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Spinach pasta salad with cheese tortellini, baby spinach, red cabbage, crisp bacon, and green onions in a large wooden bowl.

Spinach Pasta Salad

Tortellini gives this cold salad the substance of a pasta supper, while crisp cabbage and bacon bring the crunch. A chutney vinaigrette slips in a sweet-tangy note you don't expect at first glance.

By Betty Lou Gardner1 hr 30 minUpdated 2026-08-25

This Spinach Pasta Salad is crisp, colorful, and full of contrasting flavors, with tender cheese tortellini, fresh spinach, smoky bacon, and crunchy cabbage tossed in a sweet-and-tangy chutney vinaigrette! Served chilled, it’s an easy make-ahead dish that’s equally at home on a luncheon table, at a potluck, or alongside grilled favorites on a warm day.

Betty Lou Gardner in a family archival photograph

Granny’s Kitchen Notes

From Betty Lou Gardner

I always cool the tortellini completely before it goes anywhere near the spinach. I cook the bacon a little crisper for this salad than I do for breakfast. If the cabbage is sliced too thick, it takes over the whole bowl. The dressing stays on the side until the last minute.

How to Make Spinach Pasta Salad

◆
01

Cook the Bacon

Cook the bacon until deeply browned and crisp, then drain, cool, and crumble it.

Cooked cheese tortellini being rinsed under cold running water in a metal colander beside the cooking pot.
02

Cook and Cool the Tortellini

Boil the tortellini just until tender, then rinse, drain thoroughly, and cool completely.

Cooled cheese tortellini, fresh baby spinach, thinly sliced red cabbage, crisp bacon, and green onions in a wooden salad bowl.
03

Build and Chill the Salad

Gently combine the tortellini, spinach, cabbage or radicchio, bacon, and green onions, then refrigerate until well chilled.

Chutney and red wine vinaigrette combined in a lidded glass jar beside a bowl of chutney.
04

Make the Dressing

Finely chop any large pieces of chutney and shake it with the red wine vinaigrette.

Chutney vinaigrette being poured over chilled spinach tortellini salad in a wooden bowl.
05

Dress and Serve

Toss the chilled salad gently with the dressing immediately before serving.

Spinach pasta salad with cheese tortellini, baby spinach, red cabbage, crisp bacon, and green onions in a large wooden bowl.

Spinach Pasta Salad

Tortellini gives this cold salad the substance of a pasta supper, while crisp cabbage and bacon bring the crunch. A chutney vinaigrette slips in a sweet-tangy note you don't expect at first glance.

By Betty Lou Gardner

Prep20 minCook10 minTotal1 hr 30 minDifficultyEasy
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Ingredients

Scale

Scaling note: Ingredient quantities scale in this recipe. Review equipment capacity, batch arrangement, and cooking time when changing the yield.

Spinach Pasta Salad

Chutney Dressing

Instructions

  1. 6 slices bacon
  2. 7 ounces cheese-filled tortellini
  3. 6 cups spinach, 1 cup red cabbage or radicchio, 6 slices bacon, 4 green onions
  4. ¼ cup chutney, ⅓ cup bottled red wine vinaigrette

Nutrition (Approximate Per Serving)

Yield

12 servings — Serving size: About ¾ cup

Some ingredients could not be modeled and may meaningfully change the totals. Treat these values as a rough estimate.

Calories
100
Carbohydrates
10 g
Protein
4 g
Fat
5.5 g
Saturated Fat
1.5 g
Cholesterol
10 mg
Sodium
200 mg
Fiber
0.9 g
Total Sugars
1.5 g

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Betty Lou Gardner

Betty Lou Gardner

Betty Lou Gardner’s family recipes are preserved in Granny’s Recipe Box.

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