Caprese pasta salad is ready in just 10 minutes thanks to Barilla Ready Pasta. Heat pasta in the microwave, toss with pesto, and add tomatoes and mozzarella for a fresh side dish.

This post is sponsored by Barilla, but all of the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Caprese salad makes a daily appearance at our table in the summer. Those layers of mozzarella slices, tomatoes and fresh basil marinated in olive oil are a perfect summer side dish. But after a few weeks of eating the traditional caprese salad, it can get a little old.

Adding the flavors of a traditional caprese salad into a pasta salad is a fun way to put a little twist on this favorite summer salad.  With Barilla’s new Ready Pasta and traditional basil pesto, you can have this summer side dish ready to go in 10 minutes. It’s perfect for a quick and easy addition to any summer barbecue.

10 Minute Caprese Pasta Salad

The trick to making this caprese pasta salad in 10 minutes is using Barilla’s new Ready Pasta. Made with just three simple ingredients, sea salt, olive oil and pasta, each package serves 2. You heat the pasta in the microwave in 60 seconds and it’s ready to go. The Ready Pasta and pesto sauce are both available at Walmart in the pasta aisle.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. We used Gemelli, but the Ready Pasta is also available in Penne, Elbows and Rotini. Any of these shapes will work in the pasta salad. Put the pasta in a mixing bowl and allow to cool.

One of the key ingredients in a caprese salad is fresh basil. Use Barilla Traditional Basil Pesto for the basil the pasta salad version.

Use as much or little of the pesto as you like. We used 2 Tablespoons. Toss with the pasta to coat thoroughly.

Next add the tomatoes to the pasta salad. You can use fresh tomatoes and dice them finely. But to make this quick and easy, a can of petite diced tomatoes works well. Just make sure to drain them well.

Gently toss a couple of tablespoons of the tomatoes with the pasta and pesto. Use more or less tomatoes to your liking.

Finally, add the mozzarella to the salad. Mozzarella pearls are perfect bite sized morsels for the salad. They are available in the refrigerated section of Walmart.

Toss about half a cup of the mozzarella pearls into the pasta salad. Make sure to coat the pearls in the pesto sauce.

You can serve the caprese salad immediately or chill and serve later.