Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad

I’ve been craving pasta salad lately so onto the menu it went. In effort to up my vegetable intake, I packed this Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad as full of as many veggies that I possibly could. I’m happy to say, it worked. This pasta salad was so good that I’ve been eating it about twice a day!

Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredient list, this salad comes together really quickly. Use whatever vegetables you can get your hands on but I find that it helps to try to hit most of the colors of the rainbow (the prettier the salad, the more appetizing). I also had about 2/3 of a jar of roasted red peppers in my fridge left over from my hummus pizza, so I sliced ’em up and threw them in there as well, but that is entirely optional.

Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad

4.16 from 57 votes

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Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad

This light and fresh Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad is a great way to use up those plentiful summer vegetables! 

Total Cost $7.59 recipe / $0.95 serving

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 12 oz bow tie pasta $1.39
• 2 medium roma tomatoes $0.61
• 1 medium summer squash $0.39
• 1 medium zucchini $0.39
• 1 medium broccoli crown $1.27
• 1/2 medium red onion $0.57
• 15 oz jar roasted red peppers (2/3 jar) $1.34
• 1/2 bunch parsley $0.49

VINAIGRETTE

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil $0.16
• 1/4 cup olive oil $0.44
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar $0.21
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard $0.06
• 1 tsp dried oregano $0.05
• 1 tsp garlic, minced $0.12
• 3/4 tsp salt $0.05
• fresh cracked black pepper to taste $0.05

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and boil for 5-7 minutes or until tender. Drain in a colander.
2. While you’re waiting for the pasta water to boil and the pasta to cook, prepare the vegetables (squash, zucchini, broccoli, tomato, onion, parsley, red pepper). Give the vegetables a good wash and then cut into bite sized pieces (onions and red pepper thinly sliced; parsley removed from stems and chopped).
3. While the pasta is cooling, prepare the vinaigrette. In a small bowl whisk together the vegetable oil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, oregano, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
4. Combine the cooked pasta, chopped vegetables, and vinaigrette. Stir until everything is well mixed and coated with vinaigrette. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.

Step By Step Photos

Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to the package directions. Drain in a colander.

While the pasta is cooking, wash and chop your vegetables. Cut everything into small, bite sized pieces. I find it helpful to remind myself to cut the broccoli smaller than I would expect… super large chunks of broccoli throw off the balance of the salad! The onions and red peppers were thinly sliced and I just gave the parsley leaves a good chop.

Once the veggies are chopped and the pasta is drained and cooling, mix up the vinaigrette. It’s super easy, just whisk together the oils, red wine vinegar, dijon, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. Done.

Transfer the mostly cooled pasta (just make sure it’s not piping hot) to a very large bowl and pour the vinaigrette over top.

Add the chopped vegetables…

Stir it all together until everything is well mixed and coated with vinaigrette. Could you ask for anything prettier? Either serve immediately or refrigerate until ready. I like to refrigerate at least a half hour to let the flavors blend.