As soon as the warm weather of summer rolls around all I want to eat are crunchy vegetables and cold pasta salad. This Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad is my go-to with a medley of colorful vegetables, a tangy homemade vinaigrette, and plenty of ways to customize it based on what I have on hand, or what I’m craving that day. Plus it holds up great in the fridge, so it’s perfect for meal prep!
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Perfect for Potlucks
This classic vegetable pasta salad is absolutely perfect for potlucks because it makes a huge batch and it goes with everything. Not to mention it holds up well to travel and is still super delicious after it’s been sitting on that picnic table for a bit. ;)
Vegetable Options
I used fresh broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and parsley, plus threw in some roasted red peppers for fun. But you can add so many different vegetables to this mix. Here are a few more options:
- Cauliflower
- Fresh bell pepper
- Black olives
- Asparagus (steamed or grilled)
- Chopped spinach
- Artichokes
Other Add-ins
In addition to swapping out some of the vegetables, you can experiment with adding other ingredients to this salad to either add more flavor or make it into a full meal. Here are a few ideas:
- Grilled chicken (Yogurt Marinated Chicken or Garlic Marinated Chicken)
- Garlic Butter Shrimp
- Parmesan cheese
- Toasted pita bread
- Feta cheese
- Salami
- Mozzarella cubes or pearls
Dressing Options
The recipe below includes a really basic tangy vinaigrette, but if you don’t have a well stocked pantry and want to buy a bottled dressing for this salad, any basic Italian dressing will do well. You could also choose something like a Caesar dressing (not creamy-style) or a Greek vinaigrette.
Love summer salad recipes? Then you’ve got to try our Creamy Cucumber Salad! It’s cool, refreshing, and the perfect recipe to cool down during the hot summer months!
Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
Servings 8 1.5 cups eachIngredients
Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup olive oil ($1.28)
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar ($0.53)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
Salad
- 12 oz. bowtie pasta ($0.79)
- 2 Roma tomatoes ($0.63)
- 1 yellow squash ($0.75)
- 1 zucchini ($0.85)
- 1 broccoli crown ($1.07)
- 1/2 red onion ($0.19)
- 1 12oz. jar roasted red peppers ($1.99)
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley ($0.35)
Instructions
- Make the vinaigrette first. Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon, oregano, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Set the dressing aside.
- Cook the bowtie pasta according to the package directions (boil 7-10 minutes or until tender), then drain in a colander. Rinse briefly to cool the pasta, then let it drain well.
- While the pasta is cooking and draining, prepare the vegetables. Chop the tomatoes, squash, zucchini, broccoli, and parsley. Slice the roasted red peppers (drained) and the red onion.
- Place the pasta and chopped vegetables in the largest bowl you have. Give the vinaigrette a brief whisk, then pour it over the salad. Stir the pasta and vegetables until everything is coated in dressing. Give it a taste and add salt or pepper, if needed. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Chef’s Knife
- White Cutting Boards
- Liquid Measuring Cup
Nutrition
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How to Make Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad – Step By Step Photos
Make the dressing first. Whisk together ½ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup red wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 clove of minced garlic, ¾ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Set the dressing aside.
Cook 12oz. bowtie pasta (or other short shaped pasta) according to the package directions (boil until tender, drain in a colander). Give the pasta a quick rise to cool it off, then let it drain well.
While the pasta is cooking and draining, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Chop two Roma tomatoes, one yellow squash, one zucchini, and drain and slice one jar of roasted red peppers.
Chop one crown of broccoli into small bite-sized florets and slice ½ of a red onion. Roughly chop ½ cup parsley (not pictured).
When the pasta is cool and drained and all the vegetables chopped, it’s time to assemble the salad. Place everything in the largest bowl or container you have, give the vinaigrette a quick whisk, then pour it over the pasta and vegetables.
Stir until everything is really well coated in dressing. Give it a taste and add salt or pepper if needed. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat. Make sure to give it a stir after refrigerating and just before serving to redistribute the dressing.
Made for supper because eastern WI was hot and humid and a cold supper seemed more appealing. We followed recipe exactly and added two cans of chickpeas for protein. It was easy and delicious. When we eat the leftovers we should some Parmesan cheese or feta cheese. I forgot when we had supper tonight.
Yummy recipe. Added a can of cannellini beans to add a little protein.
This was very good. I didn’t have all the veggies, but used what I had. Also just had egg noodles. The dressing was great and it went well with our burgers. This was easy and my family really enjoyed it. Thanks for the recipe!
Add a dollop of pesto. Mind officially blown.
