Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Bacon Tomato Avocado Pasta Salad
Bacon Tomato Avocado Pasta Salad will help you make all of the friends this summer. It’s a family favorite side dish with crispy bacon, creamy avocado and sweet summer tomatoes.
Who is ready for summer?! It has finally started to feel like summer here in Seattle (I’m just going to ignore the weather forecast for this weekend). All of this sunshine has got me thinking of summer picnics, BBQs and parties.
All of this thinking has reminded me of my go-to pasta salad for all the pot-lucks, BBQs and patio dinners that summer brings. With this easy pasta salad recipe, I challenge you to forget the box; forget the pre-made stuff at your deli grocer. You aren’t going to want it after you give this Bacon Tomato Avocado Pasta Salad a try.
Let’s set the stage. First you’ve got a creamy refreshing lemon dill dressing. Then come the creamy avocados. Next the sweet tomatoes and finally the piece de resistance, crispy bacon.
It’s like summer in a bowl.
The idea for this Bacon Tomato Avocado Pasta Salad comes from one of my favorite sandwiches: Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado.
Sure the traditional BLT is great, but add some avocado and I’ll love you for life. What can I say? Avocados just do that to me.
I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say, I’m not alone in my love for avocados.
But enough about my slightly odd obsession with one of California’s greatest exports aside from Mickey Mouse; let’s get back to this easy salad. It really is quick, the whole thing comes together in the time it takes to boil the pasta. While, it’s great right away, if you let it chill for about 30 minutes, all the flavors have a chance to mingle.
And make delicious flavor babies.
If you are making this Bacon Tomato Avocado Pasta Salad in advance (like a day or so), my advice is to add the avocado about 30 minutes before serving. 
Bacon Tomato Avocado Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 6 slices bacon chopped into one inch pieces
- 1/2 pound dried rotini pasta
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 avocado pitted and sliced
Instructions
- Cook bacon until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Strain. Run cold water over the top until the pasta is cooled.
- While your bacon and pasta are cooking, whisk mayonnaise, lemon, salt, garlic powder, pepper and dill together in a bowl.
- Stir cooled pasta, cherry tomatoes, sliced avocado and reserved bacon into the dressing. Toss to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Serve.
Notes
Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Christa
July 4, 2024 at 11:18 amI love this pasta salad. I’ve made it over the years over and over again. Everyone loves it, it never lasts.
Deseree
July 4, 2024 at 2:51 pmThank you so much, Christa!
Joy
June 21, 2020 at 1:57 pmI just whipped up this salad and it is delish!!! With this pandemic, fresh fruit and veggies are not the best. My avocado was a little hard and my cherry tomatoes skin was a tad dry. But it still was very good.
Deseree
June 24, 2020 at 6:37 pmIt is kind of sad that the fresh fruit and veggies are taking such a hit right now but I am glad that you enjoyed this salad anyway! :)
Kristy
June 9, 2020 at 9:01 pmI love this pasta salad! I’ve made it several times for potlucks and everyone loves it!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed
July 3, 2018 at 5:24 pmI love making pasta salad this time of year!
Erin Clarkson
July 3, 2018 at 1:39 pmBLTs are my fave and so is pasta – this looks like my idea of a good time
Jersey Girl Cooks
July 2, 2018 at 9:51 amI love this recipe! I can’t wait to make it myself!
Jessy
July 2, 2018 at 9:07 amNow this is my kind of pasta salad- my whole family will love it!
Megan | MegUnprocessed
May 17, 2018 at 7:34 pmI’m so excited pasta salad season is here! This one looks like it has so much flavor!
Linda
July 10, 2013 at 11:50 amThis recipe is so great, so simple, and so summery how can you go wrong! Loved it:)
Deseree
July 13, 2013 at 9:31 amGlad to hear you enjoyed it so much Linda!
