You will love this spin on classic vegan macaroni salad! The absolutely perfect summer pasta salad. Ready in under 20 minutes and easily Allergen Free!
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If you are a macaroni salad fan, then this vegan macaroni salad is going to be an instant hit. And no worries if you aren’t or aren’t sure, we are positive that we can drive you over to the macaroni salad loving fan club.
Macaroni salad is an iconic summer side dish staple. You will see it everywhere from main courses for family dinner when mom’s don’t feel like cooking to a staple at every family get together all summer long.
Fortunately, it’s pretty simple to make a vegan macaroni salad and there’s not much that you have to alter. It’s ready is just about 20 minutes or less and even better the next day, making it great for meal prep!
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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 elbow noodles as it’s the traditional base for macaroni salad and holds sauce well; however, feel free to use your favorite shape. Note: that smaller noodles make more than larger ones.
- Sweet Pickles – We are sweet gherkins in this recipe because of the flavor balance
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.
- Sweet Pickles – You can also use dill pickles or relish if you’d prefer that over sweet.
- 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 vegan macaroni 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 mayo for you (try soy free Veganaisse) 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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🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
For the Pasta Salad
- 2 qt water
- 2.5 tablespoon salt, for water only
- ½ lb macaroni noodles
- 2 tablespoon sweet pickle juice
- ¾ cup peas (can be frozen and thawed or fresh)
- ½ cup red onion, minced
- ½ cup celery, minced (about 2 ribs)
- ½ cup red bell pepper, diced
- ½-3/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
- ⅓ cup sweet gherkins, diced
- ¼ cup scallions, thinly slices
For the Dressing
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¾ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ¼ tablespoon vegan sugar
- ¾ tablespoon lemon juice (can sub with apple cider vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire
- 2 tablespoon sweet pickle juice
- salt and pepper to taste
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 sweet pickle juice.
- While pasta is cooking, add dressing ingredients to a blender or inside an immersion blender cup.
- 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.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
This post was originally published on 6/19/2019 and updated on 6/18/2023.
Absolute love this recipe, thank you. It will definitely be on repeat in our house. Do you think it would work with pre cooked cold long grain rice to change up the texture sometimes? If so would you use the same amount of rice as you do macaroni?. Thanks again for all the amazing recipes you give us, we’ve been vegan for many years but always love to try new recipes like the ones you post.
Great idea. Def not something I’ve tried, but based on the recipe, I def think it could work. If I were doing this, I would start by cooking 1 1/2 cups dried rice and then add 3 cups of the cooked rice and then see if I wanted to add more after mixing. Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes if you try!
I’ve made this several times for family gatherings and now it is requested every time. Everything comes together perfectly in this salad. You will NOT regret making it. Just prepare for it to become your “command performance” dish!
I love that it’s such a hit!
For my colleagues, I made a HUGE vat of your fabulous macaroni salad, and it got rave reviews! I was one of three bringing snack/lunch food for a day of advising incoming first-year college students, and my fellow advisors loved it. I got a lot of “I’m not vegan/vegetarian, but I loved this–it was amazing!” and I’ve been sharing your link & this recipe with them all afternoon. (And of course, the link to your sheet pan quesadillas–my all-time fave.)
I used 24 oz dry macaroni, 4 stalks celery, two bell peppers, and Sir Kensington’s vegan mayo. It tastes like Miracle Whip! (Might be a great thing or an awful one, depending.) The only thing I changed: carrots instead of onion, so that no students were harmed during one-on-one appts, ha.
I hope you get some new fans and that together, we convince a few more people to consider plant-based recipes 🙂
Thanks for making my dish a success!
OMG I love this so much. So happy it was a huge hit. Laughing at the onion bit! Thanks for much for the support. Have a wonderful week
Rave reviews at the Memorial Day picnic when I brought this. Not one person was vegan, too. Fantastic recipe!
Love when that happens!