As quickly as the nice and cozy climate of summer time rolls round, all I need to eat are crunchy greens and chilly pasta salad. This Summer season Vegetable Pasta Salad is my go-to with a medley of colourful greens, a tangy selfmade French dressing, and loads of methods to customise it based mostly on what I’ve readily available or what I’m craving that day. Plus, it holds up nice within the fridge, so it’s excellent for meal prep!
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“The dressing on this pasta salad is unbelievable. I made slight modifications to the veggies and used what I had within the backyard (contemporary peppers as a substitute of roasted) and I added some sautéed hen to make it a foremost dish. It was scrumptious and an important, cooling summertime meal!â€
Lee Anne
Simple Recipe for Summer season Vegetable Pasta Salad
This summer time vegetable pasta salad is totally excellent for potlucks as a result of it makes an enormous batch, and it goes with every thing. To not point out it holds up effectively to journey and remains to be tremendous scrumptious after it’s been sitting on that picnic desk for a bit. 😉 I made a extremely primary tangy French dressing utilizing olive oil, crimson wine vinegar, Dijon, minced garlic, and seasonings, and it severely ties every thing collectively.
BUT if you happen to don’t have a well-stocked pantry, any primary bottled Italian dressing, like we use in our basic pasta salad recipe, will do effectively. You would additionally select one thing like a Caesar dressing (not creamy-style) or a Greek French dressing. Go together with what you’re keen on or have at hand!
Summer season Vegetable Pasta Salad
French dressing
- ½ cup olive oil ($1.40)
- â…“ cup crimson wine vinegar ($0.49)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.06)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.14)
- 1 garlic clove (minced, $0.06)
- ¾ tsp salt ($0.03)
- ¼ tsp black pepper (freshly cracked, $0.04)
Salad
- 12 oz. bowtie pasta ($0.98)
- 2 Roma tomatoes (215g, $0.40)
- 1 yellow squash (275g, $0.90)
- 1 zucchini (200g, $0.65)
- 1 crown broccoli ($1.83)
- ½ cup contemporary parsley (chopped, $0.54)
- 1 12oz. jar roasted crimson peppers (drained, $2.13)
- ½ crimson onion (130g, $0.54)
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Collect your components.
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Make the French dressing first. Whisk collectively the olive oil, crimson wine vinegar, Dijon, oregano, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Set the dressing apart.
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Cook dinner the bowtie pasta based on the package deal instructions (boil 7-10 minutes or till tender), then drain in a colander. Rinse briefly to chill the pasta, then let it drain effectively.
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Whereas the pasta is cooking and draining, put together the greens. Chop the tomatoes, squash, zucchini, broccoli, and parsley. Slice the roasted crimson peppers (drained) and the crimson onion.
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Place the pasta and chopped greens within the largest bowl you might have. Give the French dressing a short whisk, then pour it over the salad. Stir the pasta and greens till every thing is coated in dressing. Give it a style and add salt or pepper, if wanted. Serve instantly, or refrigerate till able to eat.
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Medium Bowl
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Giant Bowl
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Medium Pot
Serving: 1.5cupsEnergy: 238kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 5gFats: 12gSodium: 200mgFiber: 2g
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The best way to Make Summer season Vegetable Pasta Salad Step-By-Step Photographs
Collect all your components.
Make the dressing: Add ½ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup crimson wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 clove of minced garlic, ¾ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper to a bowl.
Combine effectively to mix and set the dressing apart.
Cook dinner the pasta: Cook dinner 12 oz. bowtie pasta (or different brief formed pasta) based on the package deal instructions (boil till tender, drain in a colander). Give the pasta a fast rinse to chill it off, then let it drain effectively.
Prep your veggies: Whereas the pasta is cooking and draining, put together the remainder of the greens. Chop two Roma tomatoes, one yellow squash, one zucchini, and drain and slice one 12 oz. jar of roasted crimson peppers. Chop one crown of broccoli into small bite-sized florets and slice ½ of a crimson onion. Roughly chop ½ cup parsley.
Add all of the prepped veggies and the cooled cooked pasta to a big bowl.
Assemble the salad: Give the French dressing a fast whisk, then pour it over the pasta and greens.
Stir till every thing is very well coated in dressing. Give it a style and add salt or pepper if wanted. Serve instantly or refrigerate till able to eat. Be sure to provide it a stir after refrigerating and simply earlier than serving to redistribute the dressing.
What Else Can I Add?
I used contemporary broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, crimson onion, and parsley on this salad, then tossed in a number of roasted crimson peppers only for enjoyable. The beauty of a recipe like that is how versatile it’s. You possibly can combine and match based mostly on what’s in season, what you’ve acquired within the fridge, or what your loved ones likes finest.
And if you wish to flip it into extra of a foremost dish or simply enhance the flavour, you’ve acquired choices there too:
Serving Ideas
I like serving this as a facet for informal summer time dinners. It’s nice with candy corn fritters and grilled okra for an excellent summery plate. It additionally pairs completely with a slice of savory tomato pie or with smash burgers at your subsequent cookout. However truthfully, I can’t consider something this summer time vegetable pasta salad wouldn’t go along with.
Storage Info
Hold any leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3-4 days. The pasta will take up a number of the dressing because it sits, so I like to recommend making additional if you happen to plan to make it forward. Give every thing a superb stir earlier than serving. Don’t let this salad sit out for greater than two hours (or one hour if it’s over 90°F) to maintain every thing food-safe.
Our Summer season Vegetable Pasta Salad recipe was initially printed 6/14/11. It was retested, reworked, and republished to be higher than ever 7/17/25.