The dressing on this pasta salad is fantastic. I made slight modifications to the veggies and used what I had in the garden (fresh peppers instead of roasted) and I added some sautéed chicken to make it a main dish. It was delicious and a great, cooling summertime meal!
Loved this recipe. Veggies straight from the garden into the sald. I didn’t put any broccoli in. Simply because we are not growing any. Perfect summertime salad.
I am always.looking for recipes with
veg for my two grandsons.
I am going to try blending some of the veg into the dressing.
It just might fool the BIg Boys in our family as well.
I will let you know.
People are. not always in agreement about hiding veg.
At 9 and 6 – I pick my fights.. lol lol
I’m about to make this for the second time! Easy and delicious. Thank you for the great recipes on this site.
One has to sauté the veggies
Hi Carol. Sauteeing the veggies for a pasta salad is certainly one way to make it, as is roasting the veggies. I do hope you get a chance to try the recipe, as leaving the veggies raw creates a textural component that’s absolutely magnificent, and that you miss out on when you cook the veggies.
This … BLEW MY MIND! It’s so yummy and I cannot wait to whip this up for every picnic I have this summer. Thank you so so much for sharing!
Alli B | http://www.onthetripside.com
I made this earlier in the day, to have for dinner. I added tiny mozzarella balls to it. I found I needed to add a lot of seasoning to it, as it was kind of bland, but that could have been due to the dressing I used {Ken’s Light Italian}. Served with grilled chicken and shrimp.
If you used Ken’s dressing instead of making the dressing in the recipe, then you shouldn’t rate this recipe because that’s not what you made.
i prepared this, and i think this would go well with brown lentils… would add more protein and be very filling. yum.
So good! I used marinated red peppers and they came with 2 cloves of garlic in the jar…chopped them for the dressing and had no waste. I added some mozzarella pearls and served with baked salmon. For leftovers the next day i added a splash of the red pepper juice from the jar and chopped salami.
Totally delish! I made this with fresh red bell pepper, black olives, artichoke hearts, lightly steamed asparagus and fresh mozz squares. I used high protein pasta to add more protein as well. Sooo good in the summer!
Made this as the pasta salad of the week for my teen boys’ school lunches. VERY good flavor and I added chickpeas in for more filling protein. I think it will be a keeper! Hubby liked it too.
Ao delicious! I also was nervous about using zucchini and broccoli uncooked but it was delicious. We added some cheese and basil from our garden. So glad I made double the recipe!
This was actually really yummy! I meal prepped this for my lunches this week and while I used a store bought italian vinaigrette, it still was really delicious. I never ate zucchini or squash raw before, so I was a bit skeptical at first, but it actually turned out so good! 10/10 will definitely be making this again!
*also side note* I absolutely love this website and the recipes and I’ve been a fan for a few years now. I search through for recipes before every grocery shopping trip and I don’t think there was a recipe on here that I tried and didn’t like. All are so fantastic! :)
This is soooo good!! Thank you. Tastes even better the next day!
SUMMER VEGETABLE PASTA SALAD is my favorite salad. i made this tonight.
Wow Beth!
It’s like you’re standing in my kitchen and seeing my leftovers and you came up with this recipe. 😂. Literally a day after you sent the email with this recipe, I had a large family dinner at my house and we had rotisserie chicken, salad and a baked potato bar with tons of fresh veggies to top the potatoes with. I had a lot of leftovers. I was able to pretty much use up the leftovers with your recipe. I had a box of bow tie pasta and all the ingredients for the dressing on hand. To that I added:
Olives, chopped bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, green onions, shredded carrots, peas, roasted corn, parsley and oven roasted broccoli (your recipe). Topped with diced chicken, feta, a little Parmesan and red chili flakes. My hubby was beyond happy with this dish.
Thank you so much Beth!
Hello! Your dressing recipies are ALL amazing. It’s getting so I can’t buy bottled anymore! I had a question about dressings? If I mix the dressing ingredients together and store in a tight jar in refrigerator (With OUT any fresh herbs), how long can I expect them to keep safely? I would sometimes like to make bigger batches ahead of parties, etc to help with prep time but am always reluctant to do so. Advice?
There is no definitive line for how long they stay fresh, unfortunately, since it can depend on so many factors. Even dry herbs can have spores for yeast, mold, and bacteria that can spring to life when hydrated, so I usually suggest not keeping them for more than five days or so just to be safe.
LOVE this recipe. I used a bit less olive oil but other than that I wouldn’t modify a thing. I used red lentil pasta for extra protein to make it a meal.
