Pickle Bacon Pasta Salad
The flavors of tart pickle and salty bacon balance the mayo and tomatoes in this pasta salad so well! I love a good tart pasta salad! I also love a good mayo pasta salad, but it has to be a light touch. This amazing bowl is filled with my favorite things about pasta salad! It’s almost BLT but with a pickle twist!
The inspiration for this recipe
Inevitably when I move into a new apartment, which I have done 11 times since I started this blog, I at one point get sick of all the takeout and decided to pull something together from the random stuff I have on hand. Some ingredients I moved with, some I got in a “basics” grocery run, and there is always pasta involved. This time was no different, I have been carting some bacon and pickles around the whole damn country through a hurricane to end up in this tasty pasta salad.
Start by boiling the pasta
Cook the pasta to the package instructions and start adding stuff!
Italians will always encourage you to dress pasta immediately when it comes out of the boiling water and I think that this philosophy can apply to pasta salad as well. Any ingredients that can stand up to some heat can go in while the pasta is still hot, and the rest can go in when it cools. For this pasta salad, most of the ingredients were fine with a little heat. I started with the mayo, tomato, bacon, and shallot. A little bacon fat for good measure.
After it cools a little
Then I added the pickles, pickle juice, and italian dressing as it started to cool. The pickles cools it down to pretty much room temp. The kale went in next and then I put it into the fridge for an hour.
Serving the pickle bacon pasta salad
Tasty stuff! Serve with beer! I always try and encourage people to make things the way they like and not rely too much on a recipe. Make sure you taste this before serving and adjust it as you like!
For me it’s all about the pickles and the bacon combining in the sauce. The kale and tomato are just sidekicks.
A fantastic pasta salad I would bring to any event!
Twists on the pickle bacon pasta salad
Personally I like a light touch of bacon. If you want more, you should go as hard as you want. It’s in the name after all so it should be bacony! I used some of the bacon fat to get more bacon flavor in there without it being too aggressive.
I know mayo can be controversial in pasta salad but I love it. If you want a good old classic mayo pasta salad, I love this one.
For more of my unique twists on pasta salad, check out my basil pimento pasta salad, pepperoni kimchi pasta salad, and this salami arugula pasta salad!
Pickle Bacon Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1/4 pound bacon
- 1/2 pound elbow pasta
- 1 small shallot minced
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1 1/2 cups chopped tomato
- 1 cup chopped pickles
- 1/4 cup pickle juice
- 1/4 cup Italian dressing
- 3/4 cup chopped kale
Instructions
- Cook the bacon until crispy, Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Chop up the bacon.
- Cook the pasta and strain. Immediately while still hot, add the bacon, bacon fat, shallot, mayo, and tomatoes. Stir to combine. If you don’t have a shallot you can use a few tablespoons of minced red onion, or a scallion.
- A few minutes later add in the pickles, pickle juice, and dressing and stir to combine.
- Finally add in the kale and stir to combine. Allow to cool in the fridge for an hour at least before serving.
This sounds great….my choice would be a dill pickle or a half sour but what would be your preference for this recipe and this looks like a 5 star recipe to me….all your recipes are awesome and finally have purchased one of your books, thank you fir sharing your talents!!!!
Ive been making this recipe for about 2-3 years now. Its so popular I typically have to make 4x the amount and I might have a little leftover if that. It tastes a lot better if it sits overnight to absorb the flavors. Definitely use Best Maid pickles (try to do spicy when theyre available).
Love to hear it! Yea – most pasta salad tastes better after sitting for a little bit