This Green Goddess Pasta Salad is going to be your summer staple! It has so much flavor from the herb-filled Green Goddess dressing, with a rich creaminess from the fresh avocado. Serve this chilled and make extra dressing to use with other dishes!
Here's a little fun fact about myself: if the words "Green" and "Goddess" are in something, you can bet I will be eating it! In all seriousness, though, green goddess dressing is the best there is. Aside from its obvious beauty (there's a reason they call her a goddess), it is SO flavorful and creamy!
Many recipes for a green goddess dressing utilize mayo or greek yogurt for its rich and creamy aspect. To keep this recipe plant-based, we used fresh avocado which only enhances the green color! Another swap involves using the capers. Traditional green goddess actually uses anchovies for a bright salty flavor. Capers maintain a briny saltiness that helps the other flavors shine through!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- So Simple! The only "cooking" required is boiling the pasta and blending the ingredients! So easy!
- Packed Full of Flavors! With herbs like dill, chives, basil, and parsley, as well as fresh lemon and bright capers, you won't be at a loss for flavor.
- Perfect for Summer! Since this dish is served cold, it is perfect to take with you for a summer picnic.
What You Need For This Recipe
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Short Pasta - Use any pasta shape you like for this! I used trumpet-shaped pasta, which is similar to campanelle. I recommend a short pasta shape, but anything will work!
- Fresh Herbs - Parsley, dill, chives, and basil. I don't recommend skipping any of these, but feel free to add others!
- Avocado - The avocado makes this dressing creamy without using any dairy! If you're not a fan of avocado, I still recommend using it as there isn't a strong avocado flavor or mushy texture. If you must replace it, try looking for a plant-based yogurt or even add a scoop of vegan mayo!
- Capers - Since traditional green goddess has anchovies (canned fish), capers are the best substitute since they are briny and salty.
- Lemon Juice & Zest - To add brightness!
- Shallot - If you can't find shallot, I recommend adding an extra garlic clove.
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Salt
Tools:
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Boil the Pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook 12 ounces of your pasta of choice until cooked past al dente.
Since this is a chilled pasta, we want to cook it a little bit past al dente so that it doesn't get crunchy when it cools.
Follow the box instructions for specific directions.
Once cooked, drain the pasta, rinse, and let it cool.
For more flavor, cook the pasta in the Instant Pot!
- Add 12 ounces of pasta to your Instant Pot with 3 cups of water or vegetable broth.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on HIGH for 5 minutes, then naturally release the pressure for 5 minutes.
- After the 5 minutes of natural release are up, set the valve to venting and quickly release remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and either drain and rinse the pasta, or keep it extra starchy and add the dressing right to the pasta and stir to combine!
This method will cook the pasta faster and, if you use broth, will infuse extra flavor.
Step 2: Make the Green Goddess Dressing
To a food processor or high powered blender, add all of the herbs, the avocado, the capers, lemon juice and zest, salt, garlic cloves, shallot pieces, and the olive oil.
Blend on high until well combined. You may need to scrape down the sides and blend multiple times.
If necessary, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to thin it out.
Step 3: Make the Pasta Salad
Use a rubber spatula and scoop all of the dressing out onto the cooked pasta.
Mix very well until completely combined.
Taste and feel free to add a bit more salt or capers for garnish!
Expert Tips
- If you want the dressing to feel more like an oil and vinegar-based pasta salad, increase the amounts of olive oil and lemon juice!
- For an extra creamy dressing, add a few scoops of dairy-free yogurt or vegan mayonnaise to the food processor before blending!
- While I don't recommend omitting any of the herbs listed, I encourage you to add other herbs as you wish! A few mint leaves, green onions, tarragon, etc. would be delicious!
Recipe FAQs
Traditionally, Green Goddess dressing consists of anchovy, mayonnaise, sour cream, and lots of herbs such as chives, parsley, and tarragon. This recipe is made vegan by using avocado instead of mayonnaise and sour cream, and capers instead of anchovy!
The best thing about pasta salad is that you can make it far in advance since it is served cold! Since this recipe does use fresh avocado, I wouldn't recommend making it more in advance than the night before to avoid browning.
Add more olive oil and lemon juice to prevent pasta salad from being dry and sticky! Also, rinse the pasta after it is cooked to remove extra starches that encourage sticking.
If You Enjoyed This Recipe, You May Also Like:
Vegan Spring Green Pasta With Mint and Dill
Better Than Olive Garden 5-Ingredient Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Creamy Green Asparagus Parsley Soup (Vegan & Gluten-Free)
📖 Recipe
Green Goddess Pasta Salad (Vegan)
Equipment
- Food Processor or Blender
- Large Pot
- Knife
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Short Pasta
- ½ Avocado (80 grams or 3 ounces)
- ½ cup Chopped Curly Parsley
- 5-7 Basil Leaves
- 1½ tablespoon Chopped Chives
- ½ tablespoon Fresh Dill
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
- 6 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- ½ tablespoon Capers
- 1 clove Raw Garlic
- ¼ Large Shallot roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Water (as needed)
Instructions
- Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil
- Cook your pasta of choice according to the box instructions. Cook until pasta is past al dente.
- Drain and rinse pasta
- To a food processor or high-powered blender, add all of the herbs, the avocado, the capers, lemon juice and zest, salt, garlic cloves, shallot pieces, and the olive oil.
- Blend on high until well combined. You may need to scrape down the sides and blend multiple times.
- If necessary, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to thin it out.
- Use a rubber spatula and scoop all of the dressing out onto the cooked pasta.
- Mix very well until completely combined.
- Taste and feel free to add a bit more salt or capers for garnish!
Notes
- If you want the dressing to feel more like an oil and vinegar-based pasta salad, increase the amounts of olive oil and lemon juice!
- For an extra creamy dressing, add a few scoops of dairy-free yogurt or vegan mayonnaise to the food processor before blending!
- While I don't recommend omitting any of the herbs listed, I encourage you to add other herbs as you wish! A few mint leaves, green onions, tarragon, etc. would be delicious!
- Nutrition Information is for 1 serving which is ⅙th of the entire pasta salad. One serving is 2 ounces of dry pasta.
- Calories: 266 kcal
- Total Fat: 7 grams
- Total Carb: 44.3 grams
- Total Protein: 7.5 grams
Marcy says
I was very excited to try this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly, and for me, it turned out overly lemony. The lemon overpowered the other flavors. I added the other half of the avocado and a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt, it helped a tad. I would make this again! But would add less lemon juice for my taste. Thank you!!
Emily says
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, Marcy! I will definitely keep this feedback in mind for future recipes. I tend to like a lot of lemon flavor, but know that everyone doesn’t! I’m glad you were able to tweak it to your liking 🙂
Laura says
We made this for our Memorial Day cookout. It was so good and a big hit! I will be making this again!
Tammy says
This recipe was so good. I loved the bright fresh color and flavor. I made it for a family gathering over the summer, and it disappeared. I added a little bit of extra salt!
Cece says
I made this last night and it was really good. I could taste the lemon which is great because I love lemon. I used a whole avocado because I didn't want to waste the other half. I also spinkled the dish with lemon pepper since I felt it needed a touch of seasoning. This receipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing!