Copycat Ruby Tuesday Pasta Salad

My homemade, copycat version of Ruby Tuesday’s pasta salad, ready in 30 minutes – rotini pasta, diced ham, peas and green pepper make for the perfect side dish for a summer party! Don’t forget to bring a pitcher of raspberry rosé sangria and the ingredients for some grilled peaches, too.  

Generally speaking, I’m not a “chain restaurant” kind of girl. I live for finding little hole in the wall cafes, family-run diners and restaurants that only use locally-grown ingredients.

But I do have a couple exceptions, and the Ruby Tuesday salad bar is one of them.

Sweet mother, do I love their salad bar.

On my first pass, I pile my plate high with olives, egg, peas, peppers, carrots and a smidgen of lettuce underneath it all.

But on my second pass I load it up with the fruit salad and the pasta salad.

I can’t get enough of the pasta salad – I really don’t even know what it is about it that’s so addictive to me.

The Ruby Tuesday closest to me is… well, not close at all. I got a horrible craving for the pasta salad recently and my only mission was to come up with a copycat recipe (I know, you’re shocked).

And it might not 100% dead on, but this is pretty freaking close.

Making copycat Ruby Tuesday pasta salad

You only need 8 ingredients, most of which you probably have hanging around the house anyway:

• Rotini pasta
• Ranch dressing
• Mayonnaise
• Green bell pepper
• Ham
• Frozen peas
• Salt
• Pepper

Make sure you rinse the pasta in cold water after it’s done cooking – this will stop the cooking process completely, and it will help it cool more quickly. Which means you’ll be eating it more quickly!

Does it matter what brands I use?

Overall, not really. Use whatever brands of ranch dressing and mayonnaise you prefer or have on hand. For what it’s worth, I usually use Hellmans Real Mayonnaise and Hidden Valley Ranch.

What kind of ham should I use?

I always buy two or three packages of Boar’s Head Boneless Ham Steaks and then dice them. But if you happened to have a freshly baked ham, you can absolutely use that!

Chilling is essential for the flavor

The hardest part about this recipe is waiting for it to chill before digging in. AND I HATE WAITING. 

I’ve had many people comment that it didn’t taste quite right when they taste tested it before chilling it in the fridge – and you’re all completely right.

The flavors don’t meld together to get it just right until after it’s been in the fridge for at least an hour. The good news is that it’s totally worth the wait!

Plus, it’s so easy to make a giant batch to serve at a summer party and it can be prepared ahead of time so that you can worry about more important things the day of the party, like decorations, music and inflating pretzel-shaped pool floats. 

… what? That’s just me? Fine.

After you’ve made this recipe, please leave a comment below with a rating – and if you came from Pinterest, add a photo to the Pin of what you make to the pin to share your experience!

Copycat Ruby Tuesday Pasta Salad

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★★★★★

4.8 from 9 reviews

• Author: Leslie Kiszka
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x

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Description

My homemade, copycat version of Ruby Tuesday’s pasta salad, ready in 30 minutes – rotini pasta, diced ham, peas and green pepper make for the perfect side dish for a summer party! Don’t forget to bring a pitcher of raspberry rosé sangria and the ingredients for some grilled peaches, too.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 pound rotini pasta
• 1 cup ranch dressing
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 cups ham, cooked and diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas

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Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Set aside until completely cooled.
2. In a very large bowl, combine ranch dressing, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.
3. Add green pepper, ham, peas and stir to combine. Add pasta and stir again to combine.
4. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator to chill completely.
5. Serve cold and enjoy!

Notes

• Make sure you rinse the pasta in cold water after it’s done cooking – this will stop the cooking process completely, and it will help it cool more quickly.
• People have given some AWESOME recommendations in the comments – some from real life former Ruby Tuesday employees. Check them out if you want to make this more authentic – I’m not including them in my recipe card since it wasn’t my idea and I actually love my version as is, and I don’t want to give away their secrets without credit 🙂

• Category: Appetizer, Side Dish
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: ham and pea pasta, Copycat Ruby Tuesday Pasta Salad, summer salad, easy pasta salad, ham and pasta recipes, macaroni salad with ham, copycat recipes, restaurant recipes, copycat restaurant recipes, cold pasta salad recipes, rotini pasta salad

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The recipe was originally published in June 2015 and republished in April 2019 with some shiny new pictures.