This Vegan Pasta Salad is another addition to my growing list of salad recipes on this blog that are mayo free, healthy and wholesome. Dressed in an Italian Balsamic dressing, the flavors of this salad are unbeatable.
Are you seeing a pattern here? A summer salad pattern?!
This the fourth salad recipe I've posted this season and I have a few more lined up! Because honestly, that's all I feel like eating. And all of them including this one are healthy, mayo free, heavy dressing free salads. They are so much more refreshing, so much easier to eat as meal and are packed with veggies.
I'm not vegan by any count, but this macaroni pasta salad happens to be one because it's dairy free and plant based and that's why the name. And I love it because I know that I can eat this for lunch and not feel bloated or heavy.
This salad is packed with five cups of veggies. They are colorful and that means that each component is packed with flavor and taste. Plus the dressing is really light and balsamic based - a slightly sweet, tangy dressing that coats the salad and flavors it as its refrigerated.
I love adding a whole lot of greens to this. You can add arugula, lettuce or my favorite - baby spinach. The leaves are sturdier, milder in flavor, crunchy and don't wilt immediately.
When you make this pasta salad, I recommend making this a few hours in advance. This way the dressing coats everything, and the flavors have time to meld. Plus this tastes much better cold. I would only make one change and that's to add the spinach or other greens right before serving. A few hours in the fridge would wilt the spinach completely and we'd rather it stay fresh and crunchy.
Make a large batch of this and take it to kids parties, barbecues, picnics and all the summer events that you go to this season!
More Mayo-free Salad Recipes for a crowd
- Healthy Lemon Dill Potato Salad
- Watermelon Salad with Basil and Cucumber
- Crunchy Chinese Chicken Salad
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
- Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
- Mexican Prawn Avocado Taco Salad
- Italian Antipasto Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich – Easy & Healthy!
Watch Vegan Pasta Salad Recipe Video
Vegan Pasta Salad with Italian Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
- For the Salad
- 170 grams Macaroni or any other Pasta
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Cherry Tomatoes halved
- 1 Cucumber diced
- 1 cup Red and Yellow Bell Peppers diced
- 1 cup Salad Greens / Baby Arugula / Baby Spinach mixed
- ½ cup Broccoli Florets blanched
- ¼ cup Olives sliced
- ½ cup Red Onions sliced
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- For the Salad Dressing
- ⅓ cup Olive Oil extra virgin
- 2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup / Honey
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper ground
- ¼ teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Add salt to a large pot of boiling water and cook the pasta till al dente. Drain and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing. Alternatively, you can also add all the ingredients to a jar and shake the jar with lid on till the dressing is combined.
- Add all the ingredients (except spinach/salad greens if serving later) for the salad to a large bowl, and toss well with the dressing.
- Refrigerate for a couple of hours for the flavors to meld together. Add the spinach/salad greens right before serving and toss well. Serve cold.
Notes
- Grilled zucchini, corn, roasted mushrooms etc are also great additions to this cold salad
- Add the spinach/salad greens right before serving so that they don't wilt completely and stay fresh
- Small pasta like macaroni, fusilli, bow tie etc taste best in this salad
- Storage: The salad can be prepped a day ahead, and then tossed with the dressing an hour before serving
- Serve this macaroni salad with grilled chicken or fish, roasted corn on the cob, burgers or steak if you want to use it as a side dish
Debra says
Delicious! I added roasted eggplant and fresh corn. Used maple syrup instead of honey and gluten free pasta. Perfect salad to bring to a bbq!
Cap'n Dave says
Definitely looks wonderful, but not "vegan" if you're using honey, but swap this out 1-for-1 with agave nectar, dark corn syrup (non-GMO, preferred), molasses (unsulphured), or pure maple syrup - a light amber is best, and you're golden! There's also a product out there if you can find it called Bee Free Honee - it's a bit pricey at the moment, but you can even order it off of Amazon now.
Revecca says
Vegan pasta salad with honey suggested in the dressing?
Richa Gupta says
Sorry that you weren't impressed with this pasta salad recipe, Revecca. We used honey to balance out the flavours and give the salad a tinge of sweetness. You can totally skip that if you want 🙂
Ahmad Shah says
I really like Vegan Pasta . i need to know if it is okay to go for Diabetic Persons . after Diabetes i have left using Pasta . What is your intake on that ?
Martina Roy says
This is very really unique helpful information. keep it up. Thank you so much!
This is very really unique helpful information. keep it up. Thank you so much! https://www.gmdrecipes.com/
On Tue, Jul 2, 2019 at 4:49 PM Gmd Ron wrote:
Deepti says
Sounds so simple and looks much yummier! Definitely on my "to try" list. Just one query...do you blanch the baby spinach or add as is (raw, washed) ?
Richa says
Hey Deepti, its added as is - washed and cleaned raw spinach