Easy Vegan Pasta Salad Recipe
The best quick, easy, and healthy vegan pasta salad recipe. This meal comes together in just minutes. It’s the perfect simple lunch option.
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Easy Vegan Pasta Salad Recipe
Good morning friends! Today, I am so excited to share my new favorite lunch option for busy workdays – vegan pasta salad. As the weather gets warmer, I always find myself craving cool and refreshing meals and snacks. Now that summer is in full swing, this chilled pasta salad dish is the perfect option. Plus, it requires minimal prep work and no baking, so it’s a great meal for those super busy workdays.
Now, let’s go through a few quick things to note for this recipe. Then, we will dive into the list of ingredients you’ll need to make this vegan pasta salad recipe a smashing success.
How Do You Make Healthy Pasta Salad?
It is actually quite easy to make a delicious vegan pasta salad at home. All you need is your favorite pasta of choice (I used chickpea rotini), some fresh veggies, olives and olive oil, and a few key spices. You simply cook the pasta until it’s nice and soft, finely chop your veggies, and then mix everything together with your olive oil and spices.
Then, you will want to let your pasta salad chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Finally, your healthy vegan pasta salad is ready to enjoy! It truly is the perfect quick and easy lunch option.
Is Pasta Salad Better The Second Day?
Whether or not pasta salad tastes better the second day after making it is a huge debate with varying opinions. In my personal opinion, pasta salad does taste better after it has had a little bit of time to chill. At the very least, I like to wait 30 minutes to an hour to allow my pasta salad to set in the refrigerator before eating it. I always store leftovers in a lidded container so that it stays as fresh as possible the next day.
Anyway, that’s enough on that. Now that we have went through a few quick things to note for this recipe, let’s take a look at the ingredients you will need to make this vegan pasta salad.
Easy Vegan Pasta Salad Recipe – Ingredients
- Rotini Pasta – The first ingredient you will need for this recipe is the rotini pasta. You can use whichever kind you like most or have on hand. I used chickpea pasta for additional protein. You can do the same if you’d like to make this recipe gluten free. Or, you can use traditional whole wheat rotini, tri-color rotini, etc. I will say that I think rotini or penne shaped pasta works best for pasta salad.
- Yellow Onion – The yellow onion adds a ton of flavor and a bit of crunch to this vegan pasta salad. It is the perfect vegetable to pair with the pasta.
- Red Bell Pepper – The red bell pepper adds a ton of color, flavor, and nutrients to this recipe. It is one of my favorite vegetables, and it pairs especially well in this recipe.
- Broccoli – The broccoli is another vegetable that goes really well with the other flavors present in this vegan pasta salad.
- Yellow Corn – The yellow corn adds flavor and sweetness to this delicious pasta salad. While it is not an ingredient found in most pasta salad dishes, I still like to add it to mine.
- Dried Basil – The dried basil is the first essential spice you will need for this recipe.
- Salt – The salt will be added to taste for additional flavor. I used himalayan pink salt.
- Pepper – The black pepper is the other spice that you will adjust to your own personal taste.
- Black Olives – The black olives add flavor and richness to the pasta salad. You will want to thinly slice them and gently mixing them into your pasta salad dish.
- Vegan Parmesan – The vegan parmesan is an optional ingredient that you can top your pasta salad recipe with for extra texture and flavor. I used the Trader Joe’s vegan parmesan.
- Olive Oil – The olive oil acts as the key source of liquid to coat your pasta salad in. It adds a ton of flavor and richness to the recipe.
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Easy Vegan Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz dry rotini pasta (I used Banza chickpea pasta)
- 1/2 cup yellow onion (finely chopped)
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper (finely chopped)
- 1/3 cup broccoli (finely chopped)
- 1/4 cup yellow corn
- 1/4 cup black olives (thinly sliced)
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- salt (to taste)
- black pepper (to taste)
- vegan parmesan (for topping, I used Trader Joe's brand)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the pasta per package directions until soft.
- Drain and rinse the pasta thoroughly.
- Pour the pasta into a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the chopped yellow onion, chopped red bell pepper, chopped broccoli, corn, and sliced olives.
- Mix all ingredients well to combine.
- Pour in the olive oil and gently mix to coat the pasta in it.
- Add the dried basil and salt + pepper to taste, then mix again.
- Cover the pasta salad and refrigerate it for at least 30 – 60 minutes to allow it to chill and set.
- Dig in and enjoy! You can serve your pasta salad with some vegan parmesan if desired.
Notes
I hope you all love this simple and delicious pasta salad. It is the perfect summer recipe that comes together in just minutes. As per usual, I will be back with another blog post very soon.
-Alyssa 🙂
