It’s Spring, the snow is melting, the sun is shining and we are all about to spend a lot of time in our backyards. We can’t gather in our homes so we’re going to need some really delicious food that can be eaten on the deck. Creamy Vegan Pasta Salad was made for summers like this! It’s easy to throw together, covers all of the food groups, and fits into one neat and tidy little bowl. Ok, my bowl is more of a bucket. But it’s reeeeeeeeeally good stuff.
I love this pasta salad because even though it’s creamy, it’s still light and flavorful. It’s not the kind of creamy where the noodles and veggies are so caked in mayo that you can’t make out what’s underneath. This creamy pasta salad keeps the mayo to a minimum and layers on the flavor with lemon, garlic, and dill. The veggies are simple, using just bell peppers, red onion, cucumber, and carrots. And you can swap out any of these veggies for whatever you have on hand so it’s easily customizable, too.
How to make it
First, get some water boiling for your pasta. Then, mix together the mayo, onion powder, granulated garlic, salt, dill, and lemon juice for the dressing. Add the pasta to the boiling water and prepare according to the package instructions. All that’s left is to chop up your veggies, add your chickpeas and mix it all together.
For this recipe, I weighed the pasta dry before adding it to the recipe. There’s a great gluten-free quinoa macaroni pasta that we love and a small bag just happens to be 227g or 2 1/4 cups.
This creamy pasta salad recipe makes a large batch. So it’s perfect for a whole family meal, or for sharing. It’s best served fresh and will keep in the fridge for a day or two.
This Creamy Vegan Pasta Salad is
- Easy to make with everyday ingredients
- Customizable to whatever veggies you have on hand
- GF (use your favorite GF pasta)
- Full of flavor
- Fresh and light
- Delicious!
More delicious vegan recipes
- Easy Classic Vegan Tacos
- Vegan Buffalo Chickpea Wraps
- Vegan Spelt Flour Pancakes
- Miso Vegetable Noodle Soup
If you try this recipe, leave a comment or rating and let us know what you think! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram #plantednoshery for more easy vegan recipes. Enjoy!
Creamy Vegan Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 2¼ cups Quinoa macaroni pasta (227g – dry weight) can substitute any pasta of choice by dry weight (use gluten free pasta if necessary)
- 2 cups Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 Large carrots, peeled and chopped ~ 2 cups
- 1 Cucumber, chopped ~ 2 cups
- 1 Red onion, finely diced ~ 1 cup
- 1 Bell pepper (red, yellow or orange) ~ 1 cup
Dressing Ingredients
- ¾ cup Vegan Mayo `180g
- 4½ tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Onion powder
- 1 tbsp Dill Weed, dried
- 1½ tsp Granulated garlic
- 1-2 tsp Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Prepare your pasta of choice according to the instructions on the box. When it has finished cooking, drain and rinse the pasta in cold water until all of the noodles are cool to the touch. Let the pasta sit in a strainer while you prepare the rest of the salad, so that the noodles dry to the touch before adding them to the salad. Excess water on your pasta will water down your salad dressing. If using fresh pasta, cook for 1-3 minutes and then follow the above steps for straining.
- Prepare the salad dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl, and whisking well to combine. Let the dressing sit while you prepare the vegetables.
- Prepare the cucumber, carrots, red onion and bell pepper by chopping and peeling as necessary. Add them to a large salad bowl, along with the chickpeas and pasta. Then add the salad dressing and stir well to evenly coat all of the salad. Serve immediately, or place in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy!
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