Vegetable Herb Pasta Salad

Last Updated on October 16, 2019

This gluten-free Vegetable Herb Pasta Salad is made with fresh vegetables and a lemon herb vinaigrette. Perfect for any time of the year and makes a healthy and hearty salad!

This super duper easy pasta salad is loaded with fresh vegetables and covered with a homemade herb vinaigrette dressing. I used chickpea noodles that are naturally gluten-free and it tasted just as amazing as regular pasta does!

All you simply do to make this Veggie-Loaded Pasta Salad is cook the pasta, add the chopped vegetables to the cooked pasta, make the Herb Vinaigrette, add to pasta and vegetables, and mix until combined. That is all!

You can totally make this salad the day before and let it marinate in your fridge until you are ready to enjoy it. I actually prefer my pasta salad to made the day before because it give it SO MUCH more flavor!

This Herb Vinaigrette for this gluten-free Vegetable Pasta Salad is zesty from fresh lime juice and zest and has plenty of fresh and dried herbs. It only takes a few minutes to whip up so save your pre-made bottled salad dressing for another time.

Here’s what you need to make the easiest herb vinaigrette and I bet you probably already have most of these ingredients at home!

Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Fresh lemon juice + zest
Fresh dill
Fresh chives
Dried basil
Dried parsley
Dried Oregano
Fresh garlic
Salt
Pepper

There is so much to love about this pasta salad- just look how fresh and vibrant it is! There is so much flavor loaded in this (healthy) dish everyone will love it! It is perfect for ANY occasion you can imagine. Not only is this hearty vegetarian dish healthy..you can add just about any veggies that you want and it will still be outrageous.

Some other veggies & other goodies to add:

Avocado chunks
Feta Cheese crumbles
Cubed Mozzarella cheese
Olives
Lettuce
Sliced zucchini

If you are wanting to add protein, these would be great additions:

Red kidney beans
White cannellini beans
Shredded chicken
Cooked shrimp
Hard boiled egg pieces

We normally aren’t gluten-free eaters but I made this for one of my best and sweetest friends, Helene who happens to be my favorite photographer at Grace by Two Photography as well 😉

We met up with her and her husband and 3 adorable kids and had a picnic a few weeks ago at our favorite park. All of us had sandwiches (gluten) and all so I wanted to be sure she was able to enjoy some good food as well so this gluten-free pasta salad was invented.

Just about any time we go to a BBQ, 99% of the time I bring a pasta salad. They make a perfect side dish or appetizer. They are all simple and take hardly no time to make. My most popular pasta salad is this Classic Italian Pasta Salad is made with my favorite Italian pre-made dressing so it even takes a little less time to prepare. Also it has a ton if Italian meats such as salami, enough said!

Another quick and tasty pasta salad is this Spinach Artichoke Tortellini Salad– you can pre-make or buy the spinach dip ahead of time and it will still taste SO good.

This Mediterranean Pasta Salad is also a favorite and has a Mediterranean twist to it. It’s light and refreshing and made with pinwheel pasta for extra fun!

Vegetable Herb Pasta Salad

This gluten-free Vegetable Herb Pasta Salad is made with fresh vegetables and a lemon herb vinaigrette. Perfect for any time of the year and makes a healthy and hearty salad!

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy recipes, glutenfree, healthy, pasta, pastasalad, salad, vegetables, vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Author: Kathryn Donangelo

Ingredients

Pasta Salad

• 1 box 12 ounces gluten-free pasta I used fusili
• 1 large English cucumber leave the skin on
• 2 large bell peppers (any color) seeds removed and sliced
• 10 ounces about 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• 1/2 large red onion thinly sliced

Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice about 2 lemons
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. fresh garlic minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 2 tsp. fresh chives finely chopped
• 2 tsp. fresh dill finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Instructions

• Boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water. Cook according to the box instructions or al dente.
• While the pasta is boiling, prepare your salad dressing. Whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside.
• Drain the pasta in a strainer and rinse under cold water until you don't feel any heat. I like to coat my cooked pasta with a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from sticking together. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• Add all vegetables to the pasta salad and pour the salad dressing over the salad. Toss all of the ingredients together until everything is coated evening. Season with extra salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately or you can make this the day before.

Notes

*If you prefer to use regular pasta instead of gluten-free pasta you can use any type of pasta. 

**You can use any kind of pasta for this recipe. I specifically used fusili (the corkscrew shape) because I love how the vinaigrette coats the pasta and gets into the spirals.  Other great pasta options would be penne, rigatoni, or the farfelle (bow-tie shape).

***I personally like my pasta salad cold so 99% of the time I prepare this salad the day or night before. The flavors of all of the ingredients amplifies from marinating in the refrigerator.