Copycat Ruby Tuesday Pasta Salad

Name: Copycat Ruby Tuesday Pasta Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
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

By Leslie Kiszka · April 18, 2019 · Updated July 9, 2020

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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.

Pasta salad on a fork being held over a bowl of colorful pasta salad

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.

Overhead shot of a bowl of colorful pasta salad

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.

Overhead shot of a colorful bowl of pasta salad with a wooden spoon

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!

Bowl of colorful pasta salad in a clear bowl

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!