Bow Tie Pasta Salad

A delicious addition to your picnic table, this crowd-pleasing pasta salad delivers big flavor and is so simple to make. Talk about a quintessential summer side dish!

Jun 17, 2025

It’s pasta salad season, and honestly, I couldn’t be happier. Perfectly cooked al dente pasta and cool, crunchy vegetables mingling together in a creamy, tangy, slightly sweet dressing – it doesn’t get better than that (at least in my book)!

From a “healthier recipe” perspective, the major downside to most pasta salad recipes is the dressing. Pasta salad dressings are typically made with lots of mayonnaise which means lots of calories. Since oil (usually soybean oil) is the main ingredient in regular mayonnaise, it makes sense that it’s calorie loaded. One tablespoon of full-fat mayo smeared on a sandwich adds 90 calories; one cup stirred into a pasta salad adds a whopping 1,440 calories.

You’ll notice a few lower calorie options when shopping for mayonnaise. Light (also referred to as reduced fat) mayonnaise, as well as mayo marketed as “made with olive oil” or “made with avocado oil,” typically supply 35 to 60 calories per tablespoon. The light mayo varieties contain fewer calories because water is the main ingredient instead of oil. Unfortunately, taste, texture, and creaminess, are often compromised in these lower calorie, lower fat alternatives.

In today’s pasta salad recipe, I used full-fat mayonnaise. In my opinion, the taste and creaminess are far superior to reduced-fat mayo. One trick I used to lighten the calorie load of the dressing was to cut back on the amount of mayonnaise and supplement it with reduced-fat sour cream. One tablespoon of reduced-fat sour cream has just 18 calories; a significant reduction compared to the calories in a tablespoon of regular mayonnaise. Best of all, the taste and creaminess of reduced-fat sour cream is excellent, adding amazing flavor to this pasta salad.

To your health,

Darlene

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BOW TIE PASTA SALAD

Yield: 10 servings

Serving Size: 2/3 cup

Prep: 15 minutes

Ready: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups (8 ounces) dry bow tie pasta
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced seedless cucumber
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red onion

DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan of unsalted boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and rinse under cold water. Drain cooled pasta well and transfer to a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, dill, sugar, vinegar, mustard, salt, and black pepper.
To the pasta, add celery, cucumber, red pepper, and onion. Pour dressing over pasta and vegetable mixture and stir gently to coat. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving, allowing flavors to blend.

Nutrition Information per Serving

154 Calories, 6.5 g Total fat, 1 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 7 mg Cholesterol, 156 mg Sodium, 21 g Total carbohydrate, 1 g Dietary fiber, 3 g Total sugars, 1 g Added sugars, 3.5 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 25 mg (2%) Calcium, 0 mg (0%) Iron, 131 mg (2%) Potassium