Nothing says summer bbq to me like a good, old-fashioned pasta salad. Growing up, they were at EVERY family bbq and I’ve grown accustomed to expecting them. Over the years, I’ve experienced a variety of pasta salads, but my favorite was always the creamy/sweet/tangy one. But the traditional version of this creamy summer pasta salad recipe is very heavy on mayo and sugar, making it pretty high in Weight Watchers Points, as well as cholesterol!
My healthier version makes just a couple of changes to make it lighter and lower in Points, but still delicious. First of all, I used whole wheat pasta – that’s a no-brainer. Then, I subbed out most of the mayo for fat-free Greek yogurt. But I had to keep some mayo to maintain the taste and texture, so I used my favorite mayonnaise alternative – Reduced Fat Vegenaise instead.
You can really use just about any veggies you want in this Weight Watchers Pasta Salad Recipe – I just used what I traditionally knew as the most popular ingredients for it. And it turned out to be everything I hoped for…crunchy vegetables with a creamy, sweet, and slightly tangy dressing. Perfect!
Creamy Summer Pasta Salad Recipe - 6 Points
Ingredients
- 8 oz whole wheat pasta
- 2 medium cucumbers - diced
- 1 red bell pepper - diced
- 1 cup broccoli - chopped
- 1 small red onion - diced
- 3-4 oz sliced black olives - 1 can, drained
- ½ cup plain - non-fat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup reduced-fat mayonnaise - I used Vegenaise
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Right before removing the pasta from the heat, add broccoli to the water, and cook for about 45 seconds. Drain pasta and broccoli, and rinse well with cold water.
- Place pasta and broccoli in a large bowl and add in bell pepper, onions, cucumber, and black olives. Toss to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, mayo, sugar, vinegar, and salt & pepper. Pour over pasta salad and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
1 Comment
this is outrageously delicious!!! made it for dinner tonight. thank you for all of your hard work.