Jonni Gonzales
June 5, 2013 at 5:54 pmThe best pasta salad I have ever had. Thanks!
judith
April 24, 2013 at 5:02 amyummmiiieee, perfect sider for a bbq, i even added mushrroms to it too, an it was divine.
Linda
April 1, 2013 at 11:30 pmThis beats the box stuff hands down
Alisha
November 26, 2012 at 3:33 pmI made this a while back. I had avocado that I needed to use before it went bad and I had some leftover rotisserie chicken. So when I saw this recipe I knew I needed to try it out. I didn’t have any dill and we don’t like tomatoes so that got left out. Def try putting in some rotisserie chicken. It was amazing. I made a double recipe and it got scarfed up. I still have people asking me for the recipe.
Tara
September 18, 2012 at 9:35 amI pinned this a while back and am finally going to make it. I am sure my step-son’s vasity football team will enjoy this with their team lunch this Friday!!!
Shannon
July 26, 2012 at 12:58 pmDidnt have any mayo so I used plain greek yogurt- i will never make this recipe with mayonnaise because the greek yogurt was just too tasty!
Leah
July 10, 2012 at 9:48 amMade this on the weekend and I thought it was great but a little too lemony for everyone. Will add half lemon juiced and that should be good.
Elena
June 28, 2012 at 5:28 pmMaking this tonight for dinner. :) Sounds delicious!
Spikeygrrl
May 24, 2012 at 11:07 amI made this yesterday using new red potatoes instead of the pasta, and adding a splash of red wine vinegar. YUMMY!
Renee
April 23, 2012 at 1:35 pmI made this last year for my group’s party and not a drop was left. It is absolutely to die for!! The most delicious pasta salad I’ve ever eaten.
leah
April 18, 2012 at 6:28 pmhow much does this make I’m looking to make for a family of 8
Julie R.
March 18, 2012 at 4:02 pmGREAT. easy. enjoyed.
Shanon
February 26, 2012 at 9:52 pmI make something similar to this. In addition to the original ingredients I usually add broccoli floweretts and use Polish Kielbasa instead of bacon. It’s always a hit. My teenager takes this to school for a cold lunch and almost never gets to eat it all because her friends keep snagging it.
Theresa
January 31, 2012 at 10:57 amI cannot wait to make this! Thank you for sharing.
Lynna
January 25, 2012 at 5:52 amVery delicious, but I felt it had way too much dill. Next time I will use about 1/4 tsp of dried dill or 1 tps of fresh, not 1 tsp of dried dill because that much way over powered the recipe.
Brenda
January 19, 2012 at 10:46 pmThis could get me in trouble! What’s not to like? Saw this on Pinterest and will definitely repin. Thanks!
Kari
January 4, 2012 at 5:10 amWow, I made this yesterday and i absolutely loved it. It was SO TASTY!! My husband loved it as well. I just regret that I didn’t double the recipe so I could still have some for today. I used fresh chopped chives instead of dill, because it was what I had in hand, and it worked really good. Thanks for the recipe!
Tali
October 21, 2011 at 3:23 pmI rarely comment when I make a recipe from a blog but I had to with this one. Saw it on Pinterest and couldn’t wait to try it. This is a seriously amazing salad. I made it for myself tonight thinking I’d have it all to myself. To my horror my children love it. :) I used garlic salt instead of garlic powder as I was out, and I did increase the dressing a little. Otherwise, followed to a T. Really, really awesome.
Sook
October 6, 2011 at 11:34 amWow.. I can’t wait to try this recipe! Pinned it to my Pinterest! :)
Julie G
September 5, 2011 at 2:47 pmJust one look, and now I have to reconsider not buying bacon anymore… thanks for yet another inspiring recipe.
Diane
March 18, 2011 at 5:05 amOkay, I just made this and it is so delicious, I want to eat the whole bowl!!
I have bookmarked your blog along with several of your scrumptious looking recipes!!
Thanks for sharing!!
Have a wonderful day!!
