Longer, warmer days call for simple and refreshing dishes like this easy vegan pasta salad. This recipe ticks all the right boxes, offering a mouthwatering combination of vibrant vegetables, wholesome pasta, and a zesty italian dressing. Trust me when I say this flavorful and versatile pasta salad is one you will want to repeat all summer long.
While there really isn't a bad time to enjoy pasta salad, this recipe is perfect for a lazy summer afternoon picnic, a quick weekday lunch, or as a side dish for your next gathering.
And if you are looking for more amazing pasta salad recipes you must check out this creamy vegan dill pickle pasta salad, vegan street corn pasta salad, and creamy vegan macaroni salad.
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Ingredients
Just seven ingredients + a zesty homemade Italian salad dressing and you have yourself a delicious plant-based pasta salad.
- Rotini pasta or another similar shaped, smaller noodle. Rotini noodles are spiral-shaped with ridges along their surface. These nooks and crannies allow them to hold onto dressings, sauces, and other ingredients more effectively, ensuring that each bite is filled with flavor. Additionally, the tight spiral shape of rotini noodles ensures that they hold their shape well even after being tossed with other ingredients. This characteristic prevents them from clumping together, promoting an even distribution of flavors throughout the salad. You'll get a delightful mix of ingredients in every forkful. Rotini noodles are an ideal choice for pasta salad due to their shape, texture, versatility, and ability to hold up well with dressings and other ingredients. This cozy creamy vegan 'chicken' casserole also uses rotini noodles.
- Grape tomatoes
- Green bell pepper
- Kalamata or black olives
- Pepperoncini peppers - jarred, these are sweet, mild chili peppers.
- Red onion
- Fresh parsley
Italian Dressing:
This tangy Italian dressing comes together in under 1 minute.
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Garlic powder
- Nutritional yeast
- Dried oregano
- Dried Basil
- Coarse sea salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This pasta salad comes together in 4 steps: 1) Cook the pasta, 2) Chop the veggies, 3) Whip up the dressing and finally 4) Combine everything together
Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water. Let pasta cool and drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the noodles.
Add cooked pasta to large mixing bowl and chop all of your vegetables.
Add all cut up vegetables to mixing bowl and mix up your dressing by adding all salad dressing ingredients to a jar with a lid and shake well.
Add dressing to bowl and toss everything together until well combined. Taste and adjust as you see fit.
Substitutions and Variations
- Peppers - Jarred banana peppers can be used in place of jarred pepperoncini peppers. Both peppers are extremely mild chilies and have a similar tastes. Of note, jarred "hot banana peppers" will be hotter/spicier. This article goes into detail about the similarities and differences between the pepperochini and banana pepper.
- Dressing - while the homemade dressing is really tasty and easy, you can certainly skip that step and substitute in your favorite bottled Italian dressing in place of the homemade dressing.
- Pasta - use a gluten free pasta to make this recipe gluten free.
Storage
Pasta salads are similar to many soup and chili recipes in that they are even tastier the next day after everything rests and all the flavors meld together.
- For making ahead of time: Suggest making this pasta salad 12-24 hours ahead of time to allow all of the flavors to intensify.
- For storing: Leftovers are good for 2-3 days and should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
These ingredients do not stand up well to freezing.
FAQ
Yes, absolutely! This pasta salad can be made in advance and actually tastes better once all of the ingredients have some time to marinate together - usually 12-24 hours is the sweet spot.
No, while it would be wonderful if we could batch cook and freeze pasta salad to have ready at our fingertips. The pasta and fresh veggies do not hold up well to freezing and thawing.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Check out these plant-based dishes:
Easy Vegan Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Pasta Salad Components:
- 1 pound uncooked pasta
- 10 ounces grapes tomatoes, cut in half (~2 heaping cups)
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- ¾ cup kalamata or black olives, sliced
- ¾ cup jarred pepperoncini peppers, sliced
- ¾ cup red onion, chopped
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Italian Pasta Salad Dressing:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- ½-1 teaspoons coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, drain in colander and rinse noodles with cold water to help them cool down a bit. Then drizzle cooked pasta with a little bit of olive oil.
- Add all Italian dressing ingredients to a jar, add a lid, and shake vigorously.
- Add cooked pasta, all cut up vegetables, fresh parsley, and dressing to a large mixing bowl and toss everything until well combined.
- You can serve this pasta salad immediately, however the flavors intensify overnight once everything has time to marinate together and is delicious the next day.
Notes
- This recipe makes ~10 - 1 cup servings.
- Leftovers are good for 2-3 days and should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Food safety
It is important to avoid leaving food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods of time. This pasta salad is served cold; therefore, you need either take it off the table after two hours (returning it to the refrigerator or cooler or discarding it), OR figure out a way to serve it in a larger container of ice so that it stays at 40 degrees or less. Check out these potluck and picnic food safety tips for more information.
Thanks for coming! Let me know what you think: