Easy Pasta Salad

There are so many ways to make pasta salad, but easy is my favorite one! My easy pasta salad is high in protein and filled with veggies! A perfect vegetarian summer pasta salad recipe to share with your friends and family.

Summer barbecues, hot dogs, hamburgers and pasta salad! Pasta salad is a staple for all summer barbecues, luckily, this recipe can be made at any time in just 30 minutes! If you are running late, no worries, this recipe is here to save the day.

There are so many ways that you can make this dish, you can include hard boiled eggs, mayo, cheese, pepperoni. You can make an Italian version, a Vegetarian version, I can go on! Well this one is high in protein, and vegetarian! My mom has been a vegetarian for my whole life so I was happy that her and I could finally share a recipe that I made.

Now I Am Sure You Are Asking Yourself What You Need For This Easy Pasta Salad!

 

Here Is A List Of What I Used, But You Can Add More Vegetables If You Have Them:

• Pasta of your choice: I used a combination of a few shapes and sizes, mini shells, ditalini, and ziti noodles.
• Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt: Typically, pasta salad has a lot of mayo in it, you can definitely sub some mayo if you cannot live without it, but the plain greek yogurt offers a great taste for a lot less calories! 
• Bell Pepper: I love pasta salad with bell pepper, it offers a delicious crispy taste and texture! If you do not like bell pepper you can omit it or add in a different vegetable of your choice.
• Onion: I chop this up finely so it brings a lot of flavor but not too much! Any onion would work great, I used a yellow onion but this recipe would also be delicious with a red onion.
• Zucchini: The perfect summer vegetable. I like making as many recipes as possible with zucchini, especially in the summer so this was a great addition. Zucchini does not have a whole lot of flavor but I would say it is one of my favorite parts of this recipe !
• Dijon Mustard: Even if you do not like mustard I say add this! You do not taste it but it levels out the acid from the vinegar and yogurt!
• Red wine vinegar: A little goes a long way! You do not need a lot of vinegar in this recipe but it combines all of the flavors in this recipe perfectly!
• Salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder: Who makes a pasta salad without any seasonings?

That is all, feel free to sub any vegetables in and out of the dish.

Now, Follow These Easy Pasta Salad Instructions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the boxed instructions
2. While the pasta is cooking chop up all of the vegetables
3. Place the chopped veggies in a large bowl
4. When the pasta is done cooking, drain, and allow it to cool completely
5. Once the pasta is cool, add it to the bowl
6. Add the greek yogurt, vinegar, mustard, and spices
7. Stir and combine
8. Serve and enjoy!

This recipe makes about 15 servings! The perfect amount for that summer barbecue, or to have on repeat for lunch like me! One 80 gram serving is 79 calories, 15.4 grams of carbs, 0.4 grams of fat, and 3.9 grams of protein!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is there mayo in pasta salad?

This particular recipe does not have any mayo in it. You could sub some of the greek yogurt for mayo if you prefer, but this will change the protein quantity of the recipe!

Is pasta salad vegetarian?

Pasta salad can be vegetarian and this recipe is in fact! A lot of pasta salads do have chopped meats in them so feel free to add some if you desire!

What makes this recipe high protein?

This recipe is high in protein and low in fat because rather than using mayo, this recipe uses plain greek yogurt. Each serving of pasta salad is only 80 calories and has 4 grams of protein. Your typical pasta salad recipe may have more than 300 calories per serving! The best part is you still get that creamy pasta salad without all of the calories.

Is pasta salad high in carbs?

No! Pasta gets a bad rap for being super high carb when it is all about moderation. Since this recipe is also filled with crisp veggies, one serving of the easy pasta salad is only 15 grams of carbs.

If you love pasta, you will also love my baked ziti recipe here!

Full easy pasta salad recipe below!