Healthy Pasta Salad Recipe – A summertime favorite, this healthy pasta salad recipe has loads of vegetables and homemade Italian dressing. Quite versatile, you can pick and choose your vegetables based on your own palette.
Versatile and Healthy Pasta Salad Recipe
You cannot go wrong with this recipe — well, unless you use gluten-filled wheat pasta and skip the vegetables. Okay, and maybe use store-bought, unhealthy canola-oil based Italian dressing.
But otherwise, you really can’t do this wrong. Just follow the general instructions below. It’s a balance of 5-6 cups of healthy pasta and 3-4 cups of chopped vegetables. Giving everyone a healthy boost of phytonutrients.
This healthy pasta salad recipe is going to serve 6-8 people easily so feel free to cut it in half if you don’t need that much.
However, I have found that with quick and healthy recipes like this, making extra means we have a side dish for another meal. Or, the kids have a quick and healthy snack without any effort.
Homemade Italian Dressing Makes Pasta Salad Recipe the Healthiest
Italian dressing off the grocery store shelf has canola oil, sugars and a list of difficult-to-pronounce ingredients. So, we came up with our homemade recipe for Italian dressing (with optional anchovy paste).
All you need is a high speed blender and a few simple ingredients to blend up your own dressing. I like to make a double batch and leave some in the fridge to use throughout the week with other recipes. Or just on our favorite side salads.
We would to hear what you think about our balance of vegetables to pasta and our new Italian dressing. Be sure to leave a comment below letting me know.
Healthy Pasta Salad Recipe is PERFECT for Outdoor Picnics
This healthy pasta salad is the perfect salad to take to outdoor picnics and parties this summer. Why? Because, the dressing used on this healthy pasta salad recipe is our homemade Italian dressing. The dressing and pasta salad will last for hours outside without having to worry about going bad.
Just toss this recipe into an Insulated Serving Bowl and don’t worry about a thing.
You can also easily make our fruit salad as a perfect outdoor companion or this 7 Layer Mexican Dip. Edamame Succotash is another perfect recipe for outdoor picnics.
Perfect Addition to Any Meal – Here’s my Favorite Dinners for Summertime!
We love this healthy pasta salad recipe because of how nutrient-dense it is. Loaded with fresh vegetables, you can easily skip the side salad. Here are some of my favorite dinners that pair really well with this pasta recipe:
- Love Old Bay? Try these Salmon Burgers with a bun or wrapped in lettuce. Be sure to top it with our homemade garlic cream sauce.
- Burger Bowl Salad is a great way to load up on vegetables and healthy condiments.
- This Healthy Turkey Burger recipe has umami flavors and tons of vegetables. So, if you’re looking to geek out on healthy flavors, choose this.
- Homemade Lamb Burgers are a great balance to the Italian seasoning in this pasta salad.
Kitchen Favorites
Healthy Pasta Salad Recipe
Healthy Pasta Salad Recipe is both gluten free and very, very healthy. It’s loaded with vegetables, super easy to make & delicious to eat!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
- 16 oz organic gluten free pasta*, prepared
- 3–4 cups of chopped vegetables, any variety/combination. Consider these options:
- 1 cup red, yellow or orange bell peppers, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, grated
- 1 cup cucumbers, chopped
- 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup green olives, chopped
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 1/4 cup jalapenos, de-seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
- 3–4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup Italian dressing, prepared
Instructions
- Prepare your pasta according to the package. When done, use a strainer to drain the water from the pot and rinse the pasta with cold water. Set aside.
- In a classic mixing bowl, combine 3-4 cups of chopped vegetables in any variety and combination using the ideas above.
- In a large bowl, add the rinsed pasta, all of the vegetables and drizzle with up to 1 cup of prepared Italian dressing. Stir to combine.
- Cover the pasta salad and place it in the fridge to chill before serving.
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Notes
* For this recipe, I used organic brown rice and organic quinoa spiral noodles. You can easily swap this out for chickpea pasta, vegetable pasta or brown rice pasta.
I made this healthy pasta salad recipe on Good Morning America for a healthy 4th of July segment. Made with lots of vegetables, super easy to make & delicious to eat!
Nancy
Thursday 3rd of April 2014
I just made this salad @ my husband & I both enjoyed it. Looking forward to having some tomorrow...it's always better the next day. Is this salad posted on Pinterest? I couldn't find it.