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Easy Pasta Salad
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loveandlemons.com

Easy Pasta Salad

You'll love this easy pasta salad recipe! It's a great one to make ahead - if you're bringing it to a picnic, prep it up to a day in advance.

Prep

20 min

Cook

10 min

Total

30 min

Serves

6

Instructions

  1. 01

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, or until slightly past al dente.

  2. 02

    Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, herbes de Provence, red pepper flakes, and salt. (Note: the dressing will have a strong flavor, it’ll mellow once it coats all of the pasta salad ingredients).

  3. 03

    Drain the pasta, toss it with a little olive oil (so that it doesn’t stick together) and let it cool to room temp. Transfer to a large bowl with the tomatoes, chickpeas, arugula, cucumbers, feta cheese, basil, parsley, mint, and pine nuts. Pour the dressing and toss to coat. Season to taste with more lemon, salt, pepper, and/or a drizzle of olive oil, if desired, and serve.

Variations & swaps

Recipe Variations

  • This pasta salad is fantastic as-is, but feel free to change it up to match your tastes or the ingredients in your pantry. Here are a few suggestions:
  • Make it vegan. Use olives or sun dried tomatoes in place of the feta.
  • Make it gluten-free. Use gluten-free pasta or quinoa in place of traditional noodles.
  • Go Greek. To make this recipe more of a Greek pasta salad, add 1/2 cup each of kalamata or black olives, diced bell pepper, and thinly sliced red onion.
  • Try a Caprese combo. Use halved mini mozzarella balls in place of the feta.
  • Try another herb. Fresh oregano would be lovely in place of the mint in this salad, and thyme would also be a great addition.
  • Swap out the arugula for spinach, or leave it out altogether if you prefer a higher pasta: veggie ratio.
  • Or roast your chickpeas for extra crunch.
  • This pasta salad recipe is a great side dish to make ahead for picnics, potlucks, and cookouts. I recommend making it up to a day ahead of a gathering. Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  • If you make this salad ahead, wait to add half the herbs and pine nuts until right before serving. The herbs will retain their vibrant color and the pine nuts will keep their crunch. Toss them into the salad and season to taste with more salt and lemon juice before digging in.
View original on loveandlemons.com

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