This Cold Italian Pasta Salad Vegetarian is a simple, classic pasta salad recipe that's easy to make and healthy! Simple Italian pasta salad vegetarian is made with bowtie pasta, bell peppers, onion, Japanese cucumber, lemon cucumber, black olives, extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinaigrette, sour cream, mayo, spices, and fresh Parmesan.
Creamy Vegetarian Pasta Salad is perfect for the spring and summer months and makes an enticing Easter appetizer. Looking for the perfect Easter menu? Check out my Easy Chicken and Potatoes in Dutch Oven with Vegetables and my Buttery Buns | Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls for the best dinner rolls. Need a yummy drink? Try my Easter Hot Chocolate | Peeps Marshmallow Recipe that's perfect for the kiddos. Basil Lemon Pesto | Easy 5-Minute Pasta Sauce Recipe is a light and refreshing spring pasta dish.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Italian Pasta Salad Ingredients
- Quick and Easy Homemade Pasta Salad
- How to make this Veggie Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing
- Variations for Italian Veggie Pasta Salad Recipe
- Tips!
- Storage
- Related Recipes
- More Pasta Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- Follow Us
- Pin or send this recipe to a friend!
- 💬 Comments
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's made with healthy, real food ingredients.
- This cold pasta salad is easy to prep and takes less than 15-minutes to make
- Looking for a light side dish or need a last-minute party recipe idea? This is it!
- Italian pasta salad is totally customizable. Add whatever ingredients you prefer. This recipe goes great alongside my Basil Lemon Pesto recipe
Italian Pasta Salad Ingredients
Quick and Easy Homemade Pasta Salad
- Pasta: Use any pasta you like, but make sure it's good for pasta salad, like penne, mac shells, or fusilli, but I find bowtie pasta works best and helps all of the ingredients blend together.
- Red Wine Vinaigrette and Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Use a high-quality olive oil, nothing cheap. The red wine vinaigrette adds a zest to this recipe and gives it more flavor.
- Bell Peppers: Yellow and green bell pepper give this Italian pasta salad texture and crunch!
- Diced Red Onion: You can't have a pasta salad without onion. It's a rule, look it up. 🙂 Red onion gives this recipe some spice. White onion is too sweet and so is yellow onion.
- Lemon Cucumber: Lemon cucumber is such a versatile, underrated vegetable. It's got great flavor, is crunchy, and it adds a touch of sweetness to this Italian salad.
- Cucumber: You can use any green cucumber you have on hand. Japanese cucumbers or Persian cucumbers are great options.
- Black Olives: Any olive will work; some of my favorites for this recipe are Kalamata olives and Spanish olives. Aren't Spanish olives the best? I eat them straight out of the jar.
- Spices: Paprika, garlic salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper are the best spices to use. You can add as many spices as you like. It's all about flavor when it comes to Italian pasta salad.
- Parmesan Cheese: Does parmesan cheese ever need an explanation? No, add it, LOT'S of it!
- You'll need a large mixing bowl and a stockpot for this recipe.
See full recipe card below for exact quantities
How to make this Veggie Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing
- Step 1: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 12 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Don't overcook the pasta.
- Step 2: In a saucepan over medium heat, saute the red onion and bell peppers in olive oil until translucent. Set aside. Next, combine the mayo and sour cream and add in the spices, paprika, black pepper, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper and stir.
- Step 3: Toss the bowtie pasta with the red wine vinaigrette and extra virgin oil in a large bowl.
- Step 4: Add in the lemon cucumber, cucumber, sauted chopped red onion, and bell peppers and mix well until combined.
- Step 5: Toss in the black olives and chopped green onions and mix.
- Step 6: Pour in the sour cream mayo dressing and the black olives and toss the pasta salad until everything is mixed in. Garnish with fresh basil for the perfect side dish.
Variations for Italian Veggie Pasta Salad Recipe
- Cold cuts take this recipe up a notch! If you like meat, feel free to add salami, pepperoni, or diced ham.
- You can also add more fresh veggies like chopped tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and fresh lemon juice.
- Mozzarella balls make this Italian salad even better! do it, you won't regret it.
- Add fresh parsley and other fresh herbs like thyme and tarragon. You can also add Italian seasoning or cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, or artichoke hearts.
- Make it spicy! Add Pepperoncini, banana peppers, or hot peppers like Jalepeno or sliced hot cherry peppers.
Tips!
- Stash in the fridge before serving. The longer the flavors gel together, the better this cold Italian pasta salad will taste.
- Fresh parmesan only. Canned parmesan should be outlawed, seriously!
- Serve this zesty side dish with my Easiest Crispiest Fried Chicken recipe for the ultimate BBQ.
- Use bottled Italian salad dressing if that's what you have on hand. My motto is always: Use what you have
- This makes a great meal prep meal
- Fresh vegetables and fresh ingredients are always a win
Storage
Store Italian Pasta Salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Do not freeze.
Add lots of spices and fresh herbs for the best ever pasta salad!
Actually, no. Italians typically prefer their pastas hot and pasta salad is more of an American dish that originated in the 50's at outdoor BBQ's.
Related Recipes
Need more appetizers in your life? Try these.
More Pasta Recipes
Who needs an excuse to eat more pasta? You don't have to ask me twice!
📖 Recipe
Cold Italian Pasta Salad Vegetarian | Classic Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Stockpot
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounces uncooked bowtie pasta
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup Red wine vinaigrette
- ½ cup Extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup lemon cucumber
- ½ cup cucumber
- ¼ cup chopped red onion
- ½ cup diced yellow and green bell pepper
- ⅓ cup sliced black olives
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- Fresh basil for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 12 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Don't overcook the pasta.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, saute the red onion and bell peppers in olive oil until translucent. Set aside.
- Combine the mayo and sour cream and add in the spices, paprika, black pepper, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper and stir.
- Toss the bowtie pasta with the red wine vinaigrette and extra virgin oil in a large bowl.
- Add in the lemon cucumber, cucumber, sauted chopped red onion and bell peppers and mix well until combined.
- Toss in the black olives an chopped green onions and mix.
- Mix in the sour cream mayo dressing and the black olives and toss the pasta salad until everything is mixed in. Garnish with fresh basil.
Nutrition
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About Genevieve
Thank you for stopping by Fitty Foodlicious, a website dedicated to sharing lasting, family recipes, anxiety tips and tricks, and healthy spirited mental wellness. Genevieve's recipes have been featured on MSN.com, NewsBreak, Food Talk Daily, Food Gawker, Trivet Recipes, Bartender.com, Health Magazine, Kitchen Aid AU NZ, and has a published Cookbook titled The 5-Ingredient Paleo Cookbook which can be purchased at all major bookstores and on Amazon.
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Andrea
This salad was super quick to throw together, and the combo of lemon cucumber and vinaigrette gave it such a refreshing twist.
Lindsay
YUM! Made this for lunch meal prep last week and it was so yummy!
Andrea
This pasta salad came together so quickly and and it tasted even better after chilling for a few hours!
Criss
Tried this cold Italian pasta salad and it was such a hit! Super fresh, easy to prep ahead, and great for lunch or picnics.
Lathiya
This cold Italian pasta is the need of the hour. Perfect for hot sunny days. Thank you for suggesting the variations to try.