To avoid a dry and stiff pasta salad, there's one key step home cooks should be doing when boiling pasta13:16, 25 Jul 2026The summer season is the perfect time to enjoy al fresco dinners and picnics. And with the temperatures continuing to soar, there’s nothing more satisfying than a lighter version of a much-loved comfort food.‌Pasta is perfect for all occasions, but when it’s hot outside, swapping a steaming bowl for a pasta salad is the way forward. A hot pasta dish is best served al dente, but the same method doesn’t work for a cold pasta salad.‌Professional chef and food writer Anne Wolf explained that “perfectly cooked” al dente pasta will turn out “stiff and starchy” once cooled. No matter how much dressing you add to your pasta salad, there’s no saving it, Anne warned.‌Instead, you should overcook the pasta when making a pasta salad. This may sound like sacrilege to pasta purists, but if you don’t cook the pasta past al dente, you’ll be left with a dry, crunchy salad.Anne described this method as a rule “worth breaking”.‌She wrote for Simply Recipes: “As pasta cooks, heat and water work their way from the outside in, causing the starches to absorb moisture and swell, loosening their grip on one another."The outermost layer softens first and the most, since it’s had the longest soak."When you cook to a proper al dente, the innermost starches are still holding onto some structure, which is exactly what gives you that firm-but-tender bite that behaves so well in a warm dish."‌The issue is, when the pasta starts to cool, the pasta goes through a process known as starch retrogradation. The starches recrystallise and tighten back up, losing all the moisture it absorbed when cooking.How to make better pasta saladTo prevent the pasta salad from drying out and becoming unpleasant to eat, Anne recommends overcooking the pasta on purpose. Simply boil it for a few minutes long after it reaches al dente.Article continues belowShe advises to rinse the pasta with cold water after it’s boiled to stop the cooking process.Anne explained: “That extra time in the pot gives the starches more moisture to work with, so when they retrograde in the fridge, there’s a buffer to lose.”When it comes to dressing up your pasta salad, the pasta will keep its shape and stay tender when mixed with the dressing.