Kick up your pasta salad game with this creamy, delicious Vegan Crack Pasta Salad. This vegan nod to Crack Pasta Salad is every bit as tasty and as addictive as the traditional classic. It is sure to be the talk of the town. Absolutely perfect for work lunches, picnics, potlucks, tailgates, and so much more, everyone will be standing in line to get some of this tastiness!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
As most of our Readers know, we LOVE a great pasta salad. You name the pasta salad, and we are going to try to Whole Food Plant Based it! Salads are kind of our thing! We simply can’t get enough! And THIS pasta salad has got to be right up there in the top 10!
“Crack”? Why Crack?
We certain didn’t invent the Crack Pasta Salad, these salads have been around for quite some time, but we haven’t seen too many vegan ones since the flavors can be a little hard to duplicate.
The Classic Crack Pasta Salad mostly consists of pasta (of course), bacon, cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing. I’ve seen quite a few variations of Crack Pasta Salads. Mom and I wanted to create a WFPB version that tasted amazing and lived up to its name.
Crack, because it is addictive and hard to stop eating it. Me, Mom, and Dad wolfed it down and kept going back for more until it was gone. It IS just that delish!
After creating quite a few kitchen tests, we landed on one that we think is awesomely delicious and we hope you will think so too.
I’ll let Mom tell you more!
Hi! Robin here.
MMmMmmM MmmMMM GOOD! If I can borrow Campbell’s Soup tag-line! This WFPB Crack Pasta Salad is crazy delicious. We all scored it a 10! I literally could not stop eating it. I could have eaten the whole dish all by myself. TP109 went crazy for it.
What’s kinda funny is that while I liked the Classic Crack Pasta Salad before I became Whole Food Plant Based, this version tastes like pure heaven to me. Maybe it’s just because food is just so much for interesting to me these days.
I love WFPB food! It’s always an adventure!
We hope you give this deliciousness a try! We just know you are going to love it!
If you try this awesome pasta salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products Used:
- High-Speed Blender
- Medium pot (to boil the pasta)
Vegan Crack Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 25 Minutes
- Total Time: 25 Minutes
- Yield: 4-6 Servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Kick up your pasta salad game with this creamy, delicious Vegan Crack Pasta Salad. Perfect for work lunches, picnics, potlucks, tailgates, and so much more!
Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients:
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked *
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened plain plant milk
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons water
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon reduced-sodium tamari *
- 2 teaspoons white miso *
- 1 teaspoon organic maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
Dressing Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon dried minced onions
- ¼ teaspoon dried ground mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons freeze dried chives *
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
Salad Ingredients:
- 2 cups frozen baby peas, thawed *
- 10 to 12 oz. fusilli pasta, cooked and cooled *
- ¾ cup red onion, fine dice
Optional Toppings:
- Freshly chopped chives
Instructions
- Place the cashews into a small bowl, cover with boiling water, soak for 20 minutes, then drain off the water, then add to a high-speed blender.
- Make the salad dressing by adding all the remaining Dressing Ingredients and Spice/Herb Ingredients into a high-speed blender, process until smooth and emulsified. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Place all the Salad Ingredients into a large bowl, toss gently, then add in the dressing, tossing gently as you go until everything is coated in the dressing. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.
Notes
Tips for Success:
- Amount of Pasta: While it is very tempting to use a full pound of pasta, we strongly recommend using the ingredient amount listed, 12 oz. The amount of dressing created is for 12 oz. Use 10 oz. of pasta if you want a very creamy salad. Use 12 oz. if you enjoy a lightly creamy salad.
- Fresh Chives versus Dried Chives: If using fresh chives, slice them, and add them with the red onions, peas, and pasta. Do not place them in the high-speed blender, they will turn the dressing into a muddy green color. We used dried chives which can be added to the high-speed blender.
- Cashews: Cashew cream-based dressings tend to seize up (thicken) when refrigerated. If your salad is too thick after being refrigerated, allow to sit on the counter for 30 minutes, stir. If still too thick, add a tablespoon or so of distilled white vinegar to the salad, stir to loosen it up.
- High-Speed Blender: Make sure you take a few extra moments to scrape every bit of that dressing goodness out the blender.
- Peas: Do not used canned peas. They are too tender and mushy. We recommend baby sweet peas. They are small and firm. Thaw them out to room temperature or lightly defrost (not cook) in the microwave, then run under cold water, shake to remove any excess water. You can also use fresh peas from the garden, just blanch them and run under cold water, shake to remove any excess water.
Notes Continued:
*Cashew Substitutes: You can substitute the cashews for sunflower seeds, silken tofu, or white beans. We have not tried any substitutes. Using substitutes will change the flavor and texture of the salad. You may need to adjust seasonings and other ingredients accordingly.
*Frozen Baby Sweet Peas: We used Birds Eye Frozen Baby Sweet Peas. You can substitute the sweet peas for tiny blanched broccoli florets if you wish.
*Miso: We used Miso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free. Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil. You can also use chickpea miso for a soy free version. The miso really helps balance the flavors in this recipe. We don’t recommend removing it.
