Add This Fruit For Sweet, Juicy Bursts Of Flavor In Your Pasta Salad

Tired of making the same bland and dry pasta salad? Then it's time to update your regular recipe by adding grapes to the ingredients list. This breezy move will give your pasta salad a sweet, juicy burst of flavor, loosen its texture, and lend it a colorful vibrancy.

A key ingredient in Waldorf salad, sweet grapes offer a savory jumble of greens, grains, or pasta a satisfying counterbalance without overpowering the individual flavor of each prized element. The tart but honeyed taste of a handful of grapes highlights the savoriness of tender pasta and its accompanying dressing — think of it in a similar way to sweet sauce accentuating a seared piece of meat.

Leave your grapes whole if you're using a small variety, or halve or quarter them before stirring them through your ultimate pasta salad; just make sure to coat them well. As the salad sits, some of the liquid from the grapes will leach into the sauce and imbue it with a hint of sweetness. But each of these little guys will also bring a juicy burst of flavor to your pasta salad as they pop in your mouth. Their refreshing taste will lift and lighten a rich, mayo-based dressing by cutting through the fattiness. However grapes will also complement the fruitiness of an olive oil-based vinaigrette dressing. Plus, their plump but yielding texture will provide contrast to firmer add-ins, like olives or chunks of cheese. In fact, grapes and cheese make the perfect pairing in a pasta salad, whether it be a punchy Roquefort or a buttery brie that's tossed through moments before serving.

To elevate the appearance of your pasta salad, consider using unusual types of grapes, such as Moon Drops, which have an almost cylindrical shape, or champagne grapes, which offer a petite circumference and a crisp flavor. Cotton candy grapes are also perfect for giving your salad a super-sweet, vanilla-like taste and aroma. Having said that, any kind of basic red or green grape will imbue your pasta with a subtle sweetness, courtesy of its juicy interior. 

Feel free to add grapes to a pasta salad that already features some sweet ingredients, too, such as this mandarin chicken pasta salad. Simply toss a few grapes into the Asian-inspired mixture or substitute them for the orange segments. It also makes sense to add grapes to a pasta salad that includes salty ingredients, such as this Mediterranean orzo salad, which includes feta, to balance out the cheese's characteristic saltiness. Raisins, diced apple, or even cranberries can serve a similar function as fresh grapes if you don't have any on hand. The raisins will soak up the savoriness of your dressing and create pudgy nuggets of flavor that are juicy, sweet, and satisfying against the firmness of the pasta.