“Cheesy” Italian Pasta Salad (vegan)

So this vegan “cheesy” Italian Pasta Salad recipe is ridiculously good. I mean pasta salad in general is good for a number of reasons. It’s super delicious, satisfying, quick and cheap. What else do you need, really?

Oh and it’s just as good warm or cold and perfect to take with you to school/work. Down with the sandwiches and boring salads I say! Also, it’s sometimes difficult to find a microwave on campus, or you just don’t want to carry soup in your bag.

(I can’t tell you how many time I spilled soup in my bag. I don’t want to talk about it.)

So yeah.

Olives, artichokes and basil are the ones responsible for that “Italian” taste, but my favorite thing is still the vegan “parmesan” aka nutritional yeast. I pour that thing on my food like there’s no tomorrow.

Like, I’m still waiting for the day when I come down with some illness because I ate too much nutritional yeast. It’s just so hard to stop. Oh, well.

In this recipe I made a “sauce” by mixing olive oil and nutritional yeast together. You can just put them directly on to the pasta and veggies but I like to keep things in order. 🙂

Of course, the 2 tablespoon that I wrote in the recipe is a “reasonable” amount. You can go crazy, but you’ll have to adjust the olive oil, because the pasta can get dry.

Oh, and another thing. I genuinely think, that pasta salads are much better cold. The flavors are just more intense. So give it a try and let me know how you liked it!

“Cheesy” Italian Pasta Salad

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"Cheesy" Italian Pasta Salad

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

This vegan pasta salad makes a great light lunch/dinner that you can enjoy warm or cold. Perfect to take with you to school and work.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 2 cup fusilli pasta dry
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes chopped
• 4 tbsp white beans (cooked)
• 15 black olives
• 15 green olives
• 3 artichoke hearts halved
• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3 tsp basil dried
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta in salted water, then drain. Place in a big, glass bowl.
   

2. In a smaller bowl, mix the olive oil and the nutritional yeast, creating the "cheese sauce".
   

3. Chop the veggies, then season with the salt, pepper and basil.
   

4. Mix the "cheese sauce" with the pasta, then add the veggies. If you have them on hand, garnish with fresh basil leaves.
   

5. Enjoy warm or cold!
   

Hey! Why not stir in some Arugula Salad too, making this dish extra-super healthy? 😉