it was an honor to be able to attend SoFabCon as a Kraft VIP Blogger.
This BLT Pasta Salad is a great side dish to serve alongside a delicious grilled burger. If you’re looking for some fun burger ideas, I’ve linked some of my favorites here:
BLT Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces penne pasta
- ⅔ cup milk
- 12 ounces thick-cut bacon
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves torn
- ¼ cup green onions chopped
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup light sour cream
- 1 large head of Romaine lettuce chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta water and place cooked pasta in a large bowl. Add milk and stir until pasta is well-coated. Set aside.
- Using a large fry pan, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Transfer cooked bacon to paper towels and pat dry. Crumble the bacon and add to the bowl with the pasta.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, basil, and green onions to the bowl and stir until well combined.
- Add the mayonnaise and sour cream to the bowl; gently stir until well combined.
- Finally, add the Romaine lettuce and toss until well combined. (Tip: Wait and add the chopped Romaine right before you serve this salad. Otherwise, the lettuce will begin to wilt.)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Oh my gosh… I am CRAZY about BLTs! Well, being the bacon addict that I am, you probably figured that out already, huh?
Anyway, putting it into salad form is PERFECT for me, since I’m trying to cut back on carbs. Thanks for the amazing recipe inspiration, Dave!
Anytime, Chef Becca! Us bacon lovers have to stick together, right?? Have a great holiday weekend!!
Thanks, Dave! I hope you have a great weekend, too!
This looks fantastic David! I made something similar just no pasta. How did I not think of that?! I’m going to have to try your recipe.
I would love to have a tomato plant. The growing season is super short here in Colorado. I really need to get into growing indoors.
Pinning!
And I thought the growing season in New York was short…sounds like you have it even worse over there in Colorado! You totally should figure out how to grow a garden indoors…there’s nothing like growing your own veggies…and herbs…and fruit. 🙂 Thanks for pinning, too!
This salad looks absolutely amazing! I am saving it for when I have way to many tomatoes this summer.
It is perfect for that time of the summer, Laura! Actually, it’s perfect all summer long…it’s just that the extra tomatoes give you an excuse to make multiple batches! 🙂
I love this salad- the flavours are all amazing! Definitely need to try it out soon! 🙂
Thanks, Jess!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
This looks delicious! One bowl meal !
Thanks, SueAnn! It totally is a one bowl meal…and perfect on a hot summer day!
Hi David! I’m gearing up for the 4th – I’m thinking grilled ribeye steaks and fresh corn,THIS salad and your blackberry cake! I think for an appetizer I’ll do some grilled shrimp lettuce wraps. And, of course, beer plays a big part of the menu!
Oh man, that sounds like the perfect menu for the 4th of July, Dororthy! Seriously…I’m not sure it could get better if it tried. 🙂 And thanks for reminding me that we haven’t made this BLT Pasta Salad this year yet. Maybe it’ll show up on our menu this weekend, too! 🙂
Hi David! Made this yesterday to go with my “4th” (on the 5th) menu! This is some seriously good salad! I halved the recipe since it’s just the two of us and it still made a BIG bowl of salad! I also threw in some kalamata olives I had on hand. Dog is doing fine – think it bothered me more than him! That trick works on humans too!
Hehe, yeah…this is definitely a picnic-sized batch of pasta salad, Dorothy! We are heading down to Maryland soon for an annual summer picnic with my wife’s family, and we often bring this salad to contribute to the cause. I’m really glad you enjoyed it! And I’m also really happy that your pup is doing well again. 🙂