Name: Fall Harvest Pasta Salad
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 pk fall pasta; 1 whole pear, (of your choice); 1 whole honeycrisp apple; 1 whole granny smith apple; 3/4 cup dried cranberries; 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds; 1/2 cup feta cheese; 1/3 cup olive oil; 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tbsp honey; 1 tbsp poppyseeds; 1 pinch salt and pepper, (to taste)

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This Fall Harvest Pasta Salad is a festive cold pasta dish made with fresh and seasonal ingredients, topped with a deliciously sweet honey poppyseed dressing!

Pasta and sliced fruits in two bowls surrounded by apples and pears

Three years ago I shared the original version of this Fall Harvest Pasta Salad which lacked visual appeal and honestly, the right combination of flavors. Still so many of you come back each year to revisit the idea of creating a beautiful fall festive pasta salad, especially around the holidays.

In three years a lot of growth happens in the life of a blogger/ blog and it can be truly embarrassing looking back at those recipes, particularly the photos. Given your continuous love for this Fall Harvest Pasta Salad, I decided to do a complete makeover yet keep it’s essence alive, after all it’s the reason why we love this fall pasta salad so much!

Enjoy!

Evenly sliced apples and pears on a chopping board with knife

Fall Harvest Pasta Salad in a rectangular white tray

how to make a festive fall pasta salad

The key is to capture the essences of the season. But let’s break down to the details;

Start by choosing a fall-themed pasta. I usually have very good luck shopping for fall pasta at Home Goods but unfortunately because they don’t carry a large stock on items, you may not be able to get your hands on any. Amazon is another great option and here are a few picks for you (affiliate links enclosed):

1 – Trader Joe’s brand pumpkin shaped pasta

2 – Pastabilities fall harvest pasta

3 – Tuscanini fusilli tri-color pasta

4 – Pastabilities apple orchard pasta

Pasta in different colors with sliced apples and pears in a white bowl

Pick your seasonal ingredients. Apple and pears are delicious when added to pasta salads. The downside is that they will brown if you plan on having left overs, however in the past I have removed the apple and pear slices and added fresh ones the next day!

Bosc and bartlett pears are my favorite, however any type will work. When it comes to apples I love the combination of sweet honey crisp apples and granny smith, they balance each other really well.

Note: apples and pears are on the dirty dozen list so be sure to buy organic whenever possible!

Seeds and nuts basically describes fall in a nut-shell, haha 🙂 so be sure to add a layer of crunchiness by including your favorites. I have possibly tried every combination and my current favorite picks are pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries. These not only add a nice flavor and nutritional benefit to our autumn crunch pasta salad but because these are smaller bite size ‘nuts, seeds and fruits’ it’s a lot easier to eat in a salad.

Pasta in different colors with sliced apples and pears with poppy seeds dressing in a yellow bowl

Dressings can be seasonal too! Try the irresistible combination of olive oil, apple cider vinegar and a little honey. Add poppyseeds for a fun spin and your fall harvest pasta salad is complete!

Additional options are feta cheese or blue cheese. If this is a Thanksgiving pasta salad I’d also add pomegranate.

Looking to add some protein to this meal? I strongly recommend this Chicken Skillet or this Roast Chicken to go with it.

If you make this fall harvest pasta salad be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

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5 from 1 vote