Can You Make This Yummy Pasta Salad at Home?

Discover the ultimate pasta salad recipe that’s perfect for summer, meal prep, or any festive table! In this video, I’ll show you how to make a vibrant Mediterranean-inspired pasta salad with ptitim (Israeli couscous), juicy turkey, fresh vegetables, creamy mozzarella, and a zesty homemade dressing. This easy and healthy salad is packed with flavor, color, and nutrients—ideal for lunch, dinner, picnics, or as a crowd-pleasing side dish.

This pasta salad features tender ptitim as the base, combined with oven-roasted or poached turkey thigh, sweet cherry tomatoes, crisp cucumber, ripe avocado, and fresh herbs like parsley, dill, and basil. Cubes of mozzarella add a creamy touch, while the dressing—made with extra virgin olive oil, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper—brings everything together for a refreshing, tangy finish.

Whether you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal, a healthy lunchbox idea, or a show-stopping dish for your next BBQ, this recipe is for you. The step-by-step guide covers everything: how to cook ptitim to perfect al dente, tips for juicy turkey, the best way to cube mozzarella, and how to keep avocado fresh and green. You’ll also learn how to make a simple, flavorful dressing that elevates every bite.

This salad is not only delicious but also versatile. Swap turkey for chicken, tofu, or chickpeas for a vegetarian version. Add your favorite seasonal veggies or try different herbs for a new twist every time. It’s a great make-ahead option—just store in the fridge and enjoy chilled or at room temperature.

Don’t miss the pro tips on ingredient prep, storage, and serving ideas. If you love easy, healthy, and colorful recipes, make sure to subscribe for more! Try this pasta salad and let me know your favorite variations in the comments.

Chapters:

0:24 – INGREDIENTS
01:11 – PREPPING THE TURKEY
01:41 – VEGGIES
02:55 – MOZZARELLA & HERBS
03:30 – COOKING THE PTITIM
04:15 – DRAINING THE PTITIM
04:53 – DRESSING
06:02 – ASSEMBLING
07:32 – SERVING

Welcome to our culinary world. Today we’re going to make an absolutely delicious Italian pasta salad with pit teamim and turkey. This vibrant salad is perfect for a light dinner, an outdoor picnic, or any festive gathering. Ingredients for our Italian pasta salad. We’ll need titum pasta 120 g. Turkey thigh 200 g. Cherry tomatoes around 10 to 15. Fresh cucumbers two medium sized. Avocado one perfectly ripe. Mozzarella 150 g. Fresh herbs. parsley, dill, and basil. And for the dressing, extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons. Whole grain mustard, two to three teaspoons. This will add a wonderful tangy kick, plus some lemon juice and freshly cracked pepper. Prepping the turkey. We’re using precooked turkey thigh. You can roast it with salt, pepper, and olive oil at 350° F or 180° C for about 25 to 30 minutes until it’s perfectly tender. Grilling or poaching works beautifully, too. Let’s dice the turkey into nice even cubes about half an inch. Keeping them uniform makes every bite balanced and beautiful. Now, let’s prep our gorgeous vegetables. have the cherry tomatoes or quarter them if they’re larger. Do you smell that fresh aroma? Those are aromatic compounds being released from the cells. That’s why refrigerated tomatoes often lose their fragrance. Cold temps suppress their natural flavors. Dice the cucumbers to match the tomatoes. If the skin feels tough, you can peel them. Here’s a fun fact. Cucumbers are 96% water. Perfect for hot summer days. Now, the avocado. Have it. Remove the pit and scoop out that creamy flesh. And here’s something fascinating. Avocado is actually a berry, not a vegetable. [Music] Dice it carefully. Here’s the cool part. It only ripens after it’s picked from the tree. That’s why we often buy them firm and let them ripen at home. A spritz of lemon juice will keep it from browning. Mozzarella and herbs. If you’re using a large mozzarella ball, let’s cube it into bite-sized pieces about half an inch. If you’ve got those adorable mini mozzarella balls, you can leave them whole or have them for easier eating. Time to chop our fresh herbs. This trio of parsley, dill, and basil creates the most incredible aromatic blend. Basil and tomatoes with mozzarella. That’s pure Italian magic. Just like a deconstructed caprese salad. Let’s cook our petitim pasta. We’ll bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. About 6 to 8 cups for our 120 g of pasta. Into that bubbling water goes a teaspoon of salt. And this isn’t just for flavor. Salt actually raises the water’s boiling point and helps the pasta’s starch structure develop properly for that perfect texture. In goes our titim. Give it a good stir in those first 30 seconds to prevent any sticking. We’ll cook it according to the package directions, usually from 6 to 8 minutes until it’s perfectly al dente. Draining. [Music] Let’s drain it through a colander. Here’s the key for cold pasta salads. We need to rinse it immediately with cold water. This stops the cooking process instantly and washes away excess starch that could make our salad gummy. Give that colander a gentle shake to drain thoroughly. If you’re serving right away, you can leave it slightly warm to enhance all those gorgeous aromomas. For make ahead prep, cool it completely and toss with just a drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking. Time to create our incredible dressing. In a small bowl, we’ll start with 3 tablespoon of beautiful extra virgin olive oil. Quality matters here. Good oil brings those lovely fruity and herbal notes that make all the difference. Now for 2 to three teaspoon of whole grain mustard. This variety is milder than yellow mustard, but so much more complex. When you bite into those mustard seeds, they release amazing essential oils that add incredible depth, a pinch of sea salt, and some freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Fresh lemon juice, about a teaspoon from half a lemon. The citric acid brightens everything up and helps create a beautiful emulsion with our oil. Let’s whisk this all together until it’s perfectly smooth. [Music] Now comes the fun part, assembling our masterpiece. Let’s start with our cooled tatim in this beautiful large bowl. See how each little piece holds its shape perfectly? That’s the sign of pasta cooked just right. [Music] In go our gorgeous h haved cherry tomatoes and those crisp cucumber cubes. Now let’s gently fold in our avocado pieces. We want to be super gentle to keep them intact and beautiful. Time for our perfectly seasoned turkey cubes. Let’s sprinkle our fresh herb mixture all over. This combination doesn’t just look stunning. It’s going to perfume our entire salad with the most incredible fresh aroma. Finally, let’s distribute our mozzarella pieces throughout. This creamy, mild cheese will balance the acidity from our tomatoes and dressing while adding that luxurious texture we’re after. Final toss. Now, let’s drizzle our gorgeous dressing evenly over everything, making sure it reaches every corner. Here’s where we need to be really gentle. Using two large spoons or a silicone spatula, we’ll fold everything together with a lifting motion from bottom to top. This technique keeps our delicate avocado and mozzarella looking perfect. Serving Let’s plate our stunning salad in this beautiful serving bowl. Doesn’t it look absolutely gorgeous? [Music] And there we have it. Our Italian pasta salad with petitamin turkey is ready to steal the show. This versatile beauty works as a complete meal for lunch or dinner, makes an elegant side dish, or can be the star appetizer at your next gathering. Hope this recipe gave you some inspiration to try something new in your kitchen. Don’t be shy. Tweak it, mix it up, and make it your own with your favorite flavors. Share your twist on this Italian pasta salad down in the comments, and let me know what recipes you’d love to see next. Thanks so much for watching. See you in the next one, and as always, happy cooking.