The Best Creamy Vegan Pasta Salad
5 from 6 votes

This creamy vegan pasta salad is the best! It’s made with a dairy-free, avocado-based sauce, and it’s a perfect dish for summer gatherings.

A asymmetrical white bowl holds a creamy vegan pasta salad.

What spells summer more than a big bowl of pasta salad?!

More and more, I find myself gravitating toward nostalgic dishes. This was especially true during Covid, when so few things felt solid and secure. Macaroni salad was a childhood favorite of mine, and this creamy vegan pasta salad is a delicious tribute to it.

I’ve made a traditional vegan macaroni salad a few times before, but I’ve always used vegan mayo as a base. Nothing wrong with that, of course! However, blended avocado is a delicious, nutritious alternative.

Avocado and yogurt are in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade.

How to make pasta salad

Classic pasta salad is made with cooked pasta (often macaroni), vegetables, and a mayonnaise-based dressing. It’s a simple dish to prepare: cook pasta, add mix-ins, add mayo, stir.

Making this creamy vegan pasta salad is nearly as easy as making the classic version. You cook and drain the pasta, blend your avocado-based dressing ingredients together, add veggies, and mix. You can use a food processor or a blender to make the sauce.

Why avocado is a perfect base for vegan pasta salad

The avocado-based creaminess in the pasta salad isn’t over-the-top. It’s there, but it’s subtle. Plus, avocado is rich in health-supporting nutrients. These include fiber, folate, Vitamin E, potassium, and healthful fats.

I tried a few different versions of the dressing as I was playing around with the recipe. One only included avocado, another avocado and olive oil. Another—the I liked the most—was avocado blended with unsweetened vegan yogurt.

I love the tanginess that the yogurt adds to the sauce! And the consistency of the sauce is perfect for macaroni salad. As an added bonus for those who eat oils sparingly, the sauce is naturally oil free.

A light green sauce is being blended in a food processor.

Creamy vegan pasta salad ingredients

The ingredients for the pasta salad are pretty flexible. You don’t have to use the same vegetables that I used, and there are lots of ways that you could jazz up the sauce. I wanted to keep the dish very simple, and the recipe reflects that.

Here’s what it’s made with:

Avocado

I used about half of a large, Hass avocado. If you have a smaller avocado, you can just use a little more than half. I give a cup measurement in the recipe!

Vegan yogurt

Any plain, unsweetened, non-dairy yogurt is fine here: almond, cashew, coconut, or soy. My go-to vegan yogurt lately is the Forager brand cashew yogurt, but I’ve used a lot of other yogurts in meals and cooking. Just be sure that the yogurt is unsweetened, as it’ll make the sauce too sweet otherwise.

White vinegar

I often use lemon juice in dressings and sauces like this, but sometimes the lemon can compete with other flavors. I’ve been using white vinegar a lot in dressings lately, originally because it was always on hand at the start of quarantine, whereas lemons tended to run out. But I’m enjoying the fact that it can add acid to a dressing without being overly assertive.

Macaroni pasta

You can use any type of macaroni/elbows that suits your tastes and needs: regular, whole grain, legume-based, gluten-free, etc.

Vegetable mix-ins

I almost always come back to a combination of bell pepper, carrots, celery, and red onion when I make macaroni salad. The proportions fit my tastes: lots of bell pepper, very little onion, but enough to impart some flavor. I think chopped scallions, broccoli florets, peas, and grape tomatoes would all be lovely. And I didn’t add herbs to the recipe, but you certainly could.

A white bowl holds diced vegetables.

Do I need to use macaroni for the salad?

You absolutely don’t! I’ve made the vegan pasta salad with shells, radiatori, cavatappi, and other shapes. I’d recommend a small or medium pasta shape, but otherwise, it’s up to you.

Preparation and storage

Once the pasta salad is ready, you can store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. This makes it easy to prepare in advance of a gathering, if that suits your schedule.

Can I freeze pasta salad?

You can! Pasta salad, like many pasta dishes, can be frozen. The leftovers of this recipe can stay in the freezer for up to four weeks.

An overhead image of a creamy vegan macaroni salad, made with avocado sauce.

Serving options

The avocado macaroni salad would fit well into any summer grilling or cookout. If you want to serve it as a side, it would be a great accompaniment to BBQ soy curl sandwiches, sweet potato black bean burgers, or sweet potato red pepper quesadillas.

You can also turn the vegan macaroni salad into a main course by adding some cubed tofu, tempeh, or vegan bacon. Maybe with a slaw or some steamed broccoli on the side.

A asymmetrical white bowl holds a creamy vegan pasta salad.
5 from 6 votes

The Best Creamy Vegan Pasta Salad

Author – Gena Hamshaw
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yields: 6 people

Ingredients

Macaroni salad

  • 8 ounces elbow pasta (or another short pasta shape; 225g)
  • 1 1/4 cups finely chopped bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped or grated carrot
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (substitute chopped scallions)
  • optional: chopped fresh herbs of choice

Creamy avocado sauce

  • 1/2 large, Hass avocado (about 2/3 cup, or 3 ounces/90 g)
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened, plain non-dairy yogurt (3oz/90g)
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar (substitute apple cider vinegar or lemon juice)
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or coarse salt)
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup water (60ml)
  • pinch of freshly ground, black pepper

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package instructions. Drain and rinse the macaroni in cold, running water. Drain again.
  • While the macaroni cooks, add all sauce ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend till smooth. The sauce should be thick, but pourable. If it's too thick, you can add an extra tablespoon of water to thin it a bit.
  • Once the pasta has been cooked and drained, add it to a large mixing bowl, along with your vegetables and herbs, if using. Add all of the sauce. Toss the ingredients together well and serve.
Two bowls of a creamy vegan pasta salad rest on a white surface.

Happy summer!

xo

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Categories: Recipes, Side Dishes, Pasta
Method: Blender
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, No Oil, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Recipe Features: 30 Minute or Less, Meal Prep, Quick & Easy

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Recipe Rating




    7 Comments
  1. Wow, I’ve honestly never thought of using avocado as the base of a sauce like this! What a great idea. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

  2. 5 stars
    Just made this for 4th of July dinner – it’s delicious! Thank you for sharing a non-dairy version of this salad that is reminiscent of childhood summertime cookouts!

  3. 5 stars
    Hello Gena, this recipe looks very yummy! My hubby likes salad very much and I hope he will like this one too! Can’t wait to make it at home for him!!One question, what is the alternative to black pepper?

  4. This looks delicious. I love that it does not contain any oils and can’t wait to try it this weekend!