A Pasta Salad made with fresh Mediterranean salad ingredients and drizzled with an incredible Lemon Herb dressing!
Loaded with so much flavour and perfect for any occasion, everyone goes crazy over this pasta salad! My Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean CHICKEN Salad has been a HIT with readers around the world, but many have been asking how to turn it into a vegetarian pasta salad version.
Here it is!
Easy Summer Pasta Salad
Adding pasta to this salad is not only a delicious vegetarian version, it’s a HUGE HIT with everyone I’ve asked to try it. Loaded with everything mediterranean:
- Cucumbers
- Olives
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Feta cheese
- Bell peppers (capsicum)
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Red onion
- Creamy avocado pieces!
You can’t go wrong!
Meal in a salad? YES! Meat free? YES YES!
I kinda feel like saying, ‘Look ma! No meat!’
The Perfect Pasta Salad Recipe
Being a cold pasta salad makes it perfect for summer. It can be made up to a day in advance, leaving the avocado and tomato until ready to serve to keep them as fresh as possible. You can leave out some of the ingredients if you wish, or make it completely your own and add whatever you like!
This salad is extremely versatile and a forgiving recipe.
Pasta Salad Dressing
Using the same dressing as the Mediterranean Chicken Salad to keep all of your favourite flavours packed into this salad, you guys are guaranteed to love this version just as much! Perfect for parties, gatherings, pot lucks, or just for a family dinner.
What to Serve with this Pasta Salad
This pasta salad goes well with just about anything! You can of course serve it as a side salad to accompany any of the following meals:
- Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken
- Lamb chops
- Seared salmon or any other fish
- Oven fried chicken
- Greek Lamb Souvlaki
- Turkey burgers
- Beef burgers
- Seared lemon chicken thighs
The options are endless with this salad. You can add in marinated artichokes, fire roasted peppers, goats cheese instead of feta, arugula or spinach instead of or with the lettuce, etc!
Need more side salad inspiration? Try these!
Avocado Greek Salad & Greek Salad Dressing
Potato Salad with Bacon & Dill Pickles
Lemon Herb Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces | 350 grams dry pasta (Penne)
FOR LEMON HERB DRESSING:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons garlic , minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano , minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Cracked pepper , to taste
FOR SALAD:
- 4 cups Romaine (or cos) lettuce leaves, washed and dried
- 1 large cucumber , diced
- 1 avocado , peeled, pitted and chopped
- 1/2 of a large red pepper (or capsicum), deseeded and cut into thin strips
- 9 ounces (250 grams) grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 a red onion , thinly sliced
- ½ cup pitted kalamata olives , sliced
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil , drained
- 5-6 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Drain in a colander or strainer, then rinse under cold water to take the heat out. Transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl.
- While pasta is boiling, prepare your dressing. Whisk together all of the marinade/dressing ingredients in a large jug.
- Add all of the salad ingredients into the salad bowl along with the pasta, and drizzle with the dressing. Toss all of the ingredients together until everything is coated evenly in dressing. Season with extra salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve immediately.
Donna says
I absolutely love this recipe and have made it several times. However, please be aware that the calorie count is not correct – not even close. I just imported the ingredients into MyFitnessPal and came up with 583 calories for 10 servings. Still it is healthy and delicious – I just want serious calorie counters to beware.
Monica says
Agreed! The carb count for a pasta salad being 3g is a dead give-away that there might have been a glitch in the nutrition calculation! I suspect it was calculated without the pasta (dressing and salad ingredients only).
What a refreshing salad, esp on an 85F day!
Cindy says
How much is a serving? Thank you
Eva says
I just made this for dinner and all I can say is awesome, absolutely awesome! It’s definitely a keeper in my recipe file. Thanks.
Jan says
Made this yesterday! Served it cold. Then, today it was chilly & rainy, so I filled a soup bowl, added more cheese & heated it in the microwave & it was equally as divine hot, as cold.
Jill says
Made this and it was absolutely delicious!! So great to prepare just one meal that both vegetarian hubby and myself could enjoy together. Thank you!
Katherine says
I’m loving all these lovely pasta salads that everyone is making for summer! This looks so good. The dressing sounds perfect.
Jill says
This looks delicious and I’m constantly on the look out for veggie options for hubby. Thanks, this is going on the menu for this week!
Margaret Ann @ MAK and Her Cheese says
PERFECT! Love all these fresh flavors! 🙂
– MAK
Liz says
Would this be good if I were to make it the night before to bring to work the next day as my lunch? I’m just wondering about the avocado…if it would go bad by the time I go to eat it.
Karina says
Hi Liz. You can prepare it the day before without the avocado 🙂