My Italian Aunt’s Simple Trick for the Most Flavorful Pasta Salad

Almost every pasta salad recipe I’ve come across says to rinse the cooked pasta under cold water before adding the dressing. I don’t follow these guidelines and instead do just the opposite: I add the dressing while the pasta is hot. Thanks to this tip from my Italian aunt, it’s become a key step in my pasta salad-making process.

My aunt, like many Italians, agrees pasta should never be rinsed—and that you should never wait until it’s time to serve to add the sauce. She taught me to transfer the noodles right from the pot into the warmed sauce using a pair of tongs.

Why You Shouldn’t Rinse Your Noodles for Pasta Salad

While she never told me exactly why, I trusted my aunt. Eventually, I became curious and discovered, after a little bit of scientific research, that heat makes the starch molecules in pasta swell and become more porous, allowing better sauce and flavor absorption. The starches in the water also act as a thickener when mixed with sauce.

The bottom line, according to my aunt: Cooling the noodles before mixing in the dressing results in a less flavorful pasta salad. The dressing will be there, but the taste won’t be as intense. Also, dressings tend to slide off of cold noodles, which means you’ll need to use more of it, as well as mix the salad between servings to re-coat the pasta.

How I Dress My Pasta Salad

First, I start off by boiling the pasta until it’s al dente, completely drain it in a colander, and immediately return it to the pot. Next, I pour the dressing over the hot, drained noodles and stir gently until they’re evenly coated.

At this point, I let the dressed noodles sit at room temperature for about an hour to absorb the flavors. Then, depending on the type of salad I’m making, I’ll either add the other ingredients to the warm pasta now or wait until it’s chilled so delicate ingredients like basil won’t wilt. Chill, then serve.

Tips for Using This Trick

Room temperature oil-based dressings, like Italian-style or a simple olive oil-and-vinegar combo, are my preference: Adding cold dressings will begin to cool down the pasta, which defeats the purpose of the slow flavor absorption.

Don’t worry if your dressing is stored in the fridge, though; taking it out about 30 minutes before adding it to the noodles will do the trick. Note that I don’t recommend this method with mayo-based creamy dressings, since the heat of the pasta can cause the sauce to split. Reserve this tip for vinaigrette-style dressings.

Some of my favorite pasta salads for this trick are this Greek one and this pesto version, though I’m convinced any warm noodles will benefit from a flavorful infusion. It might change the way you make this summer staple forever.