Oo, I feel like your taste buds match mine, because I think this taste outta sight! The vinaigrette reminds me of an Israeli Salad my local Greek restaurant serves. I modded this to match some ingredients ’round the house (and some I didn’t pick up at the store, whoops) and, yeah, YUM. I added a couple pinches of sugar and a dollop or mayo just to gut some of the acidity.
Today I’m making your Chimichurri Chickpea Salad, I hope it goes as well as this salad! Thank you for posting this recipe. :)
Delicious! Wouldn’t change a thing!
Such a good recipe! We really enjoy this and make it for family get togethers quite often. I have also substituted the pasta with a full head of cauliflower and used an entire bunch of broccoli, to make this gluten free for a relative.
I want to prep ahead of time. Can I make it the night before? Should I wait and add the dressing the day of?
I would add the dressing about 30 minutes before hand. Give it a little time to kind of soak in and flavor everything, and stir once more just before serving. :)
Just received this recipe from my healthcare provider clinic and they said the total cost for the recipe is $7.59…!!! Not likely if one has to buy all of the ingredients. I’m also wondering if they even used today’s dollars due to when this recipe was posted online.
Good recipe, nevertheless, but it is not under $8 to prepare if you need to buy all of the ingredients.
It’s been a while since this comment was posted, but I doubt food costs have gone down in the past 3 years. I found all of the fresh ingredients at similar or lower prices at my supermarket this morning–the dressing ingredients were in my pantry, so my costs for those were similar. I’ve made this versatile recipe a number of times and used some substitutions and/or additions along the way.
If olive oil is out of the budget, ordinary cooking oil will work and is very inexpensive–I usually find it for under $2 for 48 oz, or 6 cups–$0.17 for half a cup. I also like to make this with apple cider vinegar sometimes, and a bottle of that is cheaper than red wine vinegar. I do that sub because I like the tart apple flavor with the peppery parsley. A whole head of garlic is usually about $0.50, so you can add those 3 things to your pantry for only about $3-3.50 and still make the target price for this delicious salad.
I often skip the parsley and use a generous dollop of pesto in the dressing. I also like to dress the salad slightly warm so the pasta absorbs the dressing. I agree with others that Feta is a nice addition, and some pistachio nuts or pepitas if you feel like a splurge. While this “lily” is perfect as written, some “gilding” can be delicious.
Spot on. I did add feta to give it a little more, but it does necessarily need it.
This is so good that I can’t stop eating it! It is exactly what I crave during these warm summer months. I’m not usually a parsley fan, but it added such a nice, fresh flavor. I substituted artichoke hearts for the peppers because that’s what I had. I plan to eat this all summer long. Yum!
did you use marinated artichoke hearts? Thank you
Salad was very tart. It was good with all of the veggies in it but it was just too much vinegar for my taste.
You could add a little bit of sugar to cut the tartness.
Delicious! I’m not usually a pasta salad fan, but this was a hit in my house. I did make a few changes. I used high protein pasta and fresh veggies from my garden: squash peppers, cucumber, tomato, green onion, dill, and basil. I also added some kalamata olives, frozen corn, sunflower kernals, and a firm cubed cheese. To the dressing, I added some white pepper and red pepper flakes. I served it with vegetarian BLTs, and it was gobbled up!
Is it ok to blanch the vegetables (then cool)? I don’t really like them completely uncooked.
Yes, absolutely. :)
This pasta salad is excellent! I used stone ground dijon mustard instead of plain. Will definitely be making this again!
I just made it and it is wonderful. My husband just had two stents put in his heart and this is really healthy for us. Great for a side dish for dinner or for a main lunch dish.
I love the squash and zucchini in this! Yum.
It would be nice to find somewhere it says to PRINT this recipe!!!
The print button is on the top right hand corner of the recipe card, just below the thumbnail image.
How many cups would you say 8 servings is? I will be making this for my daughter’s birthday and want to be sure I have enough. Thank you!
Probably around 1-1.5 cups each, but it depends on the size of your vegetables.
Can you make dressing ahead of time and how long can you store it in refrigerator before using? Making it for my Potluck outing this weekend. Looks wonderful.
Yes, you can make the dressing ahead of time. It should be good in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
I made a few switches to the recipe. I had yellow zucchini, orange cherry tomatoes, green cauliflower, an orange bell pepper and cucumbers. So i put those instead of the written veggies. Oh and had no more red onions so put a white one instead. But i followed the recipe other than that. So good! :)
Absolutely wonderful. Have made it numerous time,
We loved this – the dressing ties it all together. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Just made this – Delicious!
