Bright, zesty, and packed with deli style flavor, this chickpea pasta salad brings together tender pasta, juicy tomatoes, chickpeas, salami, and mozzarella for a hearty dish that’s ready in just 15 minutes.
Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Bright, tangy, and savory with fresh herbal flavor and a creamy finish, every bite is crisp, zesty, and refreshing.
- Why Make It: This budget friendly salad comes together quickly using fresh ingredients. It holds up better than lettuce based salads for a hearty favorite perfect for picnics and potlucks.
- Skill: A beginner friendly recipe that requires basic chopping, whisking, and mixing.
- Serving: Summer pasta salad serves an 8 serving, light dinner, hearty lunch, or as a side with grilled flank steak, chicken breasts, or shrimp skewers. It’s perfect for summer days when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.
Fresh Salad Ingredients
- Pasta: Short pastas like rotini, farfalle, cavatappi, fusilli, or bowtie are best. They will hold the vinaigrette and mix easily with chickpeas and tomatoes.
- Tomatoes: Grape tomatoes are sweet and come in a variety of colors, or use halved cherry tomatoes.
- Protein: Chickpeas, bocconcini, and salami are sources of protein.
- Vinaigrette: The dressing only needs garlic, a good olive oil, and white wine vinegar as the base.
- Basil: Is bright and peppery with a sweet, aromatic touch that is light, fresh, and vibrant.
Variations
- Leave out the salami and add in some olives, avocado, bell peppers, artichokes, or a plant based protein source for a vegetarian version.
- Swap in or add some pepperoni, prosciutto, cooked chicken cooked chicken, or turkey salami for added protein.
- Feta, cubed mozzarella, provolone, or goat cheese can be used in place of bocconcini.
- Instead of white wine vinegar, use red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, or lemon juice for a slightly different flavor.
- For a Greek inspired salad, use feta, red onion, cucumber, kalamata olives, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, or a Greek salad dressing. Add fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, or oregano.
How To Make Chickpea Pasta Salad
- Cook pasta, cool, then toss with tomatoes, chickpeas, and salami.
- Whisk dressing ingredients together and add to salad with basil (full recipe below).
- Season with salt and pepper before serving.
Leftover Pasta Salad
- Refrigerate chickpea pasta salad in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If storing longer consider using garlic powder instead of fresh.
- Garlic in oil dressing should always be carefully refrigerated and should not be kept too long due to botulism risk.
- To refresh leftovers, drain off excess liquid, stir gently, and add a little olive oil, vinegar, salt, or pepper before serving.
- Do not freeze pasta salad.
More Fresh Pasta Salads
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Chickpea Pasta Salad
This chickpea pasta salad is fresh, hearty, and full of Mediterranean flavor. It's loaded with tomatoes, chickpeas, salami, mozzarella, basil, and a simple vinaigrette.
Ingredients
- ¾ pound rotini pasta 12 ounces dry (6 cups cooked)
- 1 pound grape tomatoes halved (or cherry tomatoes)
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas rinsed and drained (garbanzo beans)
- 1 cup salami sausage chopped
- 1 cup small bocconcini balls halved (baby mozzarella)
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 7 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 10 leaves basil finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss pasta, tomatoes, chickpeas, salami, and bocconcini together.
- In a small dish, whisk together garlic, olive oil, and vinegar to make dressing.
- Add dressing and basil to the large bowl and toss everything together. Sprinkle with salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste.
Notes
- Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days because the dressing is made with fresh garlic.
- If stored longer, there is a risk that the garlic, which has extremely low acidity, may produce botulism, a serious toxin, and that is not a risk worth taking.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 367 | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 334mg | Potassium: 289mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 505IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients or garnish and is an estimate. It may change based on actual ingredients and cooking methods used.
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Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
That’s aweseome! So happy to hear that Raju!