This warm pasta salad is a delicious spring time recipe packed with veggies! It’s perfect for lunch, dinner, or even meal prep! It’s coated in a delicious homemade white wine vinaigrette with the option to add chicken for extra protein!
Once spring hits and the temperature rises, I start to crave all the light, fresh ingredients. This warm pasta salad is perfect for spring because it’s fresh, but still served warm. This is an oldie but a goodie that I’ve been making for our family for years! So happy that it finally has a place on the blog π
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Brown Rice Pasta: You can use any pasta here, but for gluten-free pasta, I find that brown rice pasta has the best flavor and texture!
Produce: You’ll need a red bell pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil leaves. I also topped mine with beautiful basil microgreens!
Seasonings: Oregano, Sea Salt, and Pepper.
Olive Oil: For the base of the vinaigrette dressing.
White Wine Vinegar: For the other part of the vinaigrette dressing.
Chicken Breast: I personally like adding diced chicken to my pasta salad to add some protein, but this is completely optional!
how to make warm spring pasta salad:
This recipe is incredibly quick and easy to make. It’s perfect for lunch, dinner, or even meal prep! I prefer to serve it warm, but as with other pasta salad recipes, you can eat this recipe cold too.
Step One: Boil your pasta to al dente.
Step Two: Chop your produce: bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, and fresh basil.
Step Three: Dice and sautΓ© the chicken with a touch of oil, salt, and pepper.
Step Four: Combine all the ingredients. Once your pasta is drained (and still warm) add the bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, white wine vinegar, and olive oil. Mix until it’s all combined and coated in the vinaigrette. After this, mix in the diced chicken.
Step Five: Serve! Season with a little bit more salt and pepper to taste. Like I said, I like to serve this warm right after combining. Enjoy π
Warm Spring Pasta Salad
Equipment
- Boiling Pot
- Saute Pan
Ingredients
- 14 oz brown rice pasta rotini
- 1 red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1/2 red onion finely chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1/2 tbsp oregano
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- cracked black pepper to taste
- 1Β½ chicken breasts optional: diced into small pieces
Instructions
- Start by boiling the brown rice pasta in a large pot. While the pasta boils, chop your veggies.
- In another pan, sautΓ© the diced chicken with a little bit of oil, seasoned with salt and pepper until fully cooked through. Set aside.
- Once the pasta is al dente, drain the water and add it back to the pot. To the pot, add the chopped bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, oregano, olive oil, and white wine vinegar. Mix until everything is combined and coated in the vinaigrette.
- Add the diced, cooked chicken and mix until it's all combined. Season with more salt and pepper. Serve warm and enjoy!