From Tex-Mex to Thai to Tuscan, pasta salad comes in a variety of ways. It can be a main dish or side dish without a lot of effort, but the common denominator for pasta salad is always the same: pasta. When the pasta isn’t cooked right then the entire dish is ruined but luckily there’s an easy pasta hack that can make your pasta salad that much better.

Via: 12 Tomatoes

Even if you’re not a chef, you’ve certainly heard of the term al dente, a phrase used to define when pasta is still firm when bitten. Al dente is the point where you stop the cooking process and remove the pasta from the boiling water.

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But pasta salad is different because unlike pasta, which is generally eaten warm, pasta salad is served chilled. When pasta cools down, the starch goes through a process called retrogradation. It’s a little sciency but when pasta cools, the pasta starches firm up, forming a rigid crystallized structure which is why leftover pasta in the fridge kind of has this hard, stale taste.

Via: Flickr

The key to making a perfect pasta salad is to overcook the pasta. Adding 2 to 3 minutes over the normal cooking time is all you need to do. As the pasta cools down and blends with the other ingredients, the pasta will become al dente rather than deadly dry.

Ingredients for pasta salad in a large metal bowl
Via: 12 Tomatoes

Try this trick with your next pasta salad and you won’t be disappointed by the results.