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15-Minute Pasta Salad with Almond Pesto

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 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 box (375g) pasta of choice, such as fusilli, rotini or macaroni
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
  • 2 cups arugula
  • 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • Nutritional yeast, for topping (or use vegan parmesan)

Almond Butter Pesto

  • 2 cups basil leaves
  • 2 medium garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, about 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons almond butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (or oil from the sundried tomatoes)
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional 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.