20 Minute Green Goddess Pasta Salad
This green goddess pasta salad blends together summer greens, herbs and creamy avocado and tosses it together with your favorite pasta. An easy and flavorful weeknight dinner ready in 20 minutes.
I’ve been loving the Green Goddess Chickpea Salad Sandwich I shared a while ago. Naturally, the sauce is delicious and I wanted to try it on something else. So let’s remake this delicious dressing using fresh in season herbs and toss it together with pasta for a quick weeknight meal.
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Pasta Salad
- It’s creamy, but completely dairy-free and nut-free!
- Easy to put together in just one-pot for less clean up
- Comes together in just 20 minutes
- Minimal cooking and chopping needed
- Easy to customize to your preference
- Great for summer entertaining!
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pasta: I used a regular fusilli pasta, but you can also use a different pasta shape based on preference or opt for gluten-free or higher protein options as well.
- Avocado: Choose a slightly ripe avocado as opposed to one that is overripe.
- Spinach: I used fresh spinach, but this should also work with thawed frozen spinach.
- Herbs: I used a combination of fresh basil and dill. You can mix and match different herbs based on your preference.
- White Wine Vinegar: This type of vinegar is a little milder in flavor. You can replace with apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar depending on what you have on hand.
- Garlic: Use 3-4 cloves or more based on your flavor preference.
- Green Onions: If you don’t have green onions on hand, you can use a shallot instead.
- Nutritional Yeast: Gives the sauce more umami flavor. You can leave this out and replace with vegan parmesan or miso paste for more flavor.
How to Make Green Goddess Pasta Salad
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package then drain the pasta.. Place the pasta back in the pot with a drizzle of olive oil and a few ice cubes to help cool it off.
To prep the green goddess dressing, just blend the remaining ingredients together in a food processor or small blender until completely smooth.
Add the chickpeas, crunchy veggies and dressing to the pot with pasta. Toss it all together to combine and top with some sliced green onions to garnish.
Expert Tips
- Salt your pasta water. This impacts the flavor of your pasta, which impacts the flavor of the whole dish. Make sure to generously salt your water.
- Do not use overripe avocado. Use an avocado that just has a slight give to it. This will keep your pasta greener for longer.
- Change up the herbs. You can always experiment with different combinations of herbs based on your preference. Using fresh and in season herbs will lead to the best tasting sauce.
- For more protein, use a protein-rich pasta. Pasta naturally has 8 grams of protein per serving, but you can increase the protein significantly by using a bean based pasta like lentil pasta instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a couple of tips to prevent avocado oxidation. First, make sure you are using an avocado that is ripe, but not overly ripe (super soft). Aim for an avocado that gives just slightly when pinched. When this avocado is blended with the onions and lemon juice, this will help to add another layer of protection and retain it’s bright green color. Last thing you can do is press a piece of plastic wrap overtop the pasta when storing in an airtight container. This will help reduce further oxygen exposure, which will keep your pasta green.
If stored properly in an airtight container, your pasta should last for up to 3 days and stay bright green. You can enjoy it up to 4-5 days, but the avocado may start to brown at this point.
Opt for a gluten-free pasta that you love! You can choose rice, corn or bean based pastas as an alternative. Just make sure to cook the pasta according to package. The sauce is gluten-free as is.
How to Serve
This green goddess pasta salad is balanced enough to enjoy as is and fill up on. However, you may wish to enjoy the salad with other protein options like:
More Quick Vegan Dinner Recipes
- Baked Hummus Pasta
- Summer Farro Salad with Crispy Roasted Lentils
- Lemon Garlic Marinated Chickpea Wraps
- Orange Tofu
- Easy Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles
- Sesame Miso Lentils
20 Minute Green Goddess Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: One Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This green goddess pasta salad blends together summer greens, herbs and creamy avocado and tosses it together with your favorite pasta. An easy and flavorful weeknight dinner ready in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
Salad Base
- 1 lb pasta (I used fusilli pasta, but use what you like including gluten-free options)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, optional
- 1, 15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups cabbage, diced or shredded
- 3 Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
Goddess Dressing
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1 cup spinach
- 2 tbsp fresh dill or 1 tsp dry dill
- 3 green onions, white part roughly chopped and green portion thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 large avocado
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp water
- Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add in pasta and cook it according to the package until it’s al dente. Drain the pasta and add back to the pot with a handful of ice cubes and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and mix to combine and cool the pasta.
- Make the dressing by combining the basil, spinach, dill, the white portion of the green onion, nutritional yeast, garlic, avocado, vinegar, lemon juice and 1/4 tsp salt. Blend until smooth and then set aside.
- To the cooled pasta add the chickpeas, cabbage, cucumber and the sliced green parts of the green onion. Pour in the dressing and toss to combine. Taste and add more salt if desired then serve.
Notes
Salt your pasta water. This impacts the flavor of your pasta, which impacts the flavor of the whole dish. Make sure to generously salt your water.
Do not use overripe avocado. Use an avocado that just has a slight give to it. This will keep your pasta greener for longer.
Change up the herbs. You can always experiment with different combinations of herbs based on your preference. Using fresh and in season herbs will lead to the best tasting sauce.
For more protein, use a protein-rich pasta. Pasta naturally has 8 grams of protein per serving, but you can increase the protein significantly by using a bean based pasta like lentil pasta instead.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
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