I love Pasta Salads when I need a quick meal – meaning I need it on the table in 15 to 20 minutes. That’s exactly what happened last night. In the past I have made Pasta salads with Tuna, Ham and Rotisserie Chicken, but I didn’t have those on hand.
What I did have was a bag of pepperoni that I bought at Aldis for about $2. Originally, I thought I would put it with some spaghetti sauce (that I have quite an abundance of in my stockpile), but then I checked my second stockpile cupboard and saw the jars and jars of Italian Salad Dressing I have. That actually sounded more appealing to me then the spaghetti sauce so I decided to use it instead.
Now, what veggies to put in the salad. My fresh vegetable stash is running a bit low because I’ve been waiting for the Super 2 Day sale at Shop N Save. The two things I did have were onions and some Roma tomatoes (that I also bought at Aldis.) So I grabbed those and checked my freezer. I had a bag of broccoli, green beans and corn. It was a toss-up between the broccoli and green beans, but at that moment green beans sounded much better.
So I had Grains, Meat and vegetables taken care of, I just needed a bit of dairy. Mozzarella cheese would have been the ideal pick, but I didn’t have that so I cubed up the last half block of cheddar cheese in my refrigerator.
So here’s a round-up of the ingredients I used in Pepperoni Pasta Salad:
- 1 box of Rotini Noodles
- 8 oz bag of Pepperoni – diced
- 3 Roma Tomatoes – diced
- 1 Small Onion Diced – diced
- 1 Bag Green Beans – cooked
- 1/2 block of Cheddar Cheese – diced
- 1/2 Jar of Italian Salad Dressing
If you want to grab some pepperoni so you can make this salad, there are two new printable coupons that will help.
$.55/2 Hormel Pepperoni HERE or a $.55/1 Armour Pepperoni Printable HERE.
Or you can do what I did, and pick up your pepperoni at Aldis for around $2.
I share this recipe, not so you can copy it exactly, but to give you inspiration for times when your cupboard seems bare and you are tight on time.
If you have pasta, some sort of meat and a salad dressing on hand, you can create a meal that will be cheaper (and most likely healthier) than ordering out. What you add to the salad just depends on what you have on hand. Remember, it doesn’t have to be your first pick to make a meal either. The cheddar cheese wasn’t my first choice, but it worked out and it was actually what the kids dug in the bowl for.
