This pasta salad with dijon vinaigrette is tossed together with bite-sized pasta, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, and fresh basil. Unite these delicious bites with a dijon vinaigrette and you’ve got a tasty main course meal that is vegan and plant-based.
This pasta salad with dijon vinaigrette is also perfect for meal prep. Cook the night before and bring out on a hot end-of-summer day to enjoy. (This post may contain affiliate links. Clicking on the link may earn Veggie Fun Kitchen compensation at no additional cost to you.)
The fun part about this pasta salad is that you can change it up with different bite-sized pastas each time you make it. I thought this tri-colored corkscrew pasta would be fun. Use wholewheat or gluten free if desired. When you are looking for a vegan compliant pasta, make sure to check the ingredients as many pastas are made with eggs.
Cook your pasta according to package directions. When it is finished, remove from heat immediately and run under cold water.
While the pasta is cooking, make the dijon vinaigrette. A few secret ingredients are, coconut aminos, tahini, and agave. Whisk all ingredients together and set in the refrigerator to cool. (Affiliate links)
Drain and rinse the chickpeas, cut the cherry tomatoes in half, and thinly slice the fresh basil. Look at these beautiful dark red cherry tomatoes!
They are from Houweling’s Tomatoes and the are labeled as “chockberry” (not chokeberry) variety. I have never heard of then and so I looked it up. Unfortunately I have not found any further information about this variety. I did email Houweling’s to ask about them. Hopefully they will respond.
I like to use the living basil plant you can buy in the produce section. That way I can pretend that maybe…just maybe, I actually grew it myself!
Toss it altogether, with the baby spinach and some nutritional yeast – yes, I use this a lot in my cooking because it adds a certain tart cheesy flavor.
This is a great dish for meal prep. It keeps well for a few days and is so easy to just pull out and eat cold. No heating involved on a hot end-of-summer day!
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Pasta Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta bite-sized
Dijon Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon coconut aminos
- 2 Tablespoons agave
- 1 Tablespoon Tahini
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
All the Rest
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 20 cherry tomatoes halfed
- 1/2 cup fresh basil thinly sliced
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- vegan parmesan cheese optional to garnish
Instructions
- Boil pasta according to package directions. Take off heat immediately when done and fun under cool water, set aside.
Dijon Vinaigrette
- Whisk together white wine vinegar, coconut aminos, agave, tahini, dijon mustard, pepper and water Set in fridge to cool.
Putting it all Together
- Toss together cooked pasta, chickpeas, basil, baby spinach, dressing and nutritional yeast. Sprinkle vegan parmesan on top if desired
- Serve immediately or store in covered container for several days in the refrigerator.
- If meal prepping then portion into individual dishes. Cover and store in fridge. Take out when ready to eat.