This Spinach Tortellini salad is light, fresh and perfect for any occasion.
This Spinach Tortellini Salad goes back years in my family (almost 20 years since I had my first delectable bite). It will forever remind me of my sister and an important day in her life.
This Spinach Tortellini Salad was served at my sisters wedding! My aunt (who is a magnificent cook) was in charge of the menu for the luncheon and she knocked it out of the park with this salad!
The flavors are beyond delicious but every time I eat it, it’s the feelings and memories attached to this salad that I love even more than the salad!
The Story Behind The Salad (skip reading this if you just want the recipe!)
My older sister is my best friend! She lives 3 minutes from my house, our kids are the same ages are as close as siblings, our husbands get along and are actually friends, we talk on the phone everyday, multiple times a day and I can’t imagine my life without her and her family! She can never move or I just may die!!
In fact she is always the first call when it’s broken bones, stitches and ER visits. I frantically call her, drop the other boys off and I know they are taken care of! Day or night, I call her and she’s ALWAYS there! We are so intertwined in each other’s life.
So this salad reminds me of her! And her wedding day! She married an amazing guy who loves and supports her and is a great dad! When they were dating my mom would send me off to visit her at college with strict instructions to ask all the important questions! Are they serious? Are they dating other people? Will they get married? When will they get married? Have they said they love each other?
So being the good daughter I was, off I went to visit her at college! And being a typical 16-17 year old girl, I was so excited to be at college with older cute boys and no parents! In fact, I don’t think I really ever did my duty and asked those questions my mom wanted answered! But it all worked out in the end and they have been happily married ever since!
Spinach Tortellini Salad Ingredients
The salad is full of so many flavors that I love! It is made with 3 cheese tortellini, sliced mushrooms, shredded mozzarella cheese, crumbled crispy bacon, spinach, romaine and iceberg lettuce . All of this is covered in delicious Poppy seed Dressing. The dressing is what makes this salad!
The salad dressing isn’t homemade but it is so good! It is bottled Brianna’s Poppyseed Dressing! (I am not getting paid to promote this). I am sure you could make a tasty poppyseed dressing, but why? This bottled dressing is heavenly, without the effort!
Making Spinach Tortellini Salad
The salad comes together in minutes (not counting cooking the pasta and bacon). You can leave out any of the ingredients that you may not like, but I personally love all of them together!
You will need a large bowl! This salad feeds a crowd!
Cook your 3 cheese tortellini. Cook and crumble your bacon. Then dump all the ingredients in your bowl and give it a good mix with the dressing!
Serving Spinach Tortellini Salad
There is no explanation needed for serving this salad. I add almost all of the dressing to the salad. I leave about 1.2 of one bottle to add later if needed. The dressing does soak in a bit, so you if you have leftovers, you will want to add a little more later!
This salad goes with anything! A fancy holiday dinner or a steak and burger bbq!
This Spinach Tortellini salad is light, fresh and perfect for any occasion. It is versatile and can be taken to potlucks, BBQs or picnics, but is also a nicer salad that can be served for special occasions (like weddings).
A FEW TIPS FOR THIS SPINACH TORTELLINI SALAD:
I like to snap off the stems of the spinach and go through and pick out any bad leaves. You can tear the bigger pieces of spinach if you want, but not necessary!
I love adding romaine and iceberg lettuce just for the crunch and variety. This can be left out as desired.
Mozzarella cheese is preferred but can be substituted with Swiss or Provolone.
I always under cook the pasta a bit so it’s not too soggy.
Pre-sliced mushrooms work great but can a be bigger and a little thick. So if you want them smaller and thinner, but while mushrooms and slice them yourself!
I will always tell you that fresh cooked and crumbled bacon is a MUST! The cooked, store-bought, crumbled bacon just isn’t as crisp and salty (and the salad needs it). But use whatever you prefer!
This salad feeds a crowd! I did a fast scoop and measure (probably not perfectly accurate) and it makes about 20 cups! This is a great amount for family parties, potlucks and BBQs, but you can easily 1/2 everything!
I usually use 1 1/2 of the 2 bottles of dressing that the recipe calls for. I like to have some extra to add back in to the salad later or the next day. You may notice the dressing tends to soak in bit, so having some extra dressing to add in later is wise.
Leave me a comment below and let me know how much you loved this salad! I would love to hear from you!
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Spinach Tortellini Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (20 oz.) package 3 cheese tortellini, cooked according to directions on package
- 1 (10 oz.) package Fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1 (10 oz.) package romaine lettuce
- 1 small head iceberg lettuce, chopped or shredded into small pieces I usually use about 1/2 of a small head
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 (8 oz.) container mushrooms, sliced
- 1 lb. thin sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 bottles (12 oz. each) Brianna’s Poppyseed Salad Dressing
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour salad dressing over salad and mix well. (I usually leave out about 1/2 bottle of dressing to mix in later if having leftovers).
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.