Ham Pineapple Pasta Salad

A quick and easy homemade pineapple dressing is tossed with pasta, ham, and bell peppers for a uniquely delicious side dish!

A Fresh and Flavorful Pasta Salad

If you are looking for a pasta salad that’s a little bit different, this ham pasta salad is it! In this easy recipe, pasta, ham, pineapple, and red peppers are the perfect combination of flavors. If you love Hawaiian pizza, you’ll love this recipe too!

The dressing is a quick creamy pineapple dressing and it’s so good that I always double it for salads (it’s excellent over strawberry spinach salad too).

The inspiration for this dish comes from the ingredients served on my favorite Hawaiian Pizza and they are not typical ingredients paired together in a traditional Hawaiian dish.

This recipe is not a Hawaiian dish and it is not like a Macaroni Salad found on a typical Hawaiian Plate Lunch. A Hawaiian plate lunch generally macaroni salad is a tangy combination of mayo & macaroni sometimes with a few other ingredients. You can find a great Hawaiian macaroni salad here.

The Dressing

You can use almost any dressing on pasta salad. This recipe includes a fresh and zesty pineapple dressing.

Making homemade dressing is actually very quick and easy and the flavor is much better than store bought dressing. If you’d like to use a bottled dressing for this pasta salad, I would suggest a honey dijon or poppy seed dressing. Something with a bit of sweetness will pair well.

Tips for Pasta Salads

Don’t overcook the pasta, it will soften as it soaks up dressing.
Add lots of dressing as some will be absorbed by the pasta.
Pasta salad is best made at least a couple of hours ahead of time so the flavors have a chance to blend.
Season the salad generously.

More Pasta Salads We Love

Italian Pasta Salad
Caprese Pasta Salad
Summer Pasta Salad
Chicken Pasta Salad
Bow Tie Pasta Salad
Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad

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