With picnic and grilling season just around the corner, we visited seven grocery stores to find the best store-bought pasta salad for your potluck or backyard barbecue.
7 Best Store-Bought Pasta Salads, Ranked
Updated on Apr. 25, 2025
When time is of the essence for your backyard get-together, grocery store pasta salads will seriously save the day. So when you don’t have time to make your favorite pasta salad from scratch, which options are the closest thing to homemade? We visited the following seven locations to find the best store-bought pasta salad:
- Jewel/Albertson’s
- Mariano’s/Kroger
- Meijer
- Target
- Trader Joe’s
- Walmart
- Whole Foods
Then we sampled and ranked each pasta salad. Most importantly, we analyzed the pasta itself. We wanted the noodles to be al dente—not overcooked or undercooked. We judged the dressing based on how well it balanced with the other ingredients, and we took into consideration how many other elements garnished the salad. Chopped vegetables and fresh herbs can turn a humdrum salad into one fit for a 5-star summer spread. In addition to taste, we kept value in mind. Sometimes, the fresh-made salad was worth the higher price tag.
At many of the locations, there were multiple pasta salad options available. For comparison purposes, we tried to buy the most traditional style pasta salad with a creamy dressing and elbow macaroni noodles. When that option wasn’t available, we asked the staff which pasta salad was the most popular or consistently available.
7. Meijer
This 16-ounce container of creamy macaroni salad sells for a budget-friendly $3.59. A larger 3-pound tub is also available for big parties. The package says the salad is made without high-fructose corn syrup or any artificial flavors or colors. But it is sweetened with sugar. We found the salad to be far too sweet—the addition of sugar was unnecessary. In fact, what it needed was more seasoning. We also wished there were more bits of carrots, celery and onion to punch up the salad.
This was the most traditional pasta salad in the Fresh from Meijer line. However, there were several other options of pre-packaged pasta salads from the house brand. We spotted Greek pasta salad, seashell macaroni salad, Buffalo chicken pasta salad, sesame noodle salad, Mediterranean pasta salad, green goddess pasta salad and a zesty bow tie pasta salad. It’s worth noting that all of these options came in significantly smaller containers and with higher price points.
Bottom Line: While Meijer’s traditional creamy macaroni salad was lackluster, we’d be willing to give the other options a try next time.
6. Mariano’s/Kroger
The pasta salad from Mariano’s (part of the Kroger group) appears to be prepared in house because it’s scooped to order from behind the deli counter. The classic elbow macaroni salad sells for a midrange price of $4.49 per pound.
Unfortunately, this pasta salad didn’t impress us. The small noodles were overcooked and mushy, there were only a few flecks of red and green in the salad, there weren’t enough mix-ins, and it was made with high-fructose corn syrup. Mariano’s offers several other pasta salads, including bang bang shrimp pasta salad, seafood pasta salad, rotini pasta salad, Greek pasta salad and sun garden salad.
Bottom Line: We loved that this pasta salad is made in house, so we hope our taste test was just an off day and that the preparation might improve on subsequent tastings.
5. Walmart
Walmart might offer only a few prepared pasta salads, but they come in a variety of sizes. We taste tested the original macaroni salad in the smallest 1-pound tub selling for $3.47. Of all the pasta salads we sampled, this one was the most budget-friendly. Overall, we thought the pasta salad was on the dry side, and it needed more dressing to bind it together. Like others, we hoped for bolder seasoning and more mix-ins. In addition to the original macaroni salad, Walmart sells one called Amish macaroni salad and a deviled egg macaroni salad.
Bottom Line: Walmart sells the least expensive pasta salad in a variety of sizes, making this pasta salad the best option for feeding a large crowd.
4. Jewel/Albertson’s
The macaroni pasta salad from Jewel sells for $4.89 per pound, which is on the higher side compared to others on this list. It appears to be prepared in house, since it’s sold from behind the deli counter. However, the quality didn’t match the price.
The al dente noodles were great, but the flavor profile was lacking. Celery, red pepper and sweet pickles dotted the sweet-tart mayonnaise dressing. We had hoped for more celery and red pepper pieces throughout. A good crunch in creamy pasta salads is part of the appeal!
The deli counter also offers a pasta Italiano salad, Parmesan bow tie salad, Caprese pasta salad and creamy broccoli and rotini pasta salad.
Bottom Line: Jewel’s pasta salad could be kicked up a notch by adding additional mix-ins. Next time, we’ll grab a few veggies in the produce section to enhance the dish ourselves before serving.
3. Target
The classic macaroni salad from Target surprised us. In a sea of options that weren’t overly impressive, this one sold us when it came to the noodles. Perfectly cooked large macaroni elbows were slightly overdressed in the best way—no mushy salad here. Prepared with sweet pickle relish, diced celery and bell peppers, this pasta salad sells for a great value at $3.69 per pound. We also spotted a garlic pasta salad, tomato basil pasta salad and a lemon basil pesto tortellini salad in the refrigerator case at Target.
Bottom Line: The pasta salad from Target contained the best noodles of the bunch. We would buy this again!
2. Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe’s sells two pasta salad options in 12-ounce containers. A Mediterranean-style orzo pasta salad with spinach and sun dried tomatoes for $4.99 and a lemon basil pasta salad also for $4.99. These were quite different flavor profiles from the more traditional pasta salads on this list, but we definitely wanted to include an option from Trader Joe’s. We opted for the lemon basil pasta salad, and we noticed two things right away—all of the ingredients were incredibly fresh and colorful, but we couldn’t even see the pasta in this pasta salad!
Fresh basil, shredded Parmesan cheese and even a lemon wedge made this dish as close to homemade as you can get. The only downside to this option is the fact that the noodles were slightly overcooked and everything was packed too densely into the container. It was hard to stir to coat each bite. The Trader Joe’s pasta salads are ideal for a grab-and-go lunch for one, but not necessarily ready to serve at a party.
Bottom Line: Overflowing with vegetables and other fresh ingredients, the pasta salad from Trader Joe’s appeared to be the healthiest option of all the ones we sampled.
1. Whole Foods
The Whole Foods deli pasta salad was our favorite pasta salad of the bunch! The popular grocery chain offers two pasta salads: smoked mozzarella pasta salad and Greek tortellini salad. We asked the deli attendant which one was most popular and always available. They suggested the smoked mozzarella pasta salad, so that’s the one we selected for the ranking.
As one would expect from Whole Foods, this pasta salad was made in house with fresh ingredients. We loved the fresh spinach throughout the salad and appreciated that it was plentiful. There were cubes of smoked mozzarella distributed in every bite. This added a creaminess and a delightful smoky flavor to the salad. The only downside is the price. At $8.99 per pound it was certainly more expensive than others on this list, but we felt the quality of the salad warranted the higher price tag.
Bottom Line: The pasta salad from Whole Foods was the highest quality and most delicious of all the options we sampled. Because of the higher price per pound, this pasta salad is probably best suited to smaller gatherings rather than feeding large crowds.
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