Im a vegetarian – and a hungry one at that, so i added some yves vegetarian salami and shredded mozzarella. Because of that I added a few extra dashes of red wine vinegar to sharpen the flavor.
I love it
This was fantastic! I made a few (small) adjustments. Instead of using 1/2 cup of oil, I used about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in the wine/dijon mustard mix and about 2-3 tablespoons in a hot pan. I gently sauteed the veggies and garlic for about 5 minutes – just to get some liquid and heat going on them. As the veggies cooled, I cooked the pasta. After I combined everything, I threw in some shredded parmesan (I bet feta would be awesome too). Oh, and I also used some generic “italian seasoning” dried spices in the vinaigrette – I think I got it at the dollar store (dried basic, oregano, etc.). This is going to taste even better tomorrow! THANK YOU!
This is a delicious recipe! Followed it to a tee & it was a huge hit! Next time I will definitely add either feta or mozzarella. Nothing better than fresh veggies & pasta. The Dijon mustard had a great taste!
This is really good. I left out the tomato, used a fresh red bell pepper instead of roasted red peppers, and added 8 ounces of diced mozzarella. Otherwise I did everything as written. I’m very happy to have made this!
This recipe turned out very very good! I did make some changes though according to our taste buds! I used avocado oil and grape seed oil, I grilled my zucchini and squash, left out the parsley, tomatoes and broccoli (next time I’ll add broccoli), added artichokes, capers and feta. Received two thumbs up from the husband, kids and neighbors!! Paired it with grilled cedar plank salmon and a green salad! Superb!!!!!
Just made this… AWESOME! I made it gluten free by using Ronzoni’s Gluten Free Penne, used a little less onion and added some feta cheese!!!Can’t wait to use my veggies from the garden, only 70 more days!! The joys of living in Maine!
Just made this for this weeks lunches. Sprinkled on a little parmesan, so good!
Just made this today for this week’s lunches. I added some black beans, artichoke hearts, and black olives. SO GOOD and i’m set for the REST of the week! AW YES
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! What’s the reason for using two different types of oil?
Just because all olive oil would have been much more expensive. Combining oils also keeps the flavor a little lighter.
Made this today for lunch, it was delicious!
Made this tonight. Amazing! Thank you!
Did this recipe this morning came out great it an excellent recipe thank you
I make this pasta salad recioe this morning and I put it in the fridge and it came out great excellent recipe my finace loveit thank you great recipe
I’m making this today, but I’m substituting spaghetti squash for the pasta to make it more diet friendly.
I like the spaghetti squash idea. This is really good but to much for one person will try to cut recipe down next time.
Any idea what the calories per serving breakdown would be? Thank you!
Do you use minced garlic in a jar or do you mince garlic cloves yourself?
I’ve gone through phases where I use the jar kind and it looks like this recipe was when I was in one of those phases :) If you want to use fresh, I’d use one small clove.
This is the best summer time recipe ever! I’ve made it a few times in the last two years and I’m going to make it again tomorrow. This time, I’ll add some black olives, some left over ham and mozzarella cubes to make it a meal! Love, love, love it!
Looks very appetising
Made this recipe a few nights ago and loved it. We are still chowing on the leftovers today. The whole family really enjoyed it. I added a handful of sliced green olives. Really good vinaigrette!
Loved the dish , it needs just a bit more olive oil and pepper
I love this recipe! I added artichoke hearts to the salad which was a great addition!
I’m addicted to this salad! I’ve made it three times already in the past month! It’s so delicious and light but filling. Thanks for a great recipe :)
I think I’m going to make it again, but add tofu, shredded carrots, and purple cabbage!
Anon – I’ll be honest, I don’t think I have any good suggestions for replacing the oil in this. It’s pretty pivotal to the overall taste/texture. I’ve only made a few dressing and the ones without oil have been creamy (because of yogurt), so that wouldn’t really work :(
Great recipe but I’m really trying to cut oil out of my diet. Do you know of any substitutes for the oil in this dressing? Or do you have any recipes for oil free dressings that would work well with this pasta salad?
I think grilling the veggies would add a lot of flavor to this :)
I made this earlier today and had it for lunch. I was very pleased with it! I think I may make this to take to my family reunion in June. :)
This is great!
Thx
Okay, I just found my handwritten ingredient list and calculations… I included the roasted red peppers there, but forgot to type them in here! I used 2/3 of a jar, although I forgot to write down the size of the jar. I think it was probably around 12-15 ounces. I’m sure it wouldn’t matter if you used a little more or less. I’ll add it to the list right now :)
I don’t see roasted red peppers in ingredient list but do in pictures? How much of those did you use? Thanks so much! Love your recipes!
