Packed with flavor and super easy to make, this vegetable pasta salad will become your next favorite to-go lunch or light meal.
Customize the salad based on what you have and prep the salad dressing up to a week in advance.
Then, all you need to do is put everything together, and you have a light, healthy and delicious meal ready in no time.
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Ingredients For the Recipe
You’ll need two sets of ingredients to make the vegetable pasta salad.
For the salad dressing
- Olive oil: ¼ cup
- Pepper: ¼ tsp
- Salt: A pinch
- Wine vinegar: 4 tbsp
- Garlic powder: ¼ tsp
- Oregano: 1 tsp
- Paprika powder: ¼ tsp
- Lemon juice: 3 tbsp
- Honey: 1 tsp
For the salad
- Pasta of your choice (cooked): 2 cups
- Cucumber (chopped): 1 cup
- Cherry tomatoes (halved): 1 cup
- Bell pepper s Mixed (chopped): 1 cup
- Onions (chopped): ¼ cup
- Coriander leaves (chopped): 4 tbsp
- Prepared dressing
How to Make the Vegetable Pasta Salad
Once you have all your ingredients ready, here’s what you’ll need to do to make the pasta salad.
For the salad dressing, add all the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk them together.
For the salad, take a big mixing bowl. Add in all the ingredients one by one.
Give everything a good mix.
Serve as a side to your meals or enjoy as a healthy meal substitute.
Frequently Asked Questions
I used cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers as the veggies, but you can also try using other veggies like boiled corn, carrots, blanched broccoli, sliced olives and red onions.
In fact, you can also choose to slightly grill the veggies in some olive oil and seasonings, allow them to cool down and then use them for the recipe.
Your leftover vegetable pasta salad can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Use a clean glass or airtight container to keep it fresh, and let it sit on the countertop for a while before you serve it.
Tips & Tricks to Make the Vegetable Pasta Salad
Making this vegetable pasta salad may be super easy, but you might want to take note of these little tips and tricks too.
- To bump up the protein and nutritional content in the salad, you can also add some baked tofu, grated Parmesan or crumbled feta cheese into the mix.
- If you want to keep it vegan, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast can do the trick.
- To jazz up the salad dressing, you may also want to add some chopped fresh herbs of your choice. Parsley, cilantro and dill are some good options.
- If you like your salad dressing to be creamy, you can use some whisked Greek yogurt as the base for the salad.
- You can use pretty much any kind of pasta for this recipe, but I would recommend using penne, bowtie, fusilli, rotini or macaroni for best results.
- To lend a bit of flavor and deliciousness to the pasta salad, you can add a spoonful of mustard sauce into the dressing.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
This vegetable pasta salad is a great light yet filling meal to enjoy as a work lunch or as a midday hunger fix.
You don’t need any extra effort to team it up with anything, but if you’re planning to make it as a side, I would recommend pairing it with some grilled chicken, some pan fried salmon or a nice burger.
This salad can actually be great with your sandwiches too.
Enjoyed this easy pasta recipe? Inspired to try out some more simple and flavorful pasta dishes? Here are a few good ones to try out.
- Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese Vegan
- Layered Christmas Pasta Salad in Cups
- Baked Pasta in a Casserole
📖 Recipe
Vegetable Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Ingredients for the salad dressing
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- 1 pinch Salt
- 4 tbsps Wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika powder
- 3 tbsps Lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Honey
Ingredients for the salad
- 2 cups Pasta of your choice, cooked
- 1 cup Cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup Cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup Bell pepper s Mixed, chopped
- ¼ cup Onions, chopped
- 4 tbsps Coriander leaves, chopped
- Prepared dressing
Instructions
- For the salad dressing, add all the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk them together.
- For the salad, take a big mixing bowl. Add in all the ingredients one by one.
- Give everything a good mix.
- Serve as a side to your meals or enjoy as a healthy meal substitute.
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