Make Your Next Pasta Salad Burst With Flavor With A Shake Of One Classic Seasoning

Pasta salads are almost always among the first to disappear at a party. Even veggie-skeptics have a hard time denying this dish's versatility — you can serve it together with just about any toppings, including anything that's sizzling on the grill. Now, if your trusty pasta salad recipe is starting to feel a bit routine, here's one pantry staple to add to your next batch that's guaranteed to give it a more flavorful twist: Italian seasoning.

Consisting of dried basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, and thyme, this seasoning blend is a flavor bomb that can be your go-to whenever you have a dish that needs a spiced Mediterranean kick — like a Summer BLT Pasta Salad. Just a shake or two brings so much to the table: oregano's earthy goodness, basil's peppery punch, rosemary's woodsy aroma, and thyme's lemony hint. Your pasta salad will go from "pretty good" to "wow, what's in this?" pretty quickly.

And that's the easiest way to add Italian seasoning to your food — just sprinkle it on top as a garnish. But if you're after deeper flavor and fragrance, try tossing a tablespoon or two of the seasoning onto your pasta while it's still hot from cooking. The warmth will release the herb oils and infuse the pasta before you add anything else, giving you a nice foundation to build on for a pasta salad that tastes and smells second to none!

There's more that Italian seasoning can do than be sprinkled on pasta. For instance, did you know that you can also use it to make an awesome homemade salad dressing? Adding a pinch to a sweet-and-tangy Catalina dressing, for instance, can give it a pretty unique herbal twist. But Italian seasoning will work best in dressings that are already herb-forward by further deepening the existing flavors, like a fresh herby lemon vinaigrette.

While planning out your pasta salad with Italian seasoning, remember that classic Mediterranean flavors like cubed salami, fresh mozzarella balls, juicy cherry tomatoes, and briny olives pair best with the seasoning blend. Throw these onto your pasta and drizzle with the herby dressing above, and you can bet that your pasta salad is going to taste like it just came straight from an Italian kitchen. If you still think the salad needs a little bit more flavor, dust some extra Italian seasoning on top. Whether you're heavy-handed or use just a hint, feel free to play around until you get the flavor just right — that's the versatile beauty of this herbal blend!