As soon as the warm weather of summer rolls around all I want to eat are crunchy vegetables and cold pasta salad. This Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad is my go-to with a medley of colorful vegetables, a tangy homemade vinaigrette, and plenty of ways to customize it based on what I have on hand, or what I’m craving that day. Plus it holds up great in the fridge, so it’s perfect for meal prep!
Perfect for Potlucks
This classic vegetable pasta salad is absolutely perfect for potlucks because it makes a huge batch and it goes with everything. Not to mention it holds up well to travel and is still super delicious after it’s been sitting on that picnic table for a bit. ;)
Vegetable Options
I used fresh broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and parsley, plus threw in some roasted red peppers for fun. But you can add so many different vegetables to this mix. Here are a few more options:
- Cauliflower
- Fresh bell pepper
- Black olives
- Asparagus (steamed or grilled)
- Chopped spinach
- Artichokes
Other Add-ins
In addition to swapping out some of the vegetables, you can experiment with adding other ingredients to this salad to either add more flavor or make it into a full meal. Here are a few ideas:
- Grilled chicken (Yogurt Marinated Chicken or Garlic Marinated Chicken)
- Garlic Butter Shrimp
- Parmesan cheese
- Toasted pita bread
- Feta cheese
- Salami
- Mozzarella cubes or pearls
Dressing Options
The recipe below includes a really basic tangy vinaigrette, but if you don’t have a well stocked pantry and want to buy a bottled dressing for this salad, any basic Italian dressing will do well. You could also choose something like a Caesar dressing (not creamy-style) or a Greek vinaigrette.
Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
Servings 8 1.5 cups eachIngredients
Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup olive oil ($1.28)
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar ($0.53)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
Salad
- 12 oz. bowtie pasta ($0.79)
- 2 Roma tomatoes ($0.63)
- 1 yellow squash ($0.75)
- 1 zucchini ($0.85)
- 1 broccoli crown ($1.07)
- 1/2 red onion ($0.19)
- 1 12oz. jar roasted red peppers ($1.99)
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley ($0.35)
Instructions
- Make the vinaigrette first. Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon, oregano, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Set the dressing aside.
- Cook the bowtie pasta according to the package directions (boil 7-10 minutes or until tender), then drain in a colander. Rinse briefly to cool the pasta, then let it drain well.
- While the pasta is cooking and draining, prepare the vegetables. Chop the tomatoes, squash, zucchini, broccoli, and parsley. Slice the roasted red peppers (drained) and the red onion.
- Place the pasta and chopped vegetables in the largest bowl you have. Give the vinaigrette a brief whisk, then pour it over the salad. Stir the pasta and vegetables until everything is coated in dressing. Give it a taste and add salt or pepper, if needed. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
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How to Make Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad – Step By Step Photos
Make the dressing first. Whisk together ½ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup red 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. Set the dressing aside.
Cook 12oz. bowtie pasta (or other short shaped pasta) according to the package directions (boil until tender, drain in a colander). Give the pasta a quick rise to cool it off, then let it drain well.
While the pasta is cooking and draining, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Chop two Roma tomatoes, one yellow squash, one zucchini, and drain and slice one jar of roasted red peppers.
Chop one crown of broccoli into small bite-sized florets and slice ½ of a red onion. Roughly chop ½ cup parsley (not pictured).
When the pasta is cool and drained and all the vegetables chopped, it’s time to assemble the salad. Place everything in the largest bowl or container you have, give the vinaigrette a quick whisk, then pour it over the pasta and vegetables.
Stir until everything is really well coated in dressing. Give it a taste and add salt or pepper if needed. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat. Make sure to give it a stir after refrigerating and just before serving to redistribute the dressing.
Wow Beth!
It’s like you’re standing in my kitchen and seeing my leftovers and you came up with this recipe. 😂. Literally a day after you sent the email with this recipe, I had a large family dinner at my house and we had rotisserie chicken, salad and a baked potato bar with tons of fresh veggies to top the potatoes with. I had a lot of leftovers. I was able to pretty much use up the leftovers with your recipe. I had a box of bow tie pasta and all the ingredients for the dressing on hand. To that I added:
Olives, chopped bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, green onions, shredded carrots, peas, roasted corn, parsley and oven roasted broccoli (your recipe). Topped with diced chicken, feta, a little Parmesan and red chili flakes. My hubby was beyond happy with this dish.
Thank you so much Beth!
