Why Deli Pasta Salad Tastes So Much Better Than Homemade

Even the best home cooks expect that some at-home dishes won't quite stack up to the professionals, but that problem is harder to understand when something as simple as pasta salad is concerned. Certainly, dishes involving special ingredients or advanced techniques may turn out better in a professional kitchen, but cold, dressed pasta with chopped veggies and deli meat seems like it should be just as good at home. Pasta salad isn't that complicated, is it?

We reached out to Meredith Sornsin, the owner at Log Cabin Deli and Market, to figure out what is going on behind the scenes that make deli pasta salad so good — and to see what she does differently than home cooks. "There's not a lot of technical skill to making a good deli pasta salad on your own!" Sornsin reveals. "As long as you don't over-boil your noodles and use quality ingredients, your pasta salad will turn out great." However, she does note that the recipe itself may influence which pasta salad tastes best.

Log Cabin offers several different pasta salads, designed to sell out within three days. "Our Jalapeño Popper Pasta is my favorite right after it's mixed up, especially if the noodles are still a little warm and the bacon is nice and crispy," Sornin says. "Our Broccoli Salad, Dill Pickle and Italian Pastas taste best the second day, after all the flavors set in." As for how to imitate that success at home, the rest of her advice comes down to a few small tricks and best practices.

"Over boiled pasta makes for a mushy salad," Sornsin explains. "Once your noodles are al-dente, remove from the water and run cold water over them to keep them firm." Remember that even compared to sauced noodles, pasta salad will sit in its dressing for hours, absorbing that liquid. Thus, she recommends waiting until the pasta is finished and has chilled in the fridge for a bit before adding any moisture. "Don't overdo the dressing," Sornsin adds. "You can add more dressing if needed, but it's hard to correct if you have too much dressing."

Sornin's next big piece of advice was simple: use quality ingredients. While pasta salad is an easy and affordable option, the best deli pasta salads are using flavorful, fresh, and high-quality vegetables, dressings, and meat. In particular, Sornsin advises against shortcuts like bacon bits. "Render your bacon in the oven, and make sure it is extra crispy," she recommends. "Crip bacon is easier to crunch into small pieces for a salad and holds up better after you add dressing."

Finally, Sornin notes that different pasta salad recipes need to be treated differently to maximize flavors, depending on the ingredients. "Experiment with salad dressing vs mayonnaise to find the right base for your salad dressing," she explains, recommending you make your own mayo to customize the level of tanginess. In the end, there is no great science to deli pasta salads, just a respect for the dish as worthy of the same kind of attention to detail and concern for quality as other recipes.