A different type of pasta salad...

Growing up I never ever liked pasta salad and I blame that on my dislike for mayonnaise. In the last few years slowly I have begun to like pasta salad but I don't want to puke over it like I did growing up. I know that not every pasta salad has mayo in it and there are a lot of varieties but for me, don't like one, don't like them all is a rule of thumb I tend to go by. However this pasta salad that I made recently, this salad will have your taste bus dancing. Why? Because there is avocado. Because there is bacon and because if you are no mayo person like myself, then rejoice because there is no mayo!

So grab the pasta, bacon, avocado and a few other ingredients and lets make this mayo-free pasta salad!
To make this salad you need 2 avocados, 2 tomatoes, 8 ounces pasta (like bowtie or wagon wheel, I used rotini because that is why I had on hand), 6 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained and crumbled, 2/3 cup chopped basil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3 cloves garlic, minced, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese.

Cook the pasta according to the directions.

While the past is cooking halve the avocados, deseed them and cut them up into cubes and roughly chop up the tomatoes. Cook the bacon, let it cool then crumble it up.

 

In a large bowl combine the avocados, tomatoes, bacon, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, pepper and salt.





Add in the pasta and using a spoon mix all the ingredients together.



Sprinkle the salad with the parmesan cheese then sere, eat and enjoy!

24 comments:

My Life as A Plate said...

This salad looks incredible, so perfect to take to a bbq. I cannot wait to give this recipe a try.

Kayla MKOY said...

Holy YUM!!!!! I'm bookmarking this ASAP! Thank you ma'am! You had me at avocado and bacon ;)

Anonymous said...

Why have I never added avocado to pasta salad? So genius! Mayonnaise grosses me out, too, so I usually just add a little olive oil and/or red wine vinegar to pasta salad to keep it light. Love this recipe!

Pamela @ alittleglitter.com said...

I hate pasta salad and potato salad for the same reasons but that looks delish! I might give that a try!

megan said...

oh my, that looks delicious!

Jessica said...

I love pasta salad. But I am definitely a no mayo person! Will be trying this for sure!

Sarah said...

yum! I think I am going to have to try this soon! Happily pinning :) thanks!

Unknown said...

OMG YUM! i love pasta salad and this looks SOOO good! i really dont love it with a ton of mayo either. xo jillian - cornflake dreams

Heather said...

This looks yummy with the avocado, cheese and tomato! And I'm a mayo hater, too!

Pamela said...

YUMMMMMM! This looks so good!

MakeMeUpMia said...

I'm going to have to pin this, I love all of the ingredients and what a perfect dish for summer! Thank you for sharing :)

Lisa Loves John said...

I've been waiting for this!!! Looks amazing! All of my favorite foods in one big bowl!!!

awhite said...

This looks awesome! Great summer dish! :)

Happy Thursday, babe!

-Ashley
http://lestylorouge.com

Hilary said...

YUMMY!

Kelli @ A Deeper Joy said...

Yummmm! I'm totally pinning this to make at some point. Thanks for sharing! I'm excited to try it!

brooke lyn said...

yes, yes, yes, yes, yes bacon. yes.

BLovedBoston said...

I am making this next week!!! That bacon - YUM!!!

Kristal {Love, Grace & Hope} said...

Oh yum!!!!!!!

Katie Elizabeth said...

This sounds SO good! Anything with bacon and avocado... you can count me in! Yum!!

Amanda | Kids and Cabernet said...

Holy yum!!!! All of my favorite ingredients!!!

Anonymous said...

This salad looks AMAZING! You're making me really hungry!

xo
Rachel

Lauren said...

this looks amazing! I'm thinking this would be great for a 4th of July gathering!

Rach said...

This is my kind of pasta salad! It looks absolutely amazing!

Unknown said...

This looks so yummy. :)