If you love a classic Italian sub, this pasta salad version is about to become your new dinnertime obsession. It’s filled with all the flavors of a grinder, like deli meats, lettuce, tomato, and tangy peppers. It’s easy to make and great for a summertime meal or a side dish you serve at a barbecue. This Italian grinder pasta salad is also naturally dairy-free, as long as you double check ingredients.
Ingredients
Here’s a photo of everything you’ll need to make the base of the pasta salad.
For the dressing, you can use your own favorite oil & vinegar store-bought option, or you can make the mayo-based option I’ve used in the recipe using these ingredients:
Important Notes on Deli Meat
If you are following a dairy-free diet, it is important to recognize that some deli meats can contain dairy products. For example, nonfat milk powder is sometimes added to salami.
In addition, lactic acid starter culture is a bacteria that is used in the processing of certain deli meats. While this is a bacteria, it is grown on a medium initially that can be dairy, or can be other products. Some folks who are allergenic may wish to avoid a product if the starter culture is grown on dairy. The source of lactic acid starter culture is often not included on the label, so you may need to reach out to a company if you are worried about this.
Meats are regulated by the USDA rather than the FDA. Most companies follow standard FDA allergen labeling laws regardless, but it is important to be a bit more cautious with these products.
Products can also be subject to cross contamination at the deli itself. This can occur often when meats and cheeses are sliced on the same slicer, or the same gloves are used to handle both. I recommend buying pre-packaged products with clear ingredient labels so you can confirm that the products are dairy-free.
I know this can sound overwhelming, but it can be relatively easy to find packaged deli meat products that do not contain dairy, despite all this. Go Dairy Free has a helpful list of dairy-free deli meats on their site as well.
Instructions
You’ll find the full instructions in the recipe card below, but here are some helpful process photos for reference.
Making this is super simple. Start by cooking the pasta. While that’s cooking, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and set it aside for now.
Add the rest of the pasta salad ingredients to another large mixing bowl. When the pasta is done, drain and let it cool for a few minutes, then add that to the bowl as well.
Toss the pasta salad in the dressing, and enjoy! I prefer serving this around room temperature, but you can also serve it chilled.
Recipe Tips
Storage: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Tip for Dressing: I generally prefer dressing this right before serving. You can dress it ahead of time, but sometimes the pasta can soak up some of the dressing and it can become a bit dry. If that happens, just stir in another spoonful of light mayo before eating leftovers.
Increasing Protein: If you’re making this for a meal rather than a side dish, you can increase the protein content by using a higher-protein legume-based pasta. Or, you could add some cooked chicken or chickpeas to the recipe.
Allergens in This Recipe
Disclaimer: Always double check ingredients and labels yourself prior to making a recipe. While I try to check all ingredients for allergens, there’s always the chance I may miss something, or manufacturer formulations can change.
As written, this recipe is dairy-free and nut-free.
This recipe does contain wheat/gluten (in the pasta, and in some versions of light mayo) and egg (in the mayo). The light mayo may also have soybean oil, and while highly refined soybean oil doesn’t have to be listed as an allergen, I mention it here as I know some folks prefer to avoid that.
- To make this wheat/gluten free, use a gluten-free pasta and double check that the light mayo does not contain wheat/gluten.
- To make egg-free, use a vegan mayonnaise in place of the light mayo.
More Delicious Dinner Recipes
Looking for more tasty dinner ideas? Try one of these dairy-free ideas:
I hope you enjoy this Italian grinder pasta salad recipe! My husband and I have been devouring it recently; I love making this because it gives us leftovers for several days. If you get a chance to try it, feel free to leave a recipe rating or comment below.
Italian Grinder Pasta Salad (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
For the pasta salad:
- 12 oz dry farfalle pasta
- 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce (or iceburg)
- 1 ½ cups halved cherry tomatoes (about 1 pint)
- ¾ cup jarred banana pepper rings (or sliced pepperoncinis)
- ⅓ cup finely chopped red onion
- ½ cup sliced hard salami, chopped (about 10 sandwich-sized slices; double check to ensure dairy-free)
- ½ cup pepperoni slices, chopped (regular or turkey; double check to ensure dairy-free)
For the dressing (optional; can use store-bought):
- ½ cup light mayonnaise (double check to ensure dairy-free)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
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Cook the pasta according to package directions. When done, drain in a colander and let cool for a few minutes.
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Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by mixing together the light mayo, red wine vinegar, oregano, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside for now.
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In another large mixing bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, banana peppers, red onion, salami, and pepperoni together.
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Add the cooked pasta to the bowl with the veggies and deli meat. Stir to combine.
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Add the dressing and toss until everything is well coated. Serve at room temperature or serve chilled. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- It’s important to double check packaged deli meats to ensure they do not contain dairy products. See full notes in the blog post.
- We like the flavor of red onion in dishes like this; if you’re not a big fan of raw red onion, decrease to 2-4 tablespoons instead of ⅓ cup.
- Instead of the mayo-based dressing, feel free to use an oil & vinegar dressing (store-bought or homemade) instead, or any other favorite option that you enjoy. Double check to ensure that any store-bought dressings are dairy-free.
- This recipe makes about six meal-sized servings, which is what the nutrition analysis below is based on. If using this as a side dish, you should get around 10-12 side dish servings.
Nutrition analysis (approximate per serving): 433 calories, 19 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 900 mg sodium, 52 g carbohydrate, 3.5 g fiber, 5 g sugar, 13 g protein, Vitamin D: 1%, Calcium: 3%, Iron: 15%, Potassium: 8%
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