*Gluten Free Pasta: If using a gluten free pasta, then you know the issues with refrigerating gluten free pasta. Some GF pastas really tighten up in the refrigerator making for a very unpleasant eating experience when served cold. We absolutely loved this pasta salad right after making it at room temperature. It was crazy delicious. If you do have to refrigerate it before serving or refrigerate any left-overs, we suggest removing it from the fridge about 30 minutes before serving. We have found Tinkyada Gluten Free Pasta and Bionaturae Organic Gluten Free Pasta work well in refrigerated GF pasta salads. We used Delallo Gluten Free Fusilli Pasta made from brown rice. You can use your favorite pasta. Elbow pasta works well too.
*Freeze-Dried Chives: We used Penzeys Freeze-Dried Chives. Feel free to use your favorite freeze-dried chives or fresh chives.
*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 5 days.
*Servings: 4 to 6
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I’m confused. How is pasta a whole food? It’s made with flour.
Hi there Adelaide 🙂
Pasta is 100% Whole Food Plant Based when made of whole foods like: whole wheat flour, brown rice, beans & legumes, etc. Unfortunately, the term “Whole Food Plant Based” is often taken too literal and in an incorrect way. The Whole Food Plant Based Diet does include minimally processed foods like the pastas mentioned above. All the WFPB “founding father doctors” include pasta of this nature mentioned above in the Whole Food Plant Based Diet.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I just made this with a slight variation as I didn’t have frozen peas. Oh my goodness this is so good and easy to make!
Hi there Vedette 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful review. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This is delicious, and so easy to make! I used 10oz of pasta (was not gluten free) and the creaminess was just right for me. Wonderful flavors; I will definitely make again!
Hi there Dorothy 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this with walnuts since I didn’t have cashews and while it wasn’t as smooth and creamy, it was still delicious!
Hi there Carla 🙂
We are happy that you enjoyed this recipe Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This is a lovely pasta salad. I had to sub tahini and edamame for the cashews and peas, but the result was still delicious!
Hi there Alicia 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Ladies, this pasta salad is amazing! I made twice the dressing in case it dried out a little in the fridge…not sure it’s going to last that long so now I get to make more later in the week! Love your recipes!
Hi there Mandi 🙂
Awesome!!!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Thank you so much for taking time to write us an awesome review!
-Ameera and Robin
This was delicious!!
Hi there Valerie 🙂
YAYYYYY!!! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us an awesome review!
-Ameera and Robin
Please don’t take this as a criticism. I love your recipes and make a lot of them. Why do you ( and others it seems) use 12 oz of pasta? Wouldn’t it make sense to use 16oz since it comes packaged that way? Thanks.
Hi there Colleen 🙂
Thank you so much for enjoying our recipes. We appreciate you and your support. As to your question about the amount of pasta we use in our recipes. We typically use 12 oz. of pasta because most Whole Grain Pastas like lentil, chickpea, soy, other bean pastas come in 12 oz. packages.
I hope this helps.
-Ameera and Robin
Yes, now I get it. Thanks you!
I made this for a family gathering where I was the only WFPB person and everyone loved it! Definitely adding it to my favorite recipes. I might even make the dressing for salads, etc. Thank you!!
Hi there Darcey,
YAYYYY!!! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. We appreciate the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
This has become one of our favorite recipes, ever. The dressing is so amazingly delicious with so much umami flavor that I started making the dressing in double batches, one to use in the pasta salad recipe and another to use as a mayo-like spread for vegan burgers, sandwiches, or wraps. It can also be watered down to use a dressing on buddha bowls which is one of our all-time favorite customizable meals.
Kudos to Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures for their amazingly flavorful, healthy whole food plant-based recipes!
Hi there Kim,
YAYYYYYY!!! We are so happy that this recipe is a favorite! We love the dressing too! We are thrilled that you using the dressing in other ways! Very cool! Thank you so much for taking time to leave us an awesome review!
-Ameera and Robin
This was SO good! I didn’t even have the chives or parsley and it was still delicious! Thank you!
Hi there Madison,
WOOO HOOOO!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a great review.
-Ameera and Robin
We had this for the first time tonight, and like all other recipes on your website, it did not disappoint! It’s creamy, flavorful, and filling.
My children had multiple servings and asked to make this a normal part of our dinner rotations. Thank you for making another family favorite for our household!
Hi there Celicia,
YAYYY!!! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. So nice to read that children enjoyed it as well. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a great review.
-Ameera and Robin
Made this tonight to use up some leftover pasta! We actually didn’t have as much leftover pasta as the recipe calls for so it was more of a pea/pasta recipe that totally worked! I’m all for more veg any day! Thank you for coming up with this recipe! it’s going to go into our summer rotation! I have plans! Lots of plans for this base! Thank you so much!
Hi there Myra,
WOOT!!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the great review. We appreciate it.
-Ameera and Robin
I made this salad but added romaine lettuce as well. So good!!!
Hi there Mary,
YAYYYYY!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this salad. Thank you so much for the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin