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Paul Kirk’s book Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue: Barbecue Your Way to Greatness is full of great recipes. Such as this outstanding Creole pasta salad. We loved the crunch of the bell pepper and celery, the smoothness of the pasta and buttermilk dressing, the pop of the tomatoes, and our favorite, the briny saltiness of the olives. Although I used tri-color Rotini pasta, you can use elbow macaroni instead. Or even wagon wheel pasta.
Perfect For That Family Picnic
This recipe serves a crowd, so it is perfect for a family get-together. It does have some kick, so you might warn grandma before she digs in! If you want to keep out the heat, just leave out the cayenne pepper. But for more kick, substitute pepper jack cheese for the cheddar cheese.
Just In Case
If you’re taking this salad on the road, you might want to plan ahead for it needing a little help. By that I mean it can dry out as it sits in the fridge. That’s easy to fix. Just add a bit of buttermilk and stir. Or mayonnaise. Or both. You can do that before you hit the road or once you arrive at your destination. You won’t need to add a lot. But you definitely don’t want to serve a dry salad!
The No Light Zone
I don’t think that this salad is the time to ‘go light’ on the ingredients. No low-fat buttermilk. No diet mayo. This salad is meant to be a bit decadent. So load up on the good stuff. Hey, it’s got lots of fresh ingredients too. Those’ll cancel out the real buttermilk and mayonnaise, right?
I almost always use Blue Plate mayonnaise in the dishes I make. I think it is the best around. If you can’t find it locally you can pick it up online for a fair price.
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Also check out my other version of Creole pasta salad.
Creole Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound rotini pasta or whatever style you like, such as macaroni, shells, etc
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese cubed
- ยฝ cup celery diced
- ยฝ cup white onion diced
- ยฝ cup green bell pepper diced
- ยผ cup pimento-stuffed green olives sliced
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ยผ cup buttermilk plus a little more
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ยฝ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ยฝ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta per the package instructions. Rinse and drain well and let cool completely.
- Combine the pasta, tomatoes, cheese, celery, onion, bell pepper and olives in a large bowl.
- Combine the mayo, buttermilk, garlic, salt, and white and cayenne peppers in a bowl and pour over the salad.
- Toss to combine.
- Let set in the fridge for at least 4 hours until well chilled.
- If the salad seems dry, add in a tablespoon of extra buttermilk and stir to moisten.
Notes
Nutrition
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