If it taste as good as it looks, that would be great. I love pasta salad anyway, I am going to try it.bettye103
Looks delicious! I plan to try this soon!
Just FYI, the roasted red peppers aren’t listed on your ingredient list.
This was fantastic! I’ve been eating it for days and I’m not tired of it at all. Thank you :)
i added sliced black olives and tuna to this recipe to make it more of a main dish – and it is SO GOOD!!
I made this today and just wanted to thank you for this recipe! Our garden is still producing a little produce and this was a great way to use up what we have left. I did make a few alterations that I wanted to share. I cooked the broccoli and zucchini in the pasta water by adding it at the last 2 minutes, just to take off the raw taste. I also didn’t have any yellow squash so I used one large zucchini and both red and green pepper. After tossing altogether, I cut some fresh basil and diced up a bit of mozzarella cheese and threw it in as well. The cheese bites gave a nice creaminess to this dish. It was fabulous and I will def. use this recipe again!
I really enjoyed this, but definitely the pour the vinaigrette over the pasta before adding anything else is really important, I didn’t follow that direction and some pasta was less flavourful as others. Overall great idea, i mixed in some grilled veggies and lots of raw veggies… Great way to use leftover veggies that I haven’t finished! Definitely a keeper.
i impressed my friends today with this, and i wouldnt change a thing- that said, i used whole wheat penne and cherry tomatoes cut in half (what i had on hand).
the dressing was simple and the salt amount was perfect. A+++ recipe!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was DELISH! I roasted the broccoli, yellow squash, and zucchini squash for a bit (maybe 20 min??), and added grilled chicken that had been marinated in FF Italian dressing since my fiance balked at the idea of a dinner with out any meat. I loved being able to incorporate more veggies into our meal.
I have to say, I’ve tried a few of your recipes and I’ve loved them all. Well done with your site. This is my go-to when I’m trying to decide what to make for dinner.
Wow! This looks really great. Glad I discovered your site. Can’t wait to try your recipes! :)
I made this for a BBQ with my downstairs neighbors. I actually made the salad the day before and liked the dressing so much that I doubled it and I used it as a marinade for kabobs. The salad and the kabobs were great! :)
Hi Beth – I made a variation of this (based on what I had) that was a big hit at a sailor’s pot luck. I made a double batch and squeezed a couple more lunches out of the leftovers. Thanks for the idea.
sail fast and eat well, dave
S/V Auspicious
I am making a version of this tonight. I bought yellow, red, and orange peppers to put in it. Wish I had bought some cucumbers though.
I love all of the great and colorful veggies in this! Sounds like a winning pasta salad to me =)
This looks delicious and the perfect for those hot days that you really just don’t want to turn on your oven. Thanks for sharing.
Mmm, lovely salad you ate!
I love checking in on your blog daily to see what fun new thing you have posted! This pasta salad looks delish. The only thing I found a little strange is that the zucchini and yellow squash are included raw…I find raw zucchini and squash to have a very bitter and off-putting taste. Probably not as noticeable covered in yummy vinaigrette though! The cool thing about this recipe though is that you could substitute any veggie you like and that is in season. Keep up the awesome work
Jen
So lovely and colorful. I too drop the broccoli into boiling pasta water as prefer a bit of cooking first. I prefer vinegrettes over the mayonaise-y pasta salads also. I like to sprinkle very finely grated parmesan-romano cheese onto the salad and stir in. This kind of binds the liquid to the pasta and vegetables. Only reason I buy that pulverized Kraft cheese in the shakers is for this purpose.
Lovely budget conscious pasta salad! Cookin’ Canuck and I would love if you linked up this recipe & any 2 other side dishes in this weeks Get Grillin’ event posted on both of our blogs.
I’ve been craving veggie-pasta salad lately, too! I love the bowties — totally an underrated pasta, right? This is great, thanks so much: I might have to add this to the list of dishes I’m bringing to a potluck picnic I’m throwing next week.
this looks absolutely delicious and perfect for an outdoor party or picnic. DEFINITELY giving this a try. I can tell I will love it. Thanks!
Holly – as a matter of fact, I like broccoli almost exclusively cooked too! In the end I decided to be dangerous and just throw it in there raw but here is what I was originally going to do: During the last 3 or 4 minutes of the pasta cooking, throw the chopped broccoli in with the boiling pasta. Then just drain it all at the same time. This will lightly cook the broccoli but the rest of the veggies will still be nice and crisp. I hope it works out for you!
Would it work to use some cooked veggies in this? I ask because there are some veggies (like broccoli) that I only like cooked!