If you love Mexican food, then you are going to love this Vegan Taco Pasta Salad! I am obsessed with both pasta and Mexican food (like Mexican Quinoa and Taco Casserole) but the two combined are so delicious! This is meal-prep friendly too. Other delicious recipes you’ll enjoy are Bean Sweet Potato Tacos, Cashew Sour Cream, and Mango Salsa.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Healthy Meal: This vibrant taco pasta salad is packed with fiber-rich lentils, roasted veggies, and complex carbohydrates from the pasta.
- Meal Prep Friendly: Leave the avocado sauce on the side and this taco pasta salad makes for the perfect lunch or dinner meal prep.
- Skip Takeout: You can skip the takeout food and make this Mexican-inspired pasta salad instead!
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Notes on Ingredients
- Pasta: I used rotini but any shape pasta works. You can also use gluten-free if needed.
- Lentils: Used to make a “lentil taco meat” that gets added to the pasta salad. Feel free to swap with black beans.
- Cilantro: I used Organic Cilantro from Josie’s Organics.
Please take note that this is important information about the ingredients used in this recipe and the FULL recipe with measurements and details can be found DOWN BELOW in the recipe card.
How do you make Vegan Taco Pasta Salad?
- Boil the pasta and warm the lentils.
- While pasta cooks, sauté corn, peppers and onion in a pan.
- In a large bowl, add the pasta, lentils, veggie-mixture, spices, diced tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro, then mix together.
- Make the avocado cilantro dressing in a blender.
- Pour dressing over top and enjoy!
- Step 1: First, boil the pasta and toss the lentils in taco spices and warm in a pan.
- Step 2: Then, sauté the peppers, corn, and onion until soft.
- Step 3: Chop the cilantro.
- Step 4: Finally, make the avocado cilantro dressing in a blender, add all of the pasta ingredients to a bowl, toss, and enjoy!
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Commonly Asked Questions
Store leftover pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Leftovers can be enjoyed warm or cold. If eating as leftovers, I recommend storing the avocado dressing on the side.
Add all of the dressing ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy.
I used the fresh organic cilantro for my vegan taco pasta from Josie’s Organics, an amazing all organic company that grows their produce in the fertile California Valley. Their family farming business dates back to the 1920’s, when two young Swiss immigrants, Sebastian and Josie Braga decided to start growing beets, tomatoes, onions, hay and corn. Today, three generations later, the organic family farming tradition is being kept alive! Josie’s Organics harvests over 25 varieties of USDA certified organic veggies. If I see Josie’s Organics in the grocery store, I snatch it up because it’s truly such fresh produce. You can find their produce at stores like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Sprouts and many more. Josie’s Organics doesn’t use any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides on their farms. This is so important! Be sure to look out for Josie’s Organics in your local store!
“This was delish!!! Made it tonight and LOVED it! I attached a pic on Pinterest and wish I could here. I used red lentil pasta and I love everything about it. Thanks!!! 😋”
– Rose Ann
Extra Helpful Tips
- Use gluten-free noodles if needed to make this recipe gluten-free.
- If using canned, be sure to rinse and drain your lentils (or black beans) well before.
- If you want no spice, omit the jalapeno juice and pickled jalapenos. If you want more spice, feel free to add more.
If you tried this Vegan Taco Pasta Salad or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 5-star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Vegan Taco Pasta Salad (easy!)
Equipment
Ingredients
Avocado Cilantro Dressing
- 2 avocados ripe
- 1 cup cilantro fresh
- 3 limes juiced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon jalapeno juice optional if you want a bit of heat
Taco Pasta
- 16 oz pasta I used rotini shape
- 16 oz french brown lentils cooked can substitute 2 cans black beans
- 1 cup cilantro chopped I use Josie’s Organics
- 2 tomatoes diced
- ½ cup red onion diced
- 2 bell peppers diced
- 1 cup corn about 2 cobs
- ¼ cup pickled jalapenos diced can omit for no spice
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
Instructions
Taco Pasta
- Make pasta, rinse and drain.
- While pasta cooks, saute corn, peppers and onion in a pan until cooked. Add salt + pepper to taste.
- In a large bowl, add the pasta, warmed cooked lentils, cooked veggies, spices, diced tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro, then mix together.
- Pour dressing over top and enjoy! Leftovers are delicious eaten warm or cold.
Avocado Cilantro Dressing
- Blend all dressing ingredients in a blender and pour over the pasta.
Notes
- Use gluten-free noodles if needed to make this recipe gluten-free.
- If using canned, be sure to rinse and drain your lentils (or black beans) well before.
- If you want no spice, omit the jalapeno juice and pickled jalapenos. If you want more spice, feel free to add more.
Laynie says
Made this for dinner tonight. We typically have tacos on Tuesday-doesn’t everyone? I was struggling with facing them for some reason, so this seemed like a great option. We liked it very much. My only tweak I would recommend and would do next time, is to add the spices to the sautéed veggies for the last couple of minutes to cook them. I think adding them “raw” on the cooked pasta and veggies left them tasting a little harsh and underdeveloped. I ended up adding the pasta back into the pot with a little water to cook a bit and it was better. Thanks for a great recipe
Joanne says
Looks delicious! I am counting calories can you provide the nutrition factors per serving please?
Thanks
Danielle Keith says
If you add up the ingredients in a food calculator you can divide by the amount of servings you will be splitting it up into. 🙂 Hope you like it!
Rose Ann says
This was delish!!! Made it tonight and LOVED it! I attached a pic on Pinterest and wish I could here. I used red lentil pasta and I love everything about it. Thanks!!! 😋
Danielle Keith says
Oh WOW! I am so happy you loved the taco pasta!
Beth says
So delicious! Another great recipe!
Sarah Rumney says
Another great recipe! So, so delish! I did not end up adding the jalapeño juice to the dressing, just the 1/4 c diced jalapeño, and it had plenty of kick for me. Thank you!
Lynn says
Sounds delicious! Do you mix the avocado sauce in, or just dab on top? I’m making this tomorrow 😛
Laura says
This recipe was amazing! Thank you!
Julie C says
This recipe is incredible! So flavorful and tastes good warm or cold. I used the Barilla protein rotini pasta in it. I am so excited to have a new recipe that I love so much! Thank you and I can’t wait to make some more of the recipes on your website!
Jordan from the HealthyGirl Team says
Easy delicious pasta salad!!!