Hello! Your dressing recipies are ALL amazing. It’s getting so I can’t buy bottled anymore! I had a question about dressings? If I mix the dressing ingredients together and store in a tight jar in refrigerator (With OUT any fresh herbs), how long can I expect them to keep safely? I would sometimes like to make bigger batches ahead of parties, etc to help with prep time but am always reluctant to do so. Advice?
There is no definitive line for how long they stay fresh, unfortunately, since it can depend on so many factors. Even dry herbs can have spores for yeast, mold, and bacteria that can spring to life when hydrated, so I usually suggest not keeping them for more than five days or so just to be safe.
LOVE this recipe. I used a bit less olive oil but other than that I wouldn’t modify a thing. I used red lentil pasta for extra protein to make it a meal.
Oo, I feel like your taste buds match mine, because I think this taste outta sight! The vinaigrette reminds me of an Israeli Salad my local Greek restaurant serves. I modded this to match some ingredients ’round the house (and some I didn’t pick up at the store, whoops) and, yeah, YUM. I added a couple pinches of sugar and a dollop or mayo just to gut some of the acidity.
Today I’m making your Chimichurri Chickpea Salad, I hope it goes as well as this salad! Thank you for posting this recipe. :)
Delicious! Wouldn’t change a thing!
Such a good recipe! We really enjoy this and make it for family get togethers quite often. I have also substituted the pasta with a full head of cauliflower and used an entire bunch of broccoli, to make this gluten free for a relative.
I want to prep ahead of time. Can I make it the night before? Should I wait and add the dressing the day of?
I would add the dressing about 30 minutes before hand. Give it a little time to kind of soak in and flavor everything, and stir once more just before serving. :)
Just received this recipe from my healthcare provider clinic and they said the total cost for the recipe is $7.59…!!! Not likely if one has to buy all of the ingredients. I’m also wondering if they even used today’s dollars due to when this recipe was posted online.
Good recipe, nevertheless, but it is not under $8 to prepare if you need to buy all of the ingredients.
It’s been a while since this comment was posted, but I doubt food costs have gone down in the past 3 years. I found all of the fresh ingredients at similar or lower prices at my supermarket this morning–the dressing ingredients were in my pantry, so my costs for those were similar. I’ve made this versatile recipe a number of times and used some substitutions and/or additions along the way.
If olive oil is out of the budget, ordinary cooking oil will work and is very inexpensive–I usually find it for under $2 for 48 oz, or 6 cups–$0.17 for half a cup. I also like to make this with apple cider vinegar sometimes, and a bottle of that is cheaper than red wine vinegar. I do that sub because I like the tart apple flavor with the peppery parsley. A whole head of garlic is usually about $0.50, so you can add those 3 things to your pantry for only about $3-3.50 and still make the target price for this delicious salad.
I often skip the parsley and use a generous dollop of pesto in the dressing. I also like to dress the salad slightly warm so the pasta absorbs the dressing. I agree with others that Feta is a nice addition, and some pistachio nuts or pepitas if you feel like a splurge. While this “lily” is perfect as written, some “gilding” can be delicious.
Spot on. I did add feta to give it a little more, but it does necessarily need it.
This is so good that I can’t stop eating it! It is exactly what I crave during these warm summer months. I’m not usually a parsley fan, but it added such a nice, fresh flavor. I substituted artichoke hearts for the peppers because that’s what I had. I plan to eat this all summer long. Yum!
did you use marinated artichoke hearts? Thank you
Salad was very tart. It was good with all of the veggies in it but it was just too much vinegar for my taste.
You could add a little bit of sugar to cut the tartness.
Delicious! I’m not usually a pasta salad fan, but this was a hit in my house. I did make a few changes. I used high protein pasta and fresh veggies from my garden: squash peppers, cucumber, tomato, green onion, dill, and basil. I also added some kalamata olives, frozen corn, sunflower kernals, and a firm cubed cheese. To the dressing, I added some white pepper and red pepper flakes. I served it with vegetarian BLTs, and it was gobbled up!
Is it ok to blanch the vegetables (then cool)? I don’t really like them completely uncooked.
Yes, absolutely. :)
This pasta salad is excellent! I used stone ground dijon mustard instead of plain. Will definitely be making this again!
I just made it and it is wonderful. My husband just had two stents put in his heart and this is really healthy for us. Great for a side dish for dinner or for a main lunch dish.