Pepperoni Kimchi Pasta Salad

The spicy sour flavor of kimchi balances the savory pepperoni in this awesome mayo based pasta salad! It might seem like a random combination, but it all goes so well together! The creamy mayo is the binder that brings all the flavors together in a magical way. Mayo is magic is what I am saying.

The idea for this recipe

I was craving some grocery store “mayo soup” pasta salad a few weeks ago and bought a big tub of it. After the first few bites, the initial craving was satisfied, and the pure mayoness of it suddenly became too much. I had some kimchi in the fridge and I tossed it in to cut through the mayo flavor and also add more bulk to the mixture. It was fantastic and I decided to create a whole recipe based on it.

First lightly dress the pasta

Many people will tell you to rinse pasta for pasta salad but I try and treat it like any other pasta dish and toss it with some sort of sauce right from the boiling water. This is a great time to introduce flavors to the pasta because it is looking for more liquids to absorb. I tossed the pasta in about half of the mayo, some olive oil, sesame oil, honey, and celery salt. It already tastes great! Cover this and pop it into the fridge for a few hours.

After the pasta cools, add the kimchi and pepperoni

Toss in the kimchi, pepperoni, and cucumber about a half hour later at least. I also added more mayo, a little mustard, and some rice vinegar.

Serving the pepperoni kimchi pasta salad

Serve up the kimchi and pepperoni filled pasta salad, and then top it with more cucumbers, as well as some sesame seeds and chili flakes.

So good! The color on this pasta salad is a nice pinky hue with flecks of red chili, and the green cucumbers really pop.

I know people hate on mayo based pasta salads, but sometimes they really hit! Especially when there is something refreshing to balance the mayo, and both the cucumber and kimchi do that in this pasta salad.

Twists on kimchi pepperoni pasta salad

This would also be really good with salami instead of pepperoni, or any other cured meat you want. You could swap the kimchi with pickles too if you prefer. Other common pasta salad veggies could be good in here too, like bell peppers or onions.

To really take it to the next level though, use homemade kimchi!

For more pasta salad goodness, check out my basil pimento pasta salad, pickle bacon pasta salad, or this gnocchi pasta salad/potato salad hybrid!