Bow Tie Spinach and Pasta Salad

Bow Tie Spinach and Pasta Salad is made with Farfalle pasta, fresh baby spinach, mandarin oranges, and toasted pecans tossed with an Asian ginger dressing. 

bow tie pasta

Bow tie pasta is the slang name for Farfalle pasta that is shaped like little bow ties. It’s also called butterfly pasta. It’s a try pasta that takes about 11 minutes to cook al dente. It works well in this recipe because the Asian ginger dressing sticks to the corners of the bow ties.

Bow Tie Spinach and Pasta Salad Asian ginger dressing

It might seem like you have a lot of dressing after you toss this salad the first time. But don’t toss it because the bow ties pasta absorbs a lot of the dressing and you’ll want the extra to toss it again when you are ready to serve it. It’s made with the following ingredients:

• Soy Sauces
• Rice Wine Vinegar
• Fish Sauce
• Agave
• Mandarine Orange Juice
• Ground ginger

let’s talk baby spinach

I love baby spinach but I have a major pet peeve with baby spinach stems. Sometimes the stem length is longer than the entire leaf of the baby spinach and I hate getting a bite full of the stem. Now that I’ve got that off my chest, let me tell you how I serve baby spinach leaves.

If you come to my house and I serve a salad or a meal with baby spinach, you can be sure that I took the time to tear every single stem off each piece of spinach. Your spinach bowl will be full of fresh crispy spinach leaves without the annoying stems.

krazy kitchen mom tips

1. Only use 1/2 of the ginger dressing. If you are making this ahead of time, save the remainder in an airtight container or jar in the refrigerator. The pasta tends to soak up the dressing so you will want to dress it again before serving. Remember, you can always add, but you cannot take away so taste as you go. 
2. Storing baby spinach. When I bring my container of baby spinach home from the grocery store, I immediately open it and lay 1 paper towel inside and close the container tightly. I find this keeps the spinach longer faster and it has less wilting due to moisture. 
3. This recipe calls for only saving 2 TBS of the Mandarian orange juice from the can to use in the dressing. But I always save the extra juice in an airtight jar in my refrigerator. It’s great for other dressings, sauces, and even in cocktails.

If you like this Salad recipe, you might like these other salad recipes. These are our fan favorites!

1. Greek Chicken Salad
2. Tortellini Spinach Pasta Salad
3. Bourbon Glazed Salamon Cesar Salad
4. Grilled Peach Chicken Salad

Bow Tie Spinach and Pasta Salad

Bow Tie Spinach and Pasta Salad is made with Farfalle pasta, fresh baby spinach, mandarin oranges, and toasted walnuts with an Asian ginger dressing. 

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salads

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bow tie pasta salad, pasta salad, spinach pasta salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Laura Franco

Ingredients 

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• 1/2 of a 1lb. box of Farfalle pasta - cooked per the box instructions and cooled to room temperature.
• 1 5- ounce container of fresh baby spinach
• 1 15- ounce can of Mandarine oranges
• 2 TBS of the juice from the can of Mandarine oranges
• 1/4 cup soy sauce I use low sodium
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar substitution: white vinegar
• 1 TBS Agave substitution: honey
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 TBS sesame oil substitution: olive oil
• Dash of fish sauce optional
• Toasted pecan pieces
• Sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

• Cook pasta per direcitons on the box.
• Let sit until room temperature.
• Drain Mandarian oranges but save 2 TBS of the juice.
• In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ground ginger, agave, mandarine orane juice, fish sauce, and sesame oil.
• Toss pasta, and spinach together.
• Add Mandarian oranges.
• Add 1/2 of the ginger dressing.
• Garnish with toasted pecans.

Notes

Save the remaining dressing and use it if you are making this ahead of time or having leftovers as the pasta will soak up the dressing and you will want more.