Seafood Pasta Salad – CopyKat Recipes

Are you within the temper for a creamy chilly pasta salad with a seafood twist? Look no additional than this scrumptious and simple seafood pasta salad recipe. Made with imitation crab meat and a medley of colourful veggies, this pasta salad is the right dish for a weeknight meal. The tangy dressing is made with a mix of bitter cream, milk, and ranch dressing, including a zesty kick to each chunk.

Overhead view of seafood pasta salad on a black plate.

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What Makes This Seafood Pasta Salad So Good? 

Seafood pasta salads will be iffy. Putting the right steadiness between the sauce, seafood, and pasta isn’t all the time straightforward. However this seafood salad recipe with pasta will get it proper.

The creamy bitter cream and ranch sauce is simply tart sufficient to deliver out the slight brininess of the imitation crab, and the veggies add a crunch that contrasts superbly with the peerlessly cooked pasta. Make this Seafood Pasta Salad recipe as gentle lunch or serve it as a part of dinner. 

Why This Seafood Salad Is Good for a Pot Luck Dinner 

That is the form of dish that, when it reveals up on the desk at a potluck, you’d higher take an additional giant serving to as a result of there isn’t going to be any left once you return for seconds. When you present up with this salad, your pals might be impressed. And there’s no motive to inform them how fast, straightforward, and cheap it’s to make sufficient to feed a crowd!

Seafood Pasta Salad Components 

For this pasta salad, you’ll want:

  • Penne pasta
  • Bitter cream
  • Ranch dressing
  • Entire milk
  • Imitation crab meat 
  • White onion
  • Inexperienced bell pepper
  • Celery
Seafood pasta salad ingredients on a tray.

Imitation crabmeat is a typical ingredient in Japanese cooking, and you could find it at most Asian grocery shops or on-line. It’s comprised of fish pureed with different elements after which shaped to resemble the true factor.

You need to use different pasta as an alternative of penne. Macaroni, rotini, or ziti are nice selections.

Find out how to Make This Seafood Salad With Pasta

To cook dinner the pasta:

  1. Boil the pasta in closely salted water in response to the package deal directions. Don’t overlook chilly temperatures mute flavors. Which means you will have extra salt than regular.  
  2. Prepare dinner the pasta for a few minute longer than you’ll when you had been making sizzling pasta. You’re searching for one thing a little bit extra tender than al dente. 
  3. Pour the pasta right into a colander and rinse below chilly working water to chill instantly. 
  4. Toss the pasta within the colander over the sink to take away as a lot water as potential. Enable the pasta to empty nicely. 

To complete the seafood salad with pasta:

  1. Mix the bitter cream, ranch dressing, and milk in a big mixing bowl. Stir nicely. 
Seafood pasta salad dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  1. Cowl the bowl with plastic wrap and stick it within the fridge for no less than two hours to permit the flavors to meld. 
  2. Simply earlier than you take away the sauce from the fridge, lower the imitation crab meat into chunk measurement items. Chop the white onion, inexperienced peppers, and a pair of stalks celery into small items. Mix them with the pasta in a big bowl.
Seafood pasta salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  1. Take away the well-chilled sauce from the fridge. Add the remainder of the sauce elements to the blending bowl.
  2. Add the sauce to the pasta combination and stir to mix.  
  3. Cowl the bowl with plastic wrap and chill it for no less than two extra hours earlier than serving.
  4. Garnish with paprika or herbs – recent dill or parsley.
Seafood pasta salad on a plate.

What to Serve With Imitation Crab Pasta Salad

This recipe could also be for a Seafood Pasta Salad with out mayonnaise, however it’s nonetheless extraordinarily decadent. Pairing the pasta salad with sides that may lower among the richness of the sauce work rather well. Listed below are a couple of solutions:

  • Garlic bread brings loads of crunchy texture to the meal and the sturdy and intense taste of garlic.  
  • A Greek or Caesar salad will add extra recent greens and assist enhance the acidity of the seafood pasta salad. 
  • Coleslaw, however not the type with mayo. The very best sort of coleslaw to pair with seafood salad incorporates shredded cabbage and carrots tossed with oil and vinegar!

Recipe Variations 

This seafood salad makes use of imitation crab as a result of it’s tasty and simple to work with however be at liberty to make use of the true factor. After all, you too can use different cooked seafood, akin to peeled shrimp and even lobster!

Find out how to Retailer Pasta With Seafood Salad 

Put leftovers in an hermetic container and hold them within the fridge. Don’t freeze. 

How Lengthy Will It Final

You must end any further seafood salad pasta inside two to 3 days after making it. It’s not suitable for eating any seafood that has warmed to room temperature. 

Closeup of seafood pasta salad on a black plate.

Favourite Pasta Salads

Take a look at extra of my straightforward pasta recipes and one of the best salad recipes on CopyKat!

Overhead view of seafood pasta salad on a black plate.

Seafood Pasta Salad

Seafood pasta salad is a scrumptious creamy and chilly pasta salad nice for summer time dinner or a potluck.

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Course: Salad

Delicacies: American

Key phrase: Ponderosa Steakhouse Seafood Penne Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Prepare dinner Time: 10 minutes

Chilling: 4 hours

Whole Time: 4 hours 20 minutes

Servings: 12

Energy: 511kcal

Components

  • 1 1/2 pound penne pasta
  • 1 pound bitter cream
  • 16 ounces ranch dressing
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 pound imitation crab meat chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped inexperienced bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery

Directions

  • Prepare dinner and funky the pasta.

  • Combine bitter cream, ranch dressing, and milk. Refrigerate the dressing it for no less than 2 hours.

  • Place onions, peppers, celery, crab meat, and pasta in a big bowl. Add the dressing and blend nicely. Refrigerate no less than 2 hours earlier than serving.

Diet

Energy: 511kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 10g | Fats: 27g | Saturated Fats: 7g | Ldl cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 665mg | Potassium: 241mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 300IU | Vitamin C: 7.3mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 1.1mg