Diane~
LAUREN
February 9, 2011 at 11:46 amI HAVE SEEN A LOT OF PASTA RECIPES, PERHAPS HUNDREDS , BUT THIS ONE REALLY TAKES THE CAKE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE IT !!!!!!!!!
Sophia
October 19, 2010 at 7:40 amAwesome pasta salad! I just made one the other day, and blogged about it too! I used this recipe for Rotini Pasta Salad It was so delicious!
Laura
July 24, 2010 at 11:40 pmI have made this multiple times, but I also added a 1/2 cup of diced oven roasted chicken… It has been a hit every time!! Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe! My extended family now won’t stop begging for me to make it again, hahaha
Laura
July 24, 2010 at 11:40 pmI have made this multiple times, but I also added a 1/ cup of diced oven roasted chicken… It has been a hit every time!! Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe! My extended family now won’t stop begging for me to make it again, hahaha
Kim
July 8, 2010 at 7:10 pmI make something similar but I also add feta cheese and a bottled creamy greek feta dressing instead of mayo. Now I am craving this at 11pm at night and I have none of the ingrediets!
GSmooth
July 8, 2010 at 6:56 pmFirst of all who in the heck….. if they are going to a BBQ, potluck,or having one, makes a HALF pound of macaroni salad.???? ONE pound for a SMALL get together, (4-6) anything over that is 2 lbs easy. Double the macaroni, make it a pound of bacon and triple the mayo……..NOW your cookin.! Skip the dill, double the GP and add = amt onion powder!!!!
Ashley M
July 3, 2010 at 2:53 pmI substituted the bacon for tempeh bacon ”fak’n bac’n” and the mayo for vegenaise!
Luckily none of my friends eat vegan/vegetarian, so I can have it all to myself! jk, they’ve tried it and enjoyed it!
Sandie {A Bloggable Life}
June 27, 2010 at 7:56 amYum! This caught my eye on Foodgawker. Can’t wait to make it—it just screams, “Summer!” :)
avoville
June 27, 2010 at 1:52 amThanks for the yummies, you should try it with really good avo’s like we get here in Hawaii… smoother, richer, and sweeter than any of california’s baby Haas avo’s
Kevin (Closet Cooking)
June 24, 2010 at 12:08 pmThe creamy avocado, juicy tomatoes and salty bacon would make for a great combo!
Mary
June 16, 2010 at 12:08 pmThis has been bookmarked! YUM! Wow… love everything in and about this salad!
xxMK
Delightful Bitefuls
Taylor
June 16, 2010 at 6:38 amNow I know what to bring to the BBQ I’m going to tonight :) Yum!
Deseree
June 13, 2010 at 8:40 pmI hope you enjoy it Jen! Baconator- I like your thinking! Judy, thank you for the tip about the avocados! Jan- I’m glad to hear that you liked it! Hopefully you saved some for your love ;-)
Jan
June 13, 2010 at 2:25 pmJust finished tossing this together. Once I tasted it, waiting for my love to come in from mowing the lawn to join me was no longer an option. Oh, Sweet Mother of all that is tasty! This is SO GOOD! I am a dill junkie so I went heavy on that (and used fresh baby dill). I did go with turkey bacon (as mentioned in another comment) and it works.
Thank goodness for StumbleUpon!!!
judy
June 11, 2010 at 11:59 pmrecipe looks divine. i think i’ll try it with turkey bacon (and perhaps some light sour cream in place of some of the mayo). to keep the avocados from turning brown you could dice them and toss them in some of the lemon juice in the recipe before adding to the salad. the acid will help prevent the oxidation of the avocado.
baconator
June 11, 2010 at 10:43 pmCook 2 pounds of bacon: One to eat while prepping ingredients, the other to use in recipe!
Jenn's Food Journey
June 11, 2010 at 5:46 pmHow can you go wrong with bacon and avocado?? I can’t wait to try this!
sam
June 11, 2010 at 3:49 pmmcdonalds!