Description
Elevate your next potluck or picnic with this fresh and flavorful gluten free Italian pasta salad! Ready in just over 30 minutes, it’s tossed with a zesty homemade Italian dressing (without mayo!), crisp veggies, sturdy chickpeas, fragrant herbs, parmesan cheese, briny olives and pepperoncini, and savory sliced salami. Every bite is bright, tangy, crunchy, and packed with classic Italian-inspired flavor. It’s an easy, crowd-pleasing side dish that’s perfect for summer BBQs, picnics, and warm-weather gatherings, with simple vegetarian and dairy-free options included in the recipe.
Ingredients
- For the Pasta Salad
- 1 12 ounce box GF pasta
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup olives
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced pepperoncini peppers
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup sliced salami or pepperoni
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, more or less to taste (optional)
- For the Italian Dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup red or white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a medium sized bowl whisk together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions in salted water. Drain well, do not rinse. Transfer still warm pasta to a large bowl and toss with about 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette. Move to the refrigerator to chill while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
- Assemble pasta salad. When pasta has cooled, toss together with drained chickpeas, olives, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, pepperoncini peppers, bell pepper, parsley, salami, parmesan cheese (reserve some to garnish), and remaining dressing.
- Season and store. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. Because gluten free pasta can be a little firm straight out of the refrigerator, allow it to sit out at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before digging in for the best texture .
- Serve and enjoy! Top with extra parmesan, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
To make a vegetarian version, simply omit the salami or pepperoni. And to make it vegan the only additional change you’ll want to make is to either leave out the parmesan or choose a plant-based parmesan cheese instead, and use maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing.
This pasta salad should keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, although the texture of the veggies will be best in the first 1-2 days.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Cold
- Cuisine: Italian
