A quick and easy 15-minute pasta salad with almond pesto. This simple vegan pasta salad is perfect for busy weeknights. It's also a great lunchbox or picnic recipe. It's ready in the time that it takes for the pasta to cook.
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine vegan
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 15 minutesminutes
Servings 4
Ingredients
1box (375g)pasta of choice,such as fusilli, rotini or macaroni
1cupcherry tomatoes,halved
1/2cupsundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
2cupsarugula
1cupcanned chickpeas,drained and rinsed
Nutritional yeast,for topping (or use vegan parmesan)
Almond Butter Pesto
2cupsbasil leaves
2mediumgarlic cloves
2tablespoonslemon juice,about 1 lemon
2tablespoonsalmond butter
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/4cupolive oil(or oil from the sundried tomatoes)
1tablespoonnutritional yeast
Instructions
Start by cooking the pasta according to the package's instructions. Avoid overcooking.
While the pasta is cooking, chop the cherry tomatoes and sundried tomatoes.
Prepare the pesto: Add the garlic in a food processor (ideally a small one, but any will work). Process a few seconds to chop. Next, add the rest of the pesto ingredients. Process until it gets to your desired consistency.
Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Return to the saucepan or to a large bowl. Toss with the pesto, cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, chickpeas and arugula.
Serve cold with additional nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
The almond butter pesto is inspired by a recipe in Alexandra Daum's beautiful cookbook, Occasionally Eggs. It's such a delicious and quick way of making pesto.For a gluten-free option, use gluten-free pasta.To add more protein, you can use a chickpea or lentil pasta. You can also serve the pasta salad with crispy tofu.To skip a step, you can use store-bought pesto to taste.I love serving this pasta salad with my vegan parmesan if I have some on hand. For a quicker option, you can simply use nutritional yeast.