This Basil Pesto Carrot Chickpea Protein Pasta Salad is a cold, vegetarian, salad recipe that has shredded carrot, basil pesto, chopped celery, chickpeas, and protein Penne pasta.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Basil Pesto Carrot Chickpea Protein Pasta Salad
Hi Everyone, I've been trying to share more of what I really make for dinner and meals here on the blog these past few years. This vegetarian, protein pasta salad is exactly the kind of thing that I would make in warmer weather or just year round as a meal prep option to have during the week for quick meal.
It uses my Basil Pesto recipe with fresh basil from my garden but you can use any other pesto recipe or even store bought if you don't feel like making a pesto from scratch (although it's super easy!).
If you don't have chickpeas, you can use any other can of beans, just make sure they are drained and rinsed.
For the protein pasta, our family has been using the Barilla brand with success for a year or so. It tastes more like normal pasta and other alternative pastas we have tried. (This is not a sponsored post for Barilla, we just like it and use it a lot with our home cooking).
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For meal prep, if we have a huge bag of carrots, I use a food processor to shred them and then integrate the shredded carrot into recipes throughout the week as a way to get more veggies into the food we eat.
RELATED: Vegetarian Lasagna
If you keep cans of chickpeas (or beans would work too), around in your pantry like we do, it's so easy to just open up the can, drain it and utilize it in this salad.
The rice vinegar (or your favorite light tasting vingegar) in this recipe is optional, you will probably get enough flavor from the Basil Pesto and Mayonnaise but if you feel that it needs extra tang, then by all means add some in to get the right balance of flavors.
RELATED: Pan-Fried Chickpeas and Almond Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites on SoFabFood
If you try this Basil Pesto Carrot Chickpea Protein Pasta Salad recipe and like it, please give it a rating in the recipe card below and let us know in the comments.
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RELATED: Lemon Chicken Piccata Penne Pasta and Apple Carrot Raisin Chicken Salad
Thank you for reading and following along!
Basil Pesto Carrot Chickpea Protein Pasta Salad
This Basil Pesto Carrot Chickpea Protein Pasta Salad is a cold, vegetarian, salad recipe has shredded carrot, basil pesto, chopped celery, chickpeas and protein Penne pasta.
Ingredients
- 1 box (14.5 ounce/411 grams) cooked Protein Penne Pasta (we use Barilla brand), made ahead and chilled
- 1 can (15.5 ounce/439 grams) chickpeas, low sodium, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup shredded carrot (use peeled carrots)
- ½ cup basil pesto, or amount to taste**
- 1-2 stalks celery, washed, ends cut, chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons regular mayonnaise (or same amount vegan mayonnaise)
- ¼ yellow or sweet onion, thinly sliced, optional
- Kosher salt, amount to taste
- fresh ground black pepper, amount to taste
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or other mild, light, optional, amount to taste*
- fresh chopped basil, optional, amount to taste, for serving
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the chilled pasta, chickpeas, basil pesto, shredded carrot, chopped celery, optional sliced onion, mayonnaise and optional rice vinegar toss together. Season with Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, add any additional ingredients to adjust to your tastes and add optional fresh basil for serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- *the rice vinegar or other mild, light vinegar is optional but it does add a little more flavor and tang, if you feel that it needs more flavor
- **Basil Pesto recipe on the blog
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 289Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 379mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 5gSugar: 4gProtein: 12g
Please note that the Calculated Nutrition is an estimate at best.
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