This vibrant vegetarian Chickpea Pasta Salad is crazy flavorful and loaded with veggies! It’s packed with colorful vegetables and tossed in an easy homemade dressing.
No stories or musings today folks! Just salad.
Pasta Salad.
With protein-packed chickpeas and allllllll the veggies!
You can mix and match the vegetables used and utilize any shape of pasta that floats your boat, making this tasty chickpea pasta salad oh so customizable and ready to rock your face!
Pasta Salad Noodle Options
The base for this rockin’ pasta salad is (spoiler alert!) a bed of tender pasta. I used twisty mini egg noodles, but any shape of small pasta will work great!
Popular options are tri-colored rotini spirals, mini farfalle (bowtie pasta), elbow macaroni, ditalini, orzo pasta, or clean out your pantry and use a combination of pasta shapes from all the partially used boxes of noodles.
Pasta Salad Ingredients
I’ll highlight all the tasty veggie options in this post, but here’s what I used to make the pasta salad pictured in the photos.
- 6 oz small pasta noodles
- 15 oz can of chickpeas
- 1 bell pepper (any color!)
- 1-2 cups chopped cucumbers
- 1-2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered)
- ¼-½ cup thinly sliced red onion (pickled or fresh)
- ¼ cup pickled banana peppers
- ¼-⅓ cup crumbled feta
PASTA SALAD DRESSING
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 TBSP red wine vinegar
- ½ lemon (juiced)
- 3 cloves fresh garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1-2 tsp honey to taste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Additional Pasta Salad Dressing Options
You can use the homemade dressing in the recipe card, snag your favorite store bought italian dressing, or try one of these delish dressing recipes!
Special Diets and Swaps
Need to make some adjustments? This crazy colorful recipe is customizable to suit your tastes and dietary needs.
Vegan Pasta Salad
This recipe is easily made vegan. In place of the honey in the dressing, use a little granulated sugar and then simply leave out the optional cheese to make the salad dairy-free.
T-Rex Pasta Salad
You are welcome to add any additional protein sources to this colorful pasta salad recipe! I usually add salami or pepperoni to my Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad and have a Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad that is pretty darn amazing too.
Q: Can I use a different cheese in place of the feta?
You sure can! Freshly grated Parmesan cheese is always a tasty option as well as mozzarella pearls (those cute little mozzarella balls) or cubed sharp cheddar cheese.
Pasta Salad Veggie Options
Mix and match your favorite vegetables for a pasta salad that is gloriously you!
- tomatoes
- bell pepper
- sweet mini peppers
- sweet corn
- artichokes
- banana peppers
- olives
- red onion (regular or pickled)
- mushrooms
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- green beans
- asparagus
- snow peas
- peas
- shredded carrots
- chopped avocado
- spinach
- kale
- arugula
Chickpea Pasta Salad
The recipe below will yield 6 side dish sized servings of pasta salad. It makes a great make-ahead lunch option to scarf during your workday too and will yield 2-3 larger portions as a main.
Serving a large crowd? This recipe is easily doubled or tripled. Enjoy!
Let’s get our recipe on!
Chickpea Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 6 oz small pasta noodles
- 15 oz can of chickpeas
- 1 bell pepper (any color!)
- 1-2 cups chopped cucumbers
- 1-2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered)
- ¼-½ cup thinly sliced red onion (pickled or fresh)
- ¼ cup pickled banana peppers
- ¼-⅓ cup crumbled feta
- fresh or dried herbs to taste (basil, parsley, mint, etc)
PASTA SALAD DRESSING
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 TBSP red wine vinegar
- ½ lemon (juiced)
- 3 cloves fresh garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1-2 tsp honey to taste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta via package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water.
- While the pasta cooks, prep the veggies! Chop bell pepper and cucumbers, halve or quarter cherry tomatoes (or chop larger tomatoes) and measure out remaining ingredients.
- NOTE: for the onion you can use thinly sliced raw red onion or pickled red onions. When I don't have a batch of homemade pickled red onion in my fridge I simply slice and marinate the onions in the dressing while I prep the salad.
- To make the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Start with just a teaspoon of honey, adding any extra to taste.
- Next add the drained pasta and drained/rinsed chickpeas and mix well. Mix in vegetables and feta and give it a taste. Add any additional salt + pepper to taste and you're welcome to add the juice from the remaining half of the lemon if desired.
- Enjoy! You can let the salad sit out for 30 minutes to further amp up the flavor or chill it in the fridge before serving for a chilled pasta salad. It's great the next day so feel free to meal prep this salad in advance! The longer it is in the fridge the more dressing the pasta and veggies soak up, so feel free to refresh the salad with a little oil/vinegar/lemon before diving back in.
Notes
Nutrition
More Pretty Pasta Salad Recipes
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Orzo Pasta Salad
- Spinach Pasta Salad
- Garden Veggie Tortellini Pasta Salad
I also have a round up collection of some of my favorite vegetarian pasta salads here: 10 Tasty Vegetarian Pasta Salad Recipes
Love all of the flavors and ingredients in this salad. So good!
Thanks Ashley!
This was easy and delicious. I think I’m going to make it my go-to summer lunch!
Ahhh yay! So happy to hear it Taryn!