Five Ingredient Pasta Salad Recipes are hard to beat. Not only are they the perfect summer recipes, since you make them ahead of time, but they're cool and simple. If you're a low carb person, did you know that cooking and cooling pasta creates resistant starch, a compound that lowers blood sugar? So you can eat these treats with a light heart.

The flavors and combinations of these treats are all wonderful.

But you can substitute your favorite ingredients for any of the choices in these recipes.

Read through how to cook pasta before you begin. I never rinse pasta before adding it to a salad because I love the way the noodles absorb the flavorful dressing. But you can rinse the pasta in cold water before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients if you prefer. If you do that, cut the dressing in these recipes by about 1/3, or you'll have too much.

And remember, when you do make changes in a recipe, write it down! You'll have a huge collection of super easy recipes your family loves before you know it.

Five Ingredient Pasta Salad Recipes

• Pasta Crab Salad
  Mangoes and grape tomatoes are the unusual and delicious additions to this simple salad recipe.
• Ranch Ham Salad
  This salad reminds me of some I've had at restaurant salad bars. It's simply satisfying.
• Chicken Melon Salad
  I simply adore this recipe and make it several times during the summer. The combination of super sweet and juicy melon with tender chicken and the creamy dressing is simply spectacular.

• Broccoli Pasta Salad
  That classic broccoli bacon salad with the sweet dressing is changed with pasta. And it's so good - with just five ingredients!
• Grilled Ham Salad
  Peach preserves and honey mustard salad dressing are the secret ingredients in this wonderful recipe. You could use leftover cooked cubed ham in this recipe if you'd like.
• Bean and Pasta Salad
  Pasta and legumes is a really delicious combination.
• Shrimp Vegetable Salad
  A frozen carrot and snap pea blend is used in this hearty recipe, which is coated in a honey mustard salad dressing.
• Spinach Tortellini Salad
  This simple four ingredient recipe tastes like so much more than the sum of the ingredients.
• Lemony Tuna and Orzo Salad
  Tuna packed in pouches is flavored in wonderful ways. This fresh salad is delicious.
• Ham and Couscous Salad
  Yes, couscous is a pasta. This wonderful and flavorful recipe is so good for you too.
• Three Bean Pasta Salad
  Start at the deli for a salad, add pasta and grape tomatoes, and voila! Dinner!
• Tortellini Vegetable Salad
  Marinated artichoke hearts are delicious in this flavorful salad made with broccoli and Italian salad dressing.
• Pasta Cabbage Salad
  And finally, this colorful and crunchy salad is perfect for cookouts and picnics.