This vibrant and fresh pasta salad is inspired by the famous TikTok green goddess salad. I’ll bring it to every picnic or BBQ from now until forever.
If you’re looking for culinary inspiration, you already know that social media is a great place to find it.
In early 2022, the green goddess salad created by blog Baked by Melissa became the recipe that everyone on social media was making and emulating. Although I try not to succumb to trends, this recipe was hard to resist.
So I took the key flavors and textures of this viral recipe and made it simpler. Here’s my take: The TikTok-famous green goddess salad meets your friendly neighborhood pasta salad.
It’s all in the dressing
The dressing makes this pasta salad something special. It’s not your traditional green goddess dressing, which usually has mayo and sour cream in it. Instead, it’s a more vibrant — in both color and flavor — vegan dressing that’s loaded with greens and draws on mixed cashews for its creaminess and nutritional yeast for a savory umami depth.
Plan ahead and prepare the dressing up to 2 days before you plan to serve. Keep it in the fridge and stir well before use. If needed, you can stir in some olive oil to thin it out a bit.
Take my lead and adapt it!
Here are some ways you can customize this versatile pasta salad recipe to your liking:
- Instead of asparagus, frozen peas, and fennel, use green beans, broccoli, fresh peas, snow peas, celery, or endive. The theme is green and fresh!
- Use parmesan instead of nutritional yeast to improve the umami and creaminess of the dressing.
- Add a can or two of drained canned kidney beans for more protein – perfect if you’re serving it as a vegan main meal.
- Throw in homemade croutons – it will remind you of panzanella!
- Any short pasta will work. I prefer medium sized bowls because I love how the peas and olives get stuck in and give a nice full bite. You can use Gemelli, Farfalle, Penne, Orecchiette, Rigatoni or Fusilli.
Every day is pasta salad season
- Pesto Pasta Salad
- Greek pasta salad
- Pasta and Bean Picnic Salad
- Caprese pasta salad
- Pasta salad with corn, bacon and buttermilk ranch dressing
Green Goddess Pasta Salad
This recipe calls for medium-sized clams, but you can use any type of short pasta shape at your disposal, such as gemelli, farfalle, penne, orecchiette, rigatoni, or fusilli.
ingredients
- For the dressing
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2 lemons
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1/2 cup olive oil
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1 1/4 cups basil leaves, tightly packed
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1 cup baby spinach leaves, tightly packed
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2 cloves of garlic
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1/4 cup raw cashews
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1/3 cup nutritional yeast or grated parmesan cheese
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1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
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1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- For the noodles
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1 tablespoon of salt
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1 pound dry medium pasta shells
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1 1/2 cups frozen peas
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12 spears of thin green asparagus, tough stems trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
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1 fennel bulb, cored and very thinly sliced
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6 ounces drained, pitted green olives, roughly chopped
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3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
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3 spring onions, thinly sliced
method
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Boil the water:
Place a large saucepan of water (about 3 liters) with 1 tablespoon of salt over high heat and bring to a boil.
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Meanwhile, prepare the dressing:
Grate the lemons and set aside. You will add it to the pasta salad later. Squeeze the lemons – you will need about 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Place the lemon juice, olive oil, basil, spinach, garlic, cashews, nutritional yeast, salt and black pepper in a blender and blend until very smooth.
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Cook pasta and vegetables:
When the water boils, add the pasta. About 2 minutes before cooking the pasta – follow the cooking time listed on the package – add the frozen peas and asparagus to the pot. Cook for the remaining 2 minutes, then drain into a colander placed in the sink.
Rinse with cold tap water so that pasta, peas and asparagus do not continue to cook in the residual heat. Leave the strainer in the sink so it can drain thoroughly.
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Arrange the pasta salad:
In a large bowl, add the cooled pasta, peas, and asparagus, along with the fennel, olives, chives, spring onions, and lemon zest. Pour in the dressing and toss to coat evenly. Season to taste with more salt and black pepper.
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Surcharge:
Enjoy the pasta salad chilled – refrigerate for up to a day – or immediately at room temperature.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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