Vegan Pasta Salad

This spring, make a vegan pasta salad full of vibrant spring vegetables dressed in a light, tangy lemon vinaigrette dressing. This vegan pasta salad recipe is a fresh and delicious plan to make extra for seconds.

Nothing says spring like a vegan pasta salad. Instead of a typical creamy pasta salad, this spring pasta salad recipe is full of vegetables vegetable pasta and dressed in an oil-free vinaigrette dressing. What I love most about this vegan pasta salad recipe is the possibility of making unique versions every time. Today, my focus was spring vegetables from the farmer's market. 

Jump to:

• Vegan Pasta Salad Ingredients
• Vegan Pasta Salad Ingredient Substitutions
• How to Cut and Blanch Asparagus
• Assembling the Vegan Pasta Salad
• Vegan Pasta Salad Dressing Ingredients 
• Vegan Pasta Salad Dressing Ingredient Substitutions
• Recipe FAQs
• Tips
• Other Vegan Recipes to Try!
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

We are blessed with farmer's markets everywhere across the valley in Arizona. That means fresh, farm vegetables all year round. For instance, I found the most beautiful asparagus, zucchini, and summer squash today. So, I  aspired to create a spring pasta salad recipe for my family get-together. 

Since I love to cook, I can usually persuade the kids to come over for dinner when I entice them with food. Or, at least, that's always the plan. Nothing is better than great vegan food and family to share it with. 

When considering a menu, I always think of our plans for the day. Today, for example, I invited the kids for a barbeque and fun in the pool. For that reason, I wanted to prepare food in advance to enjoy the time with the kids. Preparing the vegan pasta salad beforehand allows the dressing to marinate with vegetables and noodles. As a result, the flavors enhance in the refrigerator. 

Vegan Pasta Salad Ingredients

Whenever I make a new salad recipe, I think about texture, taste, and color. It is important to eat many different vegetables, but eating the rainbow allows for maximum nutritional value. 

Raw Ingredients

• Summer Squash: Summer squash is fresh and light in flavor and texture.
• Zucchini: Zucchini have a mild flavour, slightly sweet and slightly bitter, with a rich feel.
• Green Onions: Scallions have the sharp, somewhat-spicy, peppery flavor that white and yellow onions produce. This makes them an excellent substitute for small amounts of chopped onions, in a pinch
• Red Cabbage: Although purple in color, red cabbage us colorful and provides a crunchy texture to the vegan pasta salad.
• Red Bell Peppers: Red bell peppers are sweet and vibrant.
• Grape Tomatoes: I love grape tomatoes because they have fewer seeds and are incredibly sweet.
• Dill: Dill is one of my favorite herbs. It adds a beautiful freshness to the salad.
• Parsley: Parsley adds fresh flavor to the salad.

I used a wavy knife for vegetables to get the fancy cut on my zucchini and summer squash. 

Cooked ingredients

• Asparagus: Asparagus is earthy bitterness and a subtle sweet taste. The older an asparagus spear gets. However, it will taste less sweet and flavorful as a whole.
• Peas (fresh or frozen): Peas are beautifully bright green and taste fresh and sweet. Even better, they're full of plant-based protein (and one of the best vegetables you can eat)

Vegan Pasta Salad Ingredient Substitutions

• Choose any vegetables in season with a variety of colors and textures.
• For instance, skip the summer squash and double the zucchini if you can only find zucchini.
• Green beans are an excellent substitute for blanched asparagus.
• I like pickled red onions to add a tanginess to a vegan pasta salad recipe.
• Carrots are also colorful and add texture to a salad.

How to Cut and Blanch Asparagus

First, trim the asparagus by lining up all of the spears in a row and slicing off the ends. It would be best to cut right where the stalks turn from white into green. Also called the woody end, the difference between these inedible ends and the green asparagus is pretty easy to detect. 

Why Blanch Vegetables?

Although I generally roast my asparagus, I decided to blanch it today. Blanching is a cooking process of scalding the asparagus in boiling water, removing it quickly, and finally plunging it into iced water or placed under cold running water to halt the cooking process. 

Blanching stops enzyme actions that otherwise cause flavor, color, and texture loss. In addition, blanching removes some surface dirt and microorganisms, brightens color, and helps slow vitamin losses.

• Heat water to boiling.
• Cook the cut asparagus in boiling water for  1 to 5 minutes 
• Fill a large clean bowl with ice water.
• Immediately plunge the asparagus into the ice water.

Because I also wanted to cook frozen peas, and the process is the same, I added the peas in the last two minutes of cooking. As a result, I save myself the step of cooking the peas separately. 

Next, transfer the cooked asparagus and peas and place them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. 

For this vegan pasta salad, I chose Trader Joe's Organic Vegetable Pasta, a tri-colored pasta made with spinach, beet, red bell peppers, and paprika. But any pasta works well with this recipe, including gluten-free pasta.

Assembling the Vegan Pasta Salad

Once the asparagus and peas cool, add cooked and raw vegetables to the cooked and cooled pasta. 

Vegan Pasta Salad Dressing Ingredients 

However simple, the dressing brings the salad a fresh and tangy flavor. 

• Champagne Vinegar: Champagne vinegar is made from champagne. It has a relatively light taste and is one of the more delicate vinegar available on the market. Champagne vinegar should have a consistency similar to water and be pale gold or apricot orange.
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup provides a natural sweetener without using sugar.
• Lemon Juice + Zest: Lemon juice and zest give the dressing a fresh, vibrant taste. I prefer using fresh lemon juice.
• Dijon Mustard: Dijon mustard gives the dressing a tanginess.
• Water: Water acts as an emulsifier, similar to oil, without using oil.

Vegan Pasta Salad Dressing Ingredient Substitutions

• Use apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar as a substitute for champagne vinegar.
• Try date syrup or agave to replace the maple syrup.
• Choose bottled lemon juice if you don't have fresh. However, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to accommodate the lemon zest.
• Stoneg round mustard substitutes dijon mustard in recipes.

Recipe FAQs

Tips

• Cut the vegetables into bite-sized, uniform sizes so it is easy to eat.
• Make sure the blanched asparagus and peas are cool before adding to the pasta salad.
• Make this vegan pasta salad recipe no more than a day before serving.
• Use fresh herbs when possible.
• A good ratio is 1 to 3. For example, if a recipe calls for 3 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, use 1 teaspoon of dried.
• For added citrus flavor, add more lemon zest.

To make a fresh entree or side salad, you should consider a vegan pasta salad. A spring pasta salad like this is perfect for a barbeque, picnic, potluck, lunch, or dinner. 

Other Vegan Recipes to Try!

If you love this vegan pasta salad recipe, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you.

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