Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad (Use Any Veggies!)

This Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad with balsamic vinaigrette is easy to make, bursting with taste. and anything but dull!

287 Energy34g CARBS14g Fats9g PROTEIN

Looking for a new beloved pasta salad? This simple pasta salad with grilled vegetables, feta cheese, refreshing herbs, and balsamic dressing is it! 

When it will come to warm climate facet dishes, pasta salad is one of the most well-liked. It can be good for picnics and barbecues but also can provide as a scrumptious no-prepare dinner meal. Pasta salad food prep anybody?

Lately, I have been switching issues up and working with grilled greens in my pasta salad and it was much too very good not to share. It commenced with some leftover grilled veggies extra to my preferred Greek Pasta Salad. Then I couldn’t prevent experimenting. 

The finish end result? This dreamy veggie pasta salad with grilled zucchini, red onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, and asparagus. All all those tasty veggies are marinated in a swift do-it-yourself dressing and then tossed with cooked pasta, feta cheese, and new herbs. Yum. 

Hunting for much more pasta salad inspiration? Really don’t miss out on this Vegetable Pasta Salad and Ranch BLT Pasta Salad.

Grilled vegetables and penne paste salad served on two plates with asparagus, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini.

Why You can expect to Adore This Pasta Salad

Rely on me when I say that this pasta salad will immediately become one of your all-time favorites. It is just so fantastic!

  • So a lot taste: The trick to making a standout pasta salad is marinating the grilled veggies. The veggies soak up all the delicious taste of the marinade and guarantee that just about every bite is bursting with flavor. No additional flavorless or boring pasta salad.
  • Good for meal prep: This pasta salad retains properly in the fridge for 4-5 times. In simple fact, the grilled veggies get even superior right after a night time in the fridge. Make this for food prep lunches or a quick weeknight aspect dish.
  • Flexible: Switch up the veggies, change up the dressing, insert beans, consider unique cheeses, include protein, or provide it with greens! There are so quite a few approaches to make and serve this effortless grilled veggie pasta salad.
  • Use up leftover veggies: This salad is a wonderful way to use up any additional create. Almost any veggie can be cooked on the grill, creating this salad work no subject what you have in the fridge. 

Components

In this article is anything you will need to make this grilled vegetable pasta salad recipe. 

  • Pasta: Any pasta can be employed for this pasta salad, but glimpse for pasta with some ridges to adhere to the dressing. Make positive to cook dinner it in salted drinking water and immediately rinse the cooked pasta with chilly drinking water to avert sticking. 
  • Grilled vegetables: Use any blend of grilled veggies you like in this salad. Make certain to cook them “al dente” so they still have some chunk and texture. No 1 would like soggy veggies. My most loved vegetables for this salad are zucchini, mushrooms, pink onion, asparagus, and bell peppers. I also like eggplant, carrots, cabbage, corn, yellow squash, and cherry tomatoes. 
  • Balsamic dressing: Selfmade dressing is so quick to make and preferences so significantly superior than the bottled option. This a single has olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, Italian seasoning, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Experience free of charge to swap in red wine vinegar, include some fresh garlic, and switch up the herbs, 
  • Feta cheese: Try this salad with any sort of cheese you like. Favorites involve feta cheese, goat cheese, fresh new mozzarella, Parmesan, blue cheese, or sharp cheddar cheese.
  • Clean herbs: Incorporating new herbs to pasta salad is a way to definitely elevate the flavors. New basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, oregano, or dill are all delightful.

Ideal Way to Make Grilled Greens

Producing grilled greens is a person of the greatest strategies to put together veggies in my viewpoint. The slight char from the grill, the caramelized edges – they are just so very good. Here are some guidelines for generating definitely tasty veggies on the grill.

  • Slice the veggies into much larger planks and parts so they will not tumble via the grates. Then reduce them into bite-sized pieces just after cooking. For scaled-down veggies, take into account inserting them on a skewer or working with a grill basket. 
  • Often start off with a thoroughly clean grill to be certain the vegetables you should not stick and fall aside. Oil the grates if your grill tends to adhere.
  • Marinate the vegetables after they occur off the grill, not ahead of. This is the finest way to get super flavorful veggies! The veggies soak up so a great deal extra taste soon after remaining grilled. 
  • For simple prep, pick greens that cook dinner in the very same volume of time.

Pasta salad with grilled asparagus, zucchini, red onion, and mushrooms on a plate with feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

Recipe Tips and Ideas

There are so quite a few strategies to swap up this salad and make it your possess. Listed here are some thoughts to contemplate:

  • Include protein: Incorporate grilled rooster, shrimp, canned tuna, salmon, chickpeas, tofu, or white beans.
  • Switch up the veggies: Attempt this with all unique roasted, grilled, and cooked veggies. Combine in some grilled vegetables and some raw veggies for distinct textures.
  • Insert crunch: Increase some sliced almonds, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds ideal ahead of serving.
  • Modify the pasta: Test this with a tiny pasta like orzo or mini shells. It can be also great with rotini, fusilli, or radiatori.
  • Try distinctive cheese: Changing up the cheese can have a significant impact on the flavor. Consider this with marinated fresh mozzarella, crumbled goat cheese, shredded parmesan, or cubes of pepper jack. 
  • Check out a new dressing: Whilst I appreciate balsamic dressing, this is also delightful with pesto, spicy blackened ranch dressing, or honey mustard.

Earning this with Roasted Veggies

When it isn’t really grilling period, contemplate generating this pasta salad with roasted vegetables. Get ready the vegetables in the similar way, tossing them with the dressing/marinade right after they have been roasted.

This is also great for working with up any leftover roasted veggies you have on hand. 

Usually Requested Questions

Below are the answers to the most common queries about earning this pasta salad recipe.

There are a handful of motives that pasta salad can change out bland. 

  • Make absolutely sure to prepare dinner the pasta in salted h2o. This action is usually ignored and can make a enormous variance in how the pasta preferences following cooking.
  • Pick a pasta condition with ridges. The dressing provides flavor to the pasta salad and when you use clean pasta designs it can slip suitable off. This is in particular accurate with pasta salads utilizing vinaigrette compared to creamy dressing.
  • Make certain to add layers of taste and period every thing heading into the pasta salad. The vegetables should be seasoned, the pasta really should be seasoned, the dressing should really be flavorful. 

Commonly talking pasta need to be cooked al dente for pasta salad so it will not get gentle and mushy. With that stated, make absolutely sure the pasta is not way too undercooked or it will get really hard as it cools. 

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