10 pasta salad recipes for picnics and potlucks

Pasta salad is the age old tradition of taking a regular pasta dish, chilling it and deeming it a salad. (And whoever made this up is a true genius.) But if you're sick of your traditional mayonnaise covered elbow noodles, upgrade your picnic or backyard barbecue with one of these unique pasta salad recipes.

Pasta salad recipes like bacon and green onion cellentani, avocado rotini and penne with strawberries and spinach will surely wow your guests. Just be careful—they’re so good they might overshadow your grilled mains.

You can keep your dish chilled in the refrigerator or a cooler until ready to serve, but if you're planning on keeping it out for a while, consider a chilled serving bowl like this one that holds ice in the bottom or this stainless steel insulated bowl.

Check out our favorite unique pasta salad recipes in the gallery below and shop some of our favorite chilled servers below!