This 20 minute Creamy Vegan Italian Pasta Salad is easy, flavorful, and perfect for get togethers. Summer meal prep level up!
If you love pasta salads, then you are going to absolutely love this dreamy creamy vegan Italian pasta salad recipe.
Pastas salads are get for get togethers, but not only that, they are amazing for meal prep as well. Pastas salads are one of those dishes that really benefit from marinating for a few hours (or days) which means it’s always better the next day!
Like most pasta salads, this recipe doesn’t take very long to cook and come together which means a fantastic meal without a lot of effort!
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Why You’ll Love This Dish
- Easy – This recipe only takes 20 minutes to make!
- Great for Meal Prep – this is one of those recipes that only gets better with time which is perfect for meal prep as you can make it 3-5 days in advance and use as needed
- Gluten Free and Allergen Friendly – this recipe is easily Top 9 Allergen Free which means it’s a great option to serve to everyone
🥘Recipe Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
- Noodles – In the photos, we are using a rotini noodle as it’s a great base for pasta salad and holds sauce well; however, feel free to use your favorite shape. Note: that smaller noodles make more than larger ones.
- Sun Dried Tomatoes – We are using sun dried tomatoes that are oil packed. This gives more flavor and tastes better in a dish like this.
- Vegan Parmesan – Our preference is Violife parmesan block that we grate ourselves or Follow Your Heart parmesan.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Noodles – If you’d prefer, feel free to use gluten free noodles or even something like zucchini or sweet potato noodles if you’d like.
- Sun Dried Tomatoes – You can you dried tomatoes without the oil if you’d like and rehydrate them first. This will alter some of the taste
- Vegan Parmesan – Nutritional yeast would be a less processed alternative for vegan parmesan
- Spices – The spices in the dressing (minus the chili flakes) are basically an Italian seasoning blend. If you prefer, you can use premade Italian seasoning
- Stretch this meal – Feel free to add more vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, red onions and more to this, or something like chickpeas, tofu or mushrooms would be a good addition if you like them to stretch this.
Step by Step Instructions for creamy vegan Italian pasta salad:
Step 1. Cook your pasta according the package directions. When done drain and rinse until cold water, add to a large bowl and toss with the vinegar and oil.
While pasta is cooking, add dressing ingredients to a blender or cup of an immersion blender.
Step 2. Blend well until creamy and combined.
Step 3. Add dressing and remaining pasta ingredients into bowl with pasta.
Step 4. Stir well to combine. Add more salt and pepper as desired. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4-6 hours before serving for best results.
Recipe FAQs:
Yes. Use a gluten free pasta and a safe vegan parmesan for you (or sub with nutritional yeast) and this recipe will be top 9 allergen friendly.
Yes. Once made, let cool completely and you can store in an air tight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Yes, just make sure to use a large enough pot and bowl to hold all your ingredients.
No, we don’t recommend freezing this dish.
Other Vegan Pasta Salad Recipes to Consider:
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Did you make and love this recipe?
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Creamy Vegan Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the Pasta Salad
- 2 qt water
- 2.5 tablespoon salt, for water only
- ½ lb pasta (I used shells)
- 2 tablespoon white vinegar (or use the juice from the banana peppers)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½-3/4 cup dressing (recipe below)
- ½ medium red bell pepper, diced small
- 2 mini cucumbers, sliced thin
- 1 large carrot, diced small
- ¾ cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes, diced
- ½ cup banana peppers, slices
- ½ cup black olives, halved
- ½ cup vegan parmesan cheese, grated
For the Dressing
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup red onion, roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoon yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoon vegan sugar (optional)
- ¾-1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
Instructions
- Add water and salt to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add uncooked pasta and cook according the package directions. When done drain and rinse until cold water, add to a large bowl and toss with the vinegar and oil.
- While pasta is cooking, add dressing ingredients to a blender or cup of an immersion blender and blend well.
- Add dressing and remaining pasta ingredients into bowl with pasta and stir well to combine. Add salt and pepper as desired. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4-6 hours before serving for best results.
Kate
I’ve made a few vegan pasta salads. This one is absolutely amazing. Made it to pack for work lunches this week and will be looking forward to enjoying it! Love all the vinegar and acidity, so fresh for a nice spring day! Amazing dressing. Thanks for the great recipe!
Larisha Bernard
So glad that you are loving it!
Tyller
Not your grandma’s Italian pasta salad! This is so good. I omitted olives because I’m not a fan but I love how veggie packed this is. The dressing was super easy to make and I love that it’s not just a store bought Italian dressing. Can’t wait to eat it throughout the week!
Larisha Bernard
So glad you are enjoying it!