This creamy pasta salad with mayo is the stuff of dreams! It’s so comforting and delicious, I’d be surprised if you don’t finish it all in one sitting. The Turkish (or Greek) yogurt makes it really creamy, which is a nice contrast with the crunchy pickles. With the addition of dill, mayonnaise and roasted red peppers, it’s a real burst of flavor!
This recipe is a keeper for barbecues, or if you need a cold side dish on a hot summer day! It’s so good it even converted me to cold pasta salads, not a small feat.
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👪 Family recipe
I’ll be honest, I’ve hated pasta salads for most of my life. I blame my Frenchness and all my food-related principles (Pasta is supposed to be eaten hot as soon as it’s ready, pasta salads are gloopy tasteless abominations, blablabla…..). It took me moving to Turkey to find out that a creamy pasta salad with mayo can be amazing. This recipe is from my Turkish mother-in-law who makes it for every family gathering. I tasted it with an open mind because I didn’t think it was made with pasta. They kept calling it kuskus, because that’s the Turkish name of the pasta shape used in this recipe. But kuskus sounds just like couscous which in French means semolina, leading me to believe I was about to eat something similar to a tabbouleh salad (which I love).
ANYWAY, I tasted the creamy pasta salad with mayo, and absolutely loved it! It single-handedly shattered my lifelong belief that pasta salads were a disgrace to all pasta dishes out there. Now, I am not saying I’m going to start throwing rigatoni or tagliatelle in my salads BUT I am now fine with eating cold pasta salads with the types of pasta I wouldn’t eat hot anyway. That’s an improvement.
Turkish kuskus
Sometimes kuskus is used in Turkey to make pilafs (instead of rice or bulgur) but on the Aegean coast, where I used to live, it’s most commonly used for makarna salatası (pasta salad). There is no need to go to a Turkish store to buy kuskus, you will probably find it at your local supermarket under the name pearl couscous, Israeli couscous, giant couscous, pearl pasta, or grandine. If not, you can use the types of pasta you would use for soups such as orzo, ditalini, stelline, … The pasta will have less of a bite but it will be fine.
Making this creamy pasta salad with mayo takes no time and is very simple. As for all the Turkish side dishes made with yogurt the longer it can rest in the fridge the better it will taste! So, don’t hesitate to make more and you’ll see how the taste improves over time. You can keep the creamy pasta salad with mayo for 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
📋 Step by step
Cook the pasta. Tip into a colander, rinse with cold running water until cool, drain well and set aside. Chop the dill leaves, pickles and roasted red peppers. Combine the yogurt & mayonnaise. Stir everything together in a large mixing bowl. Taste the creamy pasta salad with mayo and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
Yogurt
If you go to a Turkish grocery store, you’ll notice that there are basically 3 types of yogurt in the refrigerated section. Don’t worry, whichever yogurt you pick you can’t go wrong, they all taste pretty similar but their textures differ.
- Kaymaksız yoğurt is the most traditional yoğurt and you can use it for any Turkish recipe or spoon it next to pilafs and stuffed vegetables. It’s tangier and less thick than Greek yogurt. This is the yogurt I use for this creamy pasta salad with mayo.
- Kaymaklı yoğurt is the same yogurt but with a thin ‘skin’ of dried yogurt on top. You can also use this yogurt as long as you scrape off the dried yogurt on top.
- Süzme yoğurt is thicker and creamier than both kaymaksız and kaymaklı yogurts and it’s usually the preferred yogurt while making mezzes. If you use süzme yoğurt for this recipe, you’ll have to whisk it with 1 tsp of water to thin it out a bit.
If you don’t live near a Turkish store, use full-fat Greek yogurt which is more widely available. Your creamy pasta salad with mayo will taste great too!
Creamy pasta salad with mayo
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- refrigeration: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Turkish
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Turkish creamy pasta salad with mayo made is super comforting and far from boring. The roasted red peppers, crunchy pickles & aromatic dill give a real burst of flavor!
Ingredients
- 320g dry pearl couscous (kuskus) (2 cups)
- 400g Turkish yogurt (1 ⅓ cups), or use full-fat Greek yogurt
- 4 tbsp mayonnaise
- 10 dill sprigs
- 340g jarred roasted red peppers (12 oz), drained weight
- 10 whole pickles, or more according to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta. Fill a large pot with water and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. When the water is boiling, add 1 tbsp of salt and the pasta to the pot. Cook according to the package instructions, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the pasta is ready (I prefer them still a bit firm in the center, but you do you), tip it into a colander over the sink, rinse the pasta under cold running water to cool them to room temperature, and drain really well.
- Prepare the rest of the ingredients. Whisk the yogurt and mayonnaise together in a large mixing bowl. Pick the dill leaves off of the stems and discard the stems. Finely chop the dill leaves, roasted red peppers, and pickles. Tip them into the mixing bowl.
- Combine everything. Add the drained pasta to the bowl. Toss everything together until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The longer the creamy pasta salad with mayo stays in the fridge the better it will get! When ready to serve, give it one last good stir and tip it into a serving bowl.
Notes
The salad can be kept for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Don’t let it sit at room temperature for more than a couple of hours before or after serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 522
Keywords: refreshing summer meals, sides to bring to a bbq, cold meze
Are you looking for other cold Turkish salads? Here are some of my favorites:
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