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Grinder Pasta Salad

Grinder salad pasta is a deli-style Italian sub made with rotini, Italian meats, provolone, and banana peppers. Tossed with an Italian dressing and chilled until the flavors meld for an easy hoagie salad dinner.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Italian-American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Grinder Pasta Salad components
  • 1 lb rotini pasta
  • 8 oz salami
  • 8 oz ham
  • 8 oz turkey
  • 8 oz provolone cheese
  • 2 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup banana peppers
  • 0.5 cup red onion
  • 1 cup Italian dressing
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 0.25 Salt and pepper to taste

Method
 

Cook and prep
  1. Cook the rotini pasta according to package directions, then drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking and cool it quickly.
  2. Quarter the salami, dice the ham and turkey, cube the provolone cheese, halve the cherry tomatoes, slice the banana peppers, and thinly slice the red onion.
Build the salad
  1. Combine the pasta, salami, ham, turkey, provolone, tomatoes, banana peppers, and red onion in a large bowl for even distribution of the deli flavors.
  2. Mix the Italian dressing with the red wine vinegar and Italian seasoning until smooth.
  3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat so every piece of pasta and meat gets a light sheen.
  4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let the pasta absorb the flavors.
  5. Just before serving, add the shredded iceberg lettuce and toss again so the lettuce stays crisp.

Notes

Pro tip: Rinse the cooked pasta with cold water and chill the salad before adding lettuce—this keeps it from getting soggy. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 3 days; for best texture, add lettuce only right before serving. Freezing isn’t recommended due to the lettuce and deli meats. Dietary swap: use turkey salami or a lower-sodium deli meat selection and choose a low-sodium Italian dressing to reduce sodium.