How long does a cold salad with whole wheat pasta and raw vegetables last?

The key is storing the pasta and vegetables separately, seriously. I prep the salad on Sunday and it keeps fine until Wednesday if I keep everything in different containers and only mix what I'm going to eat that day. The dressing goes separately too, obviously, because if you throw it all together wet the pasta turns to mush by day two. If you have to mix it all together because you don't have a choice, count on it being pretty sad by Tuesday, so better eat half of it on Monday.

Do you mix the dressing before storing it or after? What works best is keeping everything separate, but the trick that nobody mentions is that whole wheat pasta absorbs way less water than regular pasta, so if you season it well from the start it'll easily hold up 4-5 days in the fridge without getting mushy.

It depends a lot on whether you dress it or not. If you keep it unmixed - cold pasta in one container, raw veggies in another, oil and vinegar separate - it'll easily last four or five days. Whole wheat pasta is pretty resistant because it doesn't absorb as much moisture as white pasta, so you've got some wiggle room.

What makes it go bad fast is the combination of moisture. The veggies start releasing water from day one, and if everything's mixed together the dressing speeds up the process. I prep it on Sunday and mix it right before eating, so it lasts me the whole week no problem. It's a bit of a hassle to prepare each time, but it's worth it if you don't want it turning into mush.