Cool summer pasta that’s filling and light at the same time. Ready in under 20 minutes, this pesto pasta salad is the perfect dinner for warmer days when you don’t want to slave in front of a stove, but still crave a healthy home-cooked meal. Vegan, with a gluten-free option.
If you’ve never had a pasta salad, this is the place to start. Pasta is usually not the food you want to reach for when you’re hot, sweaty and desperately trying to avoid the stove. But pair it with your favourite fresh vegetables, and you get a refreshing meal that’s filling too.
What Is Pasta Salad?
A piece of pure genius coming from Italy. Traditionally, pasta salad is made tossing chilled pasta in vinegar and oil, or a mayonnaise-based dressing. Slightly less traditional versions include fresh vegetables, such as legumes, broccoli, carrots, baby corn, cucumbers, olives, or peppers, and sometimes even cheeses, meats and seafood.
Pasta salad, or pasta fredda, is the perfect way for pasta lovers to get their fill even when the weather gets warmer.
How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad
The basis of any pasta salad is pasta, most commonly a type of macaroni. Cook your pasta in salted water, drain and let it cool. After that you will assemble the pasta salad by tossing it in pesto, and stirring in cherry tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, olives and basil.
Do I Have to Make My Own Pesto?
No, but I highly recommend it. You can easily opt for store-bought pesto, but this recipe for homemade pesto calls for only six easy-to-find ingredients. All you need to do is blend them in a smooth paste.
Is This Pesto Pasta Gluten Free?
You can easily make this recipe gluten free by using your favourite gluten-free pasta. The rest of the ingredients are naturally gluten free.
What If I Want to Mix in More Fresh Veggies?
I’m so happy you asked that! Pasta salad is a great way to get your share of healthy vegetables, so go nuts.
My top recommendations includes:
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Onions
- Beans
- Peppers
- Spinach
Does It Keep?
Absolutely!. You can make this pasta salad in under 20 minutes, and then keep it in the fridge for two to three days. It’s perfect for lunch and dinner, and you don’t even have to reheat it 🙂
More Easy Pasta Recipes
Vegan Pesto Pasta Salad
ingredients
Pasta Essentials
- 2 cups uncooked pasta, such as rotini or fusilli
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes (mix red, yellow and orange)
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- 2 tablespoons sliced black olives
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Homemade Pesto
- 2 cups fresh basil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice (~½ lemon)
- ¼ cup walnuts
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, in salted water. Let it cool.
- Prepare the pesto by blending basil, garlic, lemon juice, walnuts, salt and olive oil.
- Toss all ingredients together. You can keep this pasta in the fridge for two to three days.
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