--- title: "Italian-Inspired Pasta Salad" id: "13875" type: "post" slug: "italian-inspired-pasta-salad" published_at: "2023-07-27T13:52:03+00:00" modified_at: "2024-06-19T13:02:45+00:00" url: "https://mondaydreams.com/2023/07/27/italian-inspired-pasta-salad/" markdown_url: "https://mondaydreams.com/2023/07/27/italian-inspired-pasta-salad.md" excerpt: "Ready in 15 minutes. This Italian-Inspired Pasta Salad is quick, easy and incredibly flavorful. Meet your new favorite pasta salad. It’s so simple, yet SO GOOD. If you love Mediterranean flavors, then you are going to love this fresh and..." taxonomy_category: - "Mains" - "Salads and Buddha Bowls" - "Sides" taxonomy_language: - "English" taxonomy_post_translations: - "pll_64b9a477b224d" --- # Italian-Inspired Pasta Salad by [Gaby](https://mondaydreams.com/author/gabysommer/) on [July 27, 2023](https://mondaydreams.com/2023/07/27/italian-inspired-pasta-salad/) in [Mains](https://mondaydreams.com/category/mains/) , [Salads and Buddha Bowls](https://mondaydreams.com/category/salads/) , [Sides](https://mondaydreams.com/category/sides/) [Jump to Recipe](#recipe) [Print Recipe](https://mondaydreams.com/wprm_print/italian-inspired-pasta-salad) Ready in 15 minutes. This Italian-Inspired Pasta Salad is quick, easy and incredibly flavorful. Meet your new favorite pasta salad. It’s so simple, yet SO GOOD. If you love Mediterranean flavors, then you are going to love this fresh and hearty salad. I love Italian cuisine and this salad features some of my favorite Italian-inspired ingredients like artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, fresh herbs, capers and olive oil. The result is wholesome and oh-so-tasty. This crowd-pleasing meal is perfect for your next barbeque or dinner party. I promise your friends and family are going to be begging for more. You can serve this wholesome salad as a side dish or as a nourishing main. I used whole wheat pasta, so this easy meal is fiber-rich, it’s also loaded with healthy fats and complex carbs. And for a good dose of plant-based protein, I added chickpeas and toasted almonds. I’m such a huge fan of nuts in salads, they provide amazing health benefits and they add such a nice crunch. Now let’s talk about the dressing because it’s the most delicious thing. Think good quality extra virgin olive oil, lemon, finely chopped capers, garlic, chili flakes and fresh herbs, it’s the perfect addition to this (secretly) vegan salad. **If you try this healthy pasta salad, let us know what you think. Tag us on [Instagram @mondaydreamsblog](https://www.instagram.com/mondaydreamsblog/) or leave a comment below. We love hearing from you!** ## Italian-Inspired Pasta Salad Ready in less than 15 minutes. This wholesome pasta salad is bursting with Mediterranean flavors. Everyone is going to love this simple, nourishing and delicious vegan salad. [Print Recipe](https://mondaydreams.com/wprm_print/italian-inspired-pasta-salad) [Pin Recipe](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/bookmarklet/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmondaydreams.com%2F2023%2F07%2F27%2Fitalian-inspired-pasta-salad%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fmondaydreams.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F07%2FItalian-Inspired-Pasta-Salad-0002-web.jpg&description=Italian-Inspired+Pasta+Salad&is_video=false) Total Time 15 minutes mins Course Main Course, Side Dish Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean Servings 3 mains - 6 sides ### Ingredients #### SALAD: - 7ozor 200 grams whole-wheat or gluten-free pasta –I used fusilli - 1 15ozcan chickpeas or your favorite white beans,drained and rinsed (about 1 ½ of cooked chickpeas) - ½cupcanned artichoke hearts,drained, then chopped - ½cupsun-dried tomatoes,rehydrated, then finely chopped* - ½cuppitted black olives,finely chopped - ¼cuptoasted almonds,roughly chopped** - ½small red onion,thinly sliced*** - Sea salt and pepper to taste #### DRESSING: - ¼cupgood quality extra virgin olive oil - ⅓cupfresh parsley,finely chopped - ¼cupfresh dill,finely copped - 1Tbspcapers,minced - 1Tbsplemon juice - 1tsplemon zest,tightly packed - 1garlic clove,minced - ½tspchili flakes ### Instructions - Cook the pasta according to instructions. Drain and let cool. - While the pasta is cooking prepare the rest of the ingredients and make the dressing. Add all dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine. - Once the pasta is cooked, add it to a big bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients: chickpeas, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, almonds, red onion and sea salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with the olive oil dressing and toss to combine. - Enjoy this hearty salad! ### Notes *You can use jarred sun-dried tomatoes. Then you won’t have to rehydrate them. ** To roast the almonds, preheat the oven to 350 °F / 180 °C. Place the almonds on a baking sheet (no oil) and roast in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Remove and let cool. *** I don’t like the strong taste of raw onions, so I place the sliced onions in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. After ten minutes, I drain and rinse the onions with cold water. Bye-bye pungent taste, hello delicious mild flavor. Keyword crowd-pleasing, easy recipe, healthy food, nutritious, olive oil, pasta, quick recipe, vegan dinner ### Search ### Recent Post - [Single-Serve Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie](https://mondaydreams.com/2025/12/04/single-serve-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookie/) - [Herbed Quinoa Pea Salad](https://mondaydreams.com/2025/10/21/herbed-quinoa-pea-salad/) - [Greek-Inspired Potato Stew](https://mondaydreams.com/2025/09/30/greek-inspired-potato-stew/) - [No Churn Vegan Chocolate Almond Ice Cream](https://mondaydreams.com/2025/09/23/no-churn-vegan-chocolate-almond-ice-cream/) - [Apple Pecan Cookies](https://mondaydreams.com/2025/08/18/apple-pecan-cookies/) ### Archives Archives Select Month December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 April 2025 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 January 2017 ### Leave a Reply [Cancel reply](/2023/07/27/italian-inspired-pasta-salad/#respond) You must be [logged in](https://mondaydreams.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmondaydreams.com%2F2023%2F07%2F27%2Fitalian-inspired-pasta-salad%2F) to post a comment.