Vegan Macaroni Salad - Planted in the Kitchen (2024)

This recipe is perfect when you're looking for a classic macaroni salad recipe.

Enjoy it as an easy side dish, make-ahead pasta salad, on a picnic, or at your next cookout or summer BBQ.

Pasta: Choose a hearty pasta that will hold up well when tossed with the other ingredients and dressing. I like using shells, penne, or a spiral pasta.

Avoid longer pasta shapes such as spaghetti and avoid thin/fragile pastas.

Vegetables: We use a combination of vegetables in this veggie pasta salad including: red bell peppers, Vidalia onions, and celery.

Dressing: This pasta salad uses a homemade dressing. See the recipe card below for the salad dressing ingredients and instructions.

See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and their quantities.

Vidalia onions: Though the original recipe calls specifically for Vidalia onions, you can use any sweet onion that is available at your grocery store.

Make it spicy: If you want to turn up to heat and add a kick of spiciness to this pasta salad you have two options. You can either add crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper to the dressing, or add chopped jalapeno or serrano peppers to the pasta salad.

Add extra vegetables: This pasta salad is a great way to add vegetables into your diet. If you're looking to add more you can either double the amount originally called for in the recipe or add additional vegetables of your choosing.

If you add anything additional to the recipe I recommend making and adding extra dressing as well.

Step 1: Start by washing and prepping the ingredients. Cook the pasta according to package instructions, mix the salad dressing together, and chop the fresh vegetables.

Step 2: Once the pasta has finished cooking you'll strain it and run it under cool water to bring the temperature down. Drain out any excess water from the pasta.

Step 3: Combine everything in a large mixing bowl and toss in the dressing until everything is well coated.

Step 4: Either serve right away or cover the pasta salad and store it in the refrigerator for later.

Expert Tips

• Make this recipe in advance: Like many pasta salad recipes this macaroni salad is best when made the day before. Allowing the ingredients to meld and the dressing to soak into the pasta and veggies, you'll get a more dynamic flavor on the second day.
• Make extra dressing: If you're like me you'll want to make sure that you have plenty of dressing when you serve your pasta or pasta salad. I like to keep an extra jar or container of dressing separate and toss it in at the time of serving if needed.

Why does my macaroni salad not stay creamy?

Sometimes the pasta can absorb too much of the dressing when it is stored in the refrigerator. To fix this I like to make extra dressing and keep it in another container. Mix it in with the macaroni salad at the time of serving if needed.

Why is macaroni salad so high in calories?

Many macaroni salad recipes use pasta and some form or mayo in the recipe, both of which can be calorie-dense. You can opt for lower calorie mayo or pasta if you're looking to reduce the calories in this dish.

Vegan Macaroni Salad

Kelsey Riley

This vegan macaroni salad is made using fresh vegetables, hearty pasta, and is tossed in a creamy homemade dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 336kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 8.8gFat: 9.9gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 908mgPotassium: 333mgFiber: 5.3gSugar: 40.8gCalcium: 159mgIron: 4mg