Pasta perfection!
I spent the day by the pool last Sunday, and as always, as everything does, it got me thinking about food. What kind of food do I want on a day like this. Well, the answer is this vegan tzatziki pasta salad. Creamy,dairy free, thick and delicious tzatziki sauce, olives, sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts, tossed with pasta. It is so perfect.
The vegan tzatziki sauce is cashew based, blended with cucumber, garlic, lemon juice and a nice amount of dill. It is so creamy and rich, but light and fresh at the same time. The saltiness of the olives is the perfect accompaniment to this sauce.
All in all, after the cashews have been soaked, this is a 15 minutes dish. Just boil the pasta, and make the sauce. Let the pasta cool a bit, toss everything together. The best idea for a quick weeknight dinner, or if you are having people over for a spring or summer cookout.
Also, since this is a totally dairy free pasta salad, you don’t have to worry about having it outside for a long time at an outside BBQ. Then you can dazzle all the non believers with your vegan powers of wonder! Everyone will be asking you to make this tzatziki pasta salad again.
Vegan Tzatziki Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 oz. Pasta, I used bowtie pasta
- 1 C. Raw cashews, soaked
- 2 Tbsp. Almond milk
- 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
- Juice of 1 Lemon, large
- 1/2 an English cucumber, chopped
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Tbsp. Dill, fresh
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1/4 tsp. Black pepper
- 1/2 C. Kalamata olives
- 1/2 C. Sun dried tomatoes, or fresh if you prefer
- 1/2 C. Artichoke hearts, chopped
Instructions
- The cashews for the sauce need to be pre-soaked. I like to soak mine overnight. I just start soaking the night before I know I am going to make this. However, they need to be soaked for at least 3-4 hours. Or if you are in a pinch you can soak them in boiling water for 15-30 minutes.
- Once you are ready to make the pasta salad, cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the tzatziki sauce. Drain the cashews you soaked, then add them to a blender or food processor. Then add the almond milk, olive oil, lemon juice, cucumber, garlic, dill, salt and pepper.
- Blend on high, scraping down the sides as needed until the sauce is really nice and smooth, it may take a few minutes.
- Once the pasta is done, let cool for a little while. Then add the pasta to a large mixing bowl. Then add the olives, sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Then pour the sauce on top.
- Toss everything together so the pasta is completely coated in the sauce and the veggies are evenly distributed. Serve immediately, or place in the fridge to serve cold later.
Notes
Thank you for another delicious recipe, Lauren! I have used so many of yours now, I’ve lost count, and they’ve all been excellent. Cheers.
I love that you included olives and artichoke hearts in this recipe. It looks absolutely fabulous and summer ready!!
I was wondering what the abbreviation “C.” Stand for?
Cup!
C. means cup!
Love this pasta salad so much. I bumped up the veggies by adding cucumbers, green pepper, cauliflower florets instead of the artichokes) and used fresh halved cherry tomatoes. I also added fresh herbs (parsley, mint and oregano). I also added more cucumber in the sauce.
This is really good. I’ve made this twice so far, the first time i wasn’t paying attention and I forgot to add the cucumbers to the dressing, so added them chopped into the salad instead. It meant I had to add extra olive oil to get the dressing to blend up, but it gave it a richer, coarser texture that was actually really good – one guest thought it was ricotta, another guessed cottage cheese! The second time around I made it the correct way – much easier to blend and still delicious!
Is the 16 oz, pasta an uncooked measurement? I’m doubling the recipe and trying to figure out how much pasta.
I didn’t have fresh dill so I used dried (1 tsp) and I only had 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, but this was still insanely good! Thanks for another amazing recipe!
This is so good! I made it to make prep for my lunches this week. One change I made is that I subbed firm tofu for the almonds and added Dijon mustard instead of the milk to emulsify it all in the blender. Still came out super creamy! We have a nut allergy in the house so I don’t keep cashews on hand. I hope this helps someone who wants to try this but has a nut allergy. Great recipe as always! Thank you!
Oops I meant cashews not almonds!
How much tofu in place of cashews?TIA
Hands down our favorite summer pasta recipe!! We make this about once per month in the summer. I love the innovation of the sauce- mixing the cashews and cucumber, etc all together. It’s easy and tastes wonderful. It makes about two meals for my husband and I. Definitely try this one!!