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You are here: Home / Recipes and Cooking Tips / Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork

Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork

July 11, 2016 by Alea Milham

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This quick and easy Italian Pasta Salad recipe includes grilled pork, cheddar cheese, and a variety of vegetables.

I created this quick and easy Italian Pasta Salad recipe as part of the Chopped at Home Challenge. It includes grilled pork, Sargento Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar, pasta, and a variety of vegetables.

Four random ingredients and 20 minutes to make a meal.  When I am in a situation where I have to pull a couple of random ingredients together to make dinner, I often turn to cheese to pull the meal together. I have found that my kids will forgive me for quite a few vegetables if I have included enough cheese in the recipe.

My other secret for pulling together a quick meal is salad dressing. Salad dressings are versatile and can be used as marinades and sauces. So I began my challenge by making a Zesty Italian Salad Dressing that I could use both to add flavor to the pasta salad and as a quick marinade for the pork loin.

This recipe includes grilling. We often think of grilling as a more involved cooking method, but it doesn’t have to be long and tedious. You can do most of your food prep while waiting for the coals to be ready. And if you use a timer, you can multi-task and bounce back and forth between the kitchen and the barbecue while the meat is grilling.

Chopped at Home Challenge Theme: Grilling Required 7.5 oz Cheddar Required Ingredients: Pork tenderloin, cherry or grape tomatoes, broccoli

Italian Pasta Salad with Pork and Cheese Recipe

Salad Ingredients:

  • 1 pound pork loin chops
  • 8 ounces rotini
  • 3 cups chopped broccoli
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup diced yellow pepper
  • 1 7.5 oz package shredded cheddar cheese

Zesty Italian Dressing Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of olive oil
  • 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions: 

  1. Light the coals.
  2. Add the Italian Salad dressing ingredients to a cruet. Stir or shake well to combine.
  3. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the dressing over the pork loin chops. Use a basting brush to coat both sides. Let marinate while until the coals are ready. Reserve 1/4 cup of the salad dressing to baste the meat while it is grilling.
  4. Gill the pork chops over medium-high heat for 5 – 6 minutes on the first side, and 4 – 5 minutes on the second side. Check to ensure they are cooked through. If they are not, move them to a cooler section of the grill to finish cooking.
  5. While the pork chops are grilling, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
  6. Cut the cooked pork chops into bite size pieces.
  7. Add the cooked pasta, cubed pork, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, pepper, and Sargento cheese. Drizzle 1 cup of the Italian salad dressing over the ingredients and toss to coat.
  8. Serve immediately or serve chilled.

Italian Pasta Salad Recipe with Grilled Pork - A quick and easy summer salad recipe!

Printable Recipe for Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork

Pasta Salad Recipe with Grilled Pork
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Italian Pasta Salad with Pork and Cheese

Italian Pasta Salad with Pork and Cheese Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Italian Pasta Salad
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes minutes
Total Time 20 minutes minutes
Servings 6
Calories 788kcal
Author Alea Milham

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients:

  • 1 pound pork loin chops
  • 8 ounces rotini
  • 3 cups chopped broccoli
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup diced yellow pepper
  • 1 7.5 oz package shredded cheese

Zesty Italian Dressing Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of olive oil
  • 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

  • Light the coals.
  • Add the Italian Salad dressing ingredients to a cruet. Stir or shake well to combine.
  • Drizzle 1/4 cup of the dressing over the pork loin chops. Use a basting brush to coat both sides. Let marinate while until the coals are ready. Reserve 1/4 cup of the salad dressing to baste the meat while it is grilling.
  • Gill the pork chops over medium-high heat for 5 - 6 minutes on the first side, and 4 - 5 minutes on the second side. Check to ensure they are cooked through. If they are not, move them to a cooler section of the grill to finish cooking.
  • While the pork chops are grilling, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
  • Cut the cooked pork chops into bite size pieces.
  • Add the cooked pasta, cubed pork, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, pepper, and Sargento cheese. Drizzle 1 cup of the Italian salad dressing over the ingredients and toss to coat.
  • Serve immediately or serve chilled.

Nutrition

Calories: 788kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 54g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 31g | Trans Fat: 0.05g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 316mg | Potassium: 768mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 6155IU | Vitamin C: 60mg | Calcium: 323mg | Iron: 2mg

 

Quick and Easy Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork and Cheese

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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