Vegan Greek Pasta Salad

 A cold vegan pasta salad made with healthy summer vegetables, chickpeas, and bow tie pasta. Greek pasta salad is perfect for summer BBQs and picnics, or as a meal prep lunch.

Summer is in full swing and the weather is warming up. Our oldest girl is in junior lifeguards camp half-day during the week which means she needs a packed cold lunch, and we are pretty busy driving around. To help make our lives a bit easier this week, I prepped a big pasta salad for all of us to take for lunch. 

This summer bow tie pasta salad is loaded with Mediterranean flavors like a couple of my other very favorite salads: Mediterranean Lentil Salad and Greek Chickpea Salad. This cold salad, however, has the addition of pasta, which I thought would make it a bit more kid-friendly. Though my kids are getting bigger and love ingredients like raw onion and olives, I do have a toddler pasta salad here. 

How to Make Pasta Salad 

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente while preparing the other ingredients. 

Greek Pasta Salad Ingredients

While this is not a traditional Greek recipe, I wanted to use some ingredients that are often found in a typical Greek salad: onion, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, oregano, and olives. Traditionally this pasta salad would include salty, creamy cubed or crumbled Feta cheese. Since some in my family, and many of my readers don’t eat/don’t like dairy, I swapped the feta for chickpeas. Other dairy-free feta options are Violife feta or crumbled Treeline soft cheese (my personal favorite), which are both available at Whole Foods. 

Pulses like chickpeas are, in fact frequently used in Greek cooking. I have a whole post all about cooking and using chickpeas here! You can find more common Greek ingredients on Diane Kochilas’s blog. I always love to add loads of fresh herbs to salads like this one. I used curly parsley because that’s what I had on hand, but would prefer flat leaf. Fresh oregano and mint would be fantastic additions as well. 

Pasta Salad Dressing

The simple dressing for this Greek inspired vegan pasta salad a typical Greek dressing. If you are on an oil-free diet, feel free to omit or reduce it, though olive oil is an important staple in Greek cooking. Fresh lemon juice and red wine vinegar add some needed freshness and acidity. Oregano adds some great Mediterranean flavor. All the ingredients get whisked or shaken together in a jar. Use as much or as little dressing on this pasta salad as you’d like. And don’t forget to season generously with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. 

Vegan Pasta Salad Tips 

• Short on time? Use a store bought Greek vinaigrette like this one with clean ingredients from Primal Kitchen (Amazon Affiliate link here). 
• You can make this pasta salad up to a day in advance. In fact, I think it’s even tastier the next day. 
• Layer in large mason jars for a great take-to-work lunch. 
• Other tasty ingredients to add would be marinated artichoke hearts, capers, or Greek peperoncini. 
• This salad is tasty at room temperature or cold. 
• Add a splash of Vegan Pesto or Green Goddess Dressing for even more flavor. 
• Serve with homemade Hummus and pita bread or falafel. 

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Yield: Serves 8

Vegan Greek Pasta Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 11 minutes

Total Time 21 minutes

A cold vegan pasta salad made with healthy summer vegetables, chickpeas, and bow tie pasta. Greek pasta salad is perfect for summer BBQs and picnics, or as a meal prep lunch.

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Ingredients

For the Pasta Salad

• 1/2 lb. bowtie pasta
• 1 small red onion, chopped or thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups cooked, drained chickpeas
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
• 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
• 2 Persian cucumbers, diced
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

For the Dressing

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente, according to package instructions.
2. Drain pasta and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking.
3. Meanwhile, Add all the remaining pasta salad ingredients to a large salad bowl. Add the cooked pasta.
4. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl or jar.
5. Add desired amount of Greek vinaigrette to the pasta salad and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Notes

• Short on time? Use a store bought Greek vinaigrette like this one with clean ingredients from Primal Kitchen (Amazon Affiliate link here). 
• You can make this pasta salad up to a day in advance. In fact, I think it's even tastier the next day. 
• Layer in large mason jars for a great take-to-work lunch. 
• Other tasty ingredients to add would be marinated artichoke hearts, capers, Greek peperoncini, or Feta. 
• This salad is tasty at room temperature or cold. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 240Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 147mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 5gSugar: 6gProtein: 5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your favorite calculator.