Vegan Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables - This is a quick and easy vegan pasta salad where the cooked pasta is loaded with roasted veggies and a simple vinaigrette. This is a cold pasta salad.
This roasted vegetable vegan pasta salad is not only quick but also healthy, with loads of nutritious veggies. I have added zucchini, summer squash, onions, and peppers to the pasta. Roasted onion and garlic add extra flavor to this vegan pasta salad. This is a cold pasta salad for summer that can be stored in the refrigerator and is great for meal prep as well.
You can add other veggies like eggplants, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and baked greens for a crunch in your salad. For a protein punch, add baked tofu, crispy tofu, or chickpeas.
How To Make Vegan Pasta Salad?
Ingredients
Pasta of your choice - The best options are fusilli, penne, rotini, and farfalle since these shapes can hold the dressings well.
Vegetables - Zucchini, Summer Squash, Red Onions. Add any vegetables of your choice.
Cooking Pasta - Pasta + water + salt
For roasted vegetables - Vegetables of choice, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt
For Dressing - Olive oil, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, dried herb mix (oregano, basils), salt, pepper.
How to make vegan pasta salad?
Cook the pasta al dente
In a large pot, add 4 quartz of water and 1 tsp salt. Bring it to a boil. Now add the pasta and cook until it's just cooked tender (al dente). After cooling down, the pasta becomes a little chewy, so don't undercook or overcook it.
Once cooked, remove the pasta and strain it using a large colander. Pass it through normal water to stop cooking and overcooking the pasta even after it is removed.
Roasted Vegetables
Here, you can roast vegetables in your oven or an air fryer. Add any vegetables of your choice. I have used zucchini, squash, onions, etc.
Preheat the oven to 400 F (200C). Add diced vegetables to a mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Mix them gently with the vegetables. Now roast for 10 - 12 minutes, flipping in the midway. Alternatively, you can also roast the veggies in the air fryer. Check out my air fryer roasted vegetables.
Prepare salad dressing
Add the ingredients mentioned above in the dressing ingredients category to a small mixing jar. Mix it well. The dressing is ready.
Final Step - Toss them all
Transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl. Add all roasted vegetables and the dressing prepared. Mix them all gently.
Vegan Pasta salad with roasted vegetables is ready. Serve them warm or refrigerate to serve cold. Save some dressings if you make them as a cold salad. Add that just before serving the salad.
Read my Mediterranean Chickpea Salad and Roasted vegetable Quinoa Salad with Tahini Dressing.
Can you make this vegan pasta salad ahead?
Yes. You can make this salad ahead of time and refrigerate it for 3 - 5 days. That's how it makes a quick dinner idea for busy weekdays. But the best is to make it the day or a day before the max. To make this taste better, add some more fresh dressing. It will only add freshness to the salad.
What is the best type of pasta for pasta salad?
For the best pasta salad, use dried pasta instead of fresh pasta. Short pasta with nooks and crannies helps hold up the dressings and herbs better. Some of the best pasta are fusilli, rotini, penne, farfalle. However, linguine and spaghetti are not suitable for such salads. I have used both penne and fusilli pasta for this cold pasta salad with roasted vegetables.
When to add dressing to the salad?
If the pasta is completely cooled, it may not absorb the flavor of the dressing or the seasoning. Add half of the seasonings when it's still warm and the rest just before serving the salad. This is when we are serving this as a cold pasta salad. Otherwise, add the dressing when it's warm and serve immediately. While boiling pasta, add salt generously so that the pasta absorbs it and does not taste bland.
Similar Recipes:
Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables
Vegan Pasta Salad With Roasted Vegetables
Equipment
- Dutch oven/ pot
Ingredients
- 6 cup dried pasta
- 1 tbsp salt
Roasted Vegetables
- 1 zucchini
- 1 summer squash (yellow zucchini)
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp mixed dried herb
Salad dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp oregano (dried)
- 1/2 tsp basil leaves (dried)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a pot or Dutch oven boil water adding salt to it.
- Add pasta and boil till its cooked tender.
- Overcook slightly (not mushy) as it will harden a bit when cooled.
- When cooked, strain out from water and run it under normal water.
- Drizzle a tbsp olive oil and mix well so that it won't start sticking.
Make Roasted Vegetables
- Preheat oven at 400 F (200C).
- Chop zucchini and summer squash into bite sized pieces.
- Slice onions and chop other vegetables (if any) you are adding to the pasta salad.
- Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and drizzle olive oil on it.
- Now bake for 10 minutes flipping in between.
- Once vegetables are roasted, add it to the bowl of pasta.
- Give it a nice stir.
Prepare the salad dressing
- In a mixing jar, add olive oil and other ingredients mentioned above in ingredients list under dressings.
- Mix it well. Dressing is ready for further use.
Mixing roasted vegetables & pasta
- In a large mixing bowl, add pasta, roasted vegetables.
- Now drizzle the prepared salad dressing.
- Mix them all gently.
Notes
- Mix the veggies to the pasta when it's still warm.
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