Vegan Creamy Italian Pasta Salad

This is a tasty vegan creamy Italian pasta salad recipe with homemade croutons, fresh basil, juicy tomatoes, pickled red onion, and a dynamite cashew-based dressing. It answers the question, “What if panzanella was a rich plant based pasta salad?” And I hope you’ll also come to the conclusion that it’s a nice blend of Italian elements with an American twist!

This recipe makes ~8-10 servings.

A few things…

• ・You will need to use a high speed blender (think Vitamix or Ninja) to make the cashew creamy Italian. If you don’t have access, you may consider using a store bought plant based creamy Italian dressing.

• ・While you could use store bought croutons, homemade ones are quick and easy to make, and taste very good. For best results, I would encourage making them.

• ・Because there’s so few ingredients in the dish, I wouldn’t recommend skipping the fresh basil. There’s a synergy with the tomatoes that is quite nice.

• ・If you want to pack this for lunch, keep the croutons on the side and add right before you indulge.

As always, I can’t thank you enough for stopping by, trying the recipes, and sharing your thoughts. I hope you enjoy this one 💚

And don’t miss out… discover other UVK recipes, like Vegan Taco Pasta Casserole, Vegan Kale Caesar Salad, Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese, and more.

Vegan Creamy Italian Pasta Salad

3 Tbsp finely chopped red onion

White distilled vinegar

1 lb dry semolina elbow macaroni

One batch vegan creamy Italian dressing

One batch homemade vegan croutons

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1-2 Tbsp torn fresh basil

1. First, you’ll need to pickle the red onion for the vegan creamy Italian pasta salad. Add the red onion to a small bowl. Pour white distilled vinegar over the onions until they are submerged. Set aside for 15 minutes. Then, drain off the vinegar.

2. While the onions pickle, cook the elbow mac. Follow the directions on the box. If you bought it in bulk and there are no directions, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Stir in the elbow macaroni. Boil for 5-8 minutes or until it’s soft enough to eat. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

3. Make the homemade croutons by following this recipe. Set aside.

4. Make the vegan creamy Italian dressing by following this recipe.

5. Spoon the vegan creamy Italian dressing into a large mixing bowl with the cold elbow macaroni. Mix together until the pasta is well coated. Stir in the tomatoes, fresh basil, and pickled red onion.

6. Right before serving, top the vegan creamy Italian pasta salad with the homemade croutons. Enjoy!