Pasta salad goes quickly in my house, whether I’m serving it as a side dish alongside a meal or if family members are packing it as part of a school or work lunch.
I have a couple of homemade pasta salad recipes I make throughout the year. When it comes to kits or ready-made pasta salad, our favorite is the Aldi ranch and bacon pasta salad kit that comes in a box, and I often add fresh diced tomatoes and cucumbers to doctor it up. We also like the basic Park Street Deli Macaroni Salad that Aldi stocks during the warmer months, along with the Little Salad Bar Caprese Pasta Salad.
I recently noticed some new pasta salads in the refrigerated deli aisle at Aldi and had to pick them up, especially because one of them is a street corn style pasta salad. We love street corn anything in my house and are big fans of the street corn dip that Aldi sells.
Little Salad Bar Cavatappi Pasta Salad cost $4.29 for an 11-ounce container at the time of publication. It comes in two flavors: street corn, as mentioned above, and smoked mozzarella.
These are Seasonal Items at Aldi, which means they stick around for longer than an Aldi Find, but Aldi doesn’t stock them year round. In this case, these look like products that Aldi will sell during the spring and summer cookout season. Aldi does not offer online ordering if these are not in stock at your local store.
Nutrition information and ingredients. Smoked mozzarella pasta salad at top, street corn pasta salad at bottom. (Click to enlarge.)
These feature cavatappi pasta, which has a corkscrew tube shape. In fact, cavatappi is the Italian word for corkscrews.
These do contain some processed ingredients and preservatives, but that’s not a surprise for a ready-made store-bought pasta salad.
Smoked mozzarella pasta salad on the left, street corn pasta salad on the right.
Keep reading for more information on each pasta salad flavor.
Little Salad Bar Smoked Mozzarella Cavatappi Pasta Salad
The smoked mozzarella pasta salad features “creamy, smoky dressing, diced mozzarella, shredded Parmesan and roasted red pepper strips.”
This is a good pasta salad. It’s creamy and has a smoky, bacon-like flavor. It has a few larger chunks of smoky mozzarella, with a lot of small shreds of Parmesan cheese throughout. As much as I like street corn, this smoked mozzarella pasta salad is probably my favorite of the two cavatappi pasta salads here.
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains egg, milk, and wheat.
One container is listed as a single serving, although it packs a punch if you eat it all in one sitting. The entire container has 870 calories, 67 grams of total fat (86% DV), 16 grams of saturated fat (80% DV), 1,450 mg of sodium (63% DV), 44 grams of total carbohydrates (16% DV), 2 grams of total sugars, and no added sugars.
Little Salad Bar Street Corn Cavatappi Pasta Salad
The street corn pasta salad features “a creamy, spicy dressing, roasted corn, black beans and green onions.”
This has a medium spice level, with a good amount of beans and corn. I don’t think it necessarily tastes like street corn, but it definitely has more of a southwestern flavor, and my family likes it.
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains egg and wheat.
Again, one container is listed as a single serving, but you might not want to eat this all in one sitting. One container has 690 calories, 50 grams of total fat (64% DV), 7 grams of saturated fat (35% DV), 1,290 mg of sodium (56% DV), 52 grams of total carbohydrates (19% DV), 3 grams of total sugars, and 1 gram of added sugar (2% DV).
The Verdict:
Little Salad Bar Cavatappi Pasta Salad comes in smoked mozzarella or street corn varieties. Be aware the street corn pasta salad is spicy. Both are good, if not all that good for you. If you’re looking for something to accompany a deli sandwich for lunch, or if you need a small side dish to bring to a gathering, these are both good options.
