Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad is the perfect dish to bring to a friends house, have at a barbecue, or pack for an easy lunch! Even better, this Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad is vegan, which means it is dairy free. Instead, it is covered in a creamy vegan yogurt dressing that even your non-vegan friends are sure to love.
What ingredients are needed?
To start, you’ll need any type of macaroni pasta. I love using elbow noodles for this recipe. Next, you’ll need celery, bell peppers, dill, peas, chickpeas, and red onion. For the dressing you’ll mix together vegan mayo, dairy free yogurt, pickle brine, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Notes on ingredients: To find the full recipe: scroll down to the recipe card for the complete recipe with measurements and specific instructions.
ingredients:
macaroni noodles (any brand will work)
chickpeas rinsed and drained (and mashed with a fork)
celery (adds a yummy crunch)
red bell pepper
red onion
steamed green peas
chopped fresh dill (packs a flavorful punch!)
Creamy dressing:
unsweetened dairy free yogurt (make sure to get unsweetened)
vegan mayo
pickle brine (or any brine from a pickled vegetable)
lemon juice
dijon mustard
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Allergen Substitutions
Gluten: Feel free to use any type of gluten free pasta that you enjoy!
Nuts: Any unsweetened plain dairy free yogurt will work
Onion: Can’t have onion? Use chopped pickles or cucumber!
How to make Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad
- Start by boiling water and making your noodles
- Then, chop up the celery, red pepper, dill, red onion
- Steam the green peas
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then mash them
- Add all of the dressing ingredients together and whisk together
- Next, in a large bowl, combine the noodles, veggies and dressing together
- Finally, mix all of the ingredients together and enjoy!
Tips for Success
Do not overcook the noodles! You want to be able to stir the noodles with the rest of the ingredients and the sauce without them breaking apart or getting mushy.
Dice the veggies the same size. Make sure all of the veggies are chopped about the same size. you do not want a big bite of onion!
Use a fork to mash. No masher? no problem! A fork will do the same thing when you are mashing the chickpeas.
Variations
Make the recipe have your own personal touch!
- Use any pasta shape or type! Not a fan of macaroni? Use elbows! Don’t have macaroni and don’t feel like going to the store? No problem!
- Add in extra veggies! Feel free to add in more than the recipe asks for, or a different type of veggie. (Just remember to adjust the dressing accordingly!)
How to Store Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad
Store the Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad in a container in the fridge for up to four days. This Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad is meant to be eaten cold, so do not heat it up. It will be just as good in the days following, and the noodles and veggies will soak up all of the sauce!
Get my salad recommendations:
- Wash your lettuce easily with this salad spinner
- Bamboo salad tongs for tossing
- I can’t live without this Huge bamboo salad bowl
Superfoods in Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad
- Chickpeas are high in fiber and great for preventing constipation. Chickpeas are also great for cardiovascular health!
- Celery is loaded with antioxidants like vitamin C! It is great for reducing inflammation in the body and the digestive tract.
- Red bell peppers are packed with vitamins and nutrients! Red bell peppers are know for helping visual health, as well as giving added vitamin A and C.
What should I make this dish for?
- Lunch with your besties
- A barbecue
- For a friend with a newborn
- A potluck dinner
- Apps and drinks night
- Card night
- Bring to a holiday dinner
- Salad bar
- Date night!
Vegan Tuna Pasta Salad (Yogurt Dressing!)
the ingredients
- 12 oz macaroni
- 15 oz can chickpeas
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 bell pepper diced red
- 1/2 cup onion diced red
- 1 cup peas steamed green
- 1/3 cup dill chopped fresh
creamy dressing
- 1/3 cup yogurt unsweetened dairy free
- 1/3 cup vegan mayo
- 3 tbsp pickle brine
- 1 lemon juice
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
instructions
- Cook the pasta, then rinse with cold water.
- Chop all of your vegetables to be the same size.
- Drain and rinse chickpeas then mash with a masher or fork.
- Whisk dressing ingredients together until combined.
- Add the pasta, mashed chickpeas, veggies and dressing together in a bowl. Stir well until well coated in the dressing!
- Enjoy!
This tastes amazing. I could eat it forever. Highly recommend.
Hi! Just curious how much lemon juice to add to the dressing? Is it 1 lemon juiced or is there a measurement missing? Thanks!
Hi! Taylor from team HealthyGirl here!
1 lemon juiced 🙂
Hey, sounds great but confused how it’s a tuna salad without tuna? What am I missing?
Tuna fish is not vegan, so this is a vegan tuna salad.
What kind of df yogurt do you prefer for dressings?
Siggis plain non flavored dairy free.
I’m not usually a pasta salad person, but the pickle brine in the dressing had me intrigued. I liked that this (and all her recipes) are very vegetable-forward. I used half the pasta and it still made plenty! Thank you!
This salad is delicious and easy to make!
What great salad. So filling and it has a great texture. The recipe is missing the pickle serving. On the instagram reel she shows adding pickles. But I went ahead and added 2 dilly pickles.
Hello
I want to try this salad and I was just wondering in the reel you added olive oil in the dressing , may I ask how much ?
Thank you
Hi! No Oil – Here are the ingredients for the dressing: Creamy dressing :
1/3 cup unsweetened dairy free yogurt
1/3 cup vegan mayo
3 tbsp pickle brine
1 lemon juiced
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder