Part healthy salad, part comforting pasta, this tikka masala pasta salad recipe has everything you love about your favorite Indian sauce in one bowl. Serve fresh or proceed for an easy vegetarian meal, and enjoy warm or cold. Gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free options.
Cravings for Indian food should not be taken lightly. However, when it’s too hot to make a hot and spicy tikka masala, but you’re still craving all that flavor, make this easy pasta salad quickly tossed with tikka masala dressing!
An Indian-inspired vegan pasta salad that’s satisfying, quick and easy, and made with simple everyday ingredients! I love how versatile pasta salad is. You can take it from many directions.
This vegetarian pasta salad is great as a main or a side dish. It’s bursting with slightly spicy and wonderfully aromatic Indian flavors and features a mayo-free creamy dressing and plenty of crunchy fresh vegetables.
Why You’ll Love This Tikka Masala Pasta Salad
- It comes together very quickly
- It is very tasty
- It has vegetables, pasta and tofu.
- It can be made gluten-free, nut-free and soy-free
- It satisfies both summer salad and smooth Indian food cravings!
More Vegan Pasta Salad Recipes:
Summer pasta salad with grilled vegetables
Tuscan Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Peanut Sesame Noodle Salad
Tabbouleh Pasta Salad
Southwestern Pasta Salad with Black Bean Dressing
Print recipe
Vegan Tikka Masala Pasta Salad
Part healthy salad, part comforting pasta, this Tikka Masala Pasta Salad recipe has everything you love about your favorite Indian curry in one bowl. Serve fresh or proceed for an easy vegetarian meal, and enjoy warm or cold. nut free Gluten-free soyfree alternatives
Serving: 4
Calories: 223kcal
material
For the salad:
- 4 ounce (113.4 g) Cook farfalle or other pasta according to package directions
- 1 Big tomatoes Slice or dice thinly
- 1/2 Green bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 the cup red onion to cut
- 6 to 7 ounce (170.1 g) Firm or extra firm tofu Cut or make thin slices or rectangles
- 3 to 4 table spoon Chopped pecans or other crunchy additions such as pumpkin seeds or flax seeds or walnuts
- 1/4 the cup Chopped coriander leaves
For the dressing:
- 2.5 table spoon Tomato paste
- 2 table spoon Use non-dairy yogurt or non-dairy cream substitutes such as coconut cream or cashew cream or blended tofu.
- 1 table spoon Lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Bell pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala Choice is more or less
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or paprika Choice is more or less
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Remove to low heat
- 1/2 teaspoon Dry fenugreek leaves Or use 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
- Optional: 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup chickpeas
instructions
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Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse in cold water and add to a bowl.
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Chop the vegetables you want to use then add them to a bowl. Add the tofu, cilantro and nuts or seeds and mix well.
Make the dressing:
-
Add all the dressing ingredients to a bowl and mix really well. If the dressing is too thick, add a tablespoon or so of water and mix. Heat it in a skillet or microwave until it boils. Then taste and adjust the salt and seasoning, it will be salty but it goes over the whole pot so you want to keep it a bit on the salty side. Heating the dressing helps to infuse the spices. Cool for a few minutes.
-
Add this dressing to your salad bowl, and toss to coat well. Taste and adjust the salt and flavor. Add more lemon juice if needed, more black pepper if needed. Top with some more fresh cilantro and let cool for 15 minutes or so before serving.
Comment
- Yogurt substitutes: Use another nondairy cream substitute such as coconut cream or cashew cream or blended silken tofu.
- sowfree: Add chickpeas instead of tofu.
- nuts : Omit pecans and add seeds of choice, use nut-free yogurt or non-dairy cream
- Gluten-free: Use gluten-free pasta
nutrition
nutrients
Vegan Tikka Masala Pasta Salad
No. per job
calories 223
Calories from fat 72
% Daily Value*
thick 8 grams12%
1 gram of saturated fat6%
Sodium 362 mg16%
potassium 330 mg9%
carbohydrates 30 grams10%
3g of fiber13%
5 grams of sugar6%
protein 10 grams20%
Vitamin A 682IU14%
Vitamin C 22 mg27%
calcium 92 mg9%
iron 2 mg11%
* Percent Daily Value is based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Ingredients:
- Pasta – Farfalle or any other shaped pasta cooked according to package directions
- Vegetables: Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions
- I like to toss some firm or extra firm tofu in the salad for added protein. You can slice it or cut it into thin slices or rectangles
- Chopped pecans are added for some crunch. Instead of pecans, you can use any other nut or seed such as pumpkin seeds or flax seeds or walnuts
- Freshly chopped cilantro adds some color – feel free to use parsley if you’re not a fan of cilantro.
- For the dressing, we mix tomato paste with non-dairy yogurt and lime juice
- Tikka Masala Spices: Salt, pepper, garam masala, coriander, garlic and onion powder, Kashmiri chilli powder or paprika and red spices.
- Dry fenugreek leaves make this taste extra authentic but you can omit it or add 1/4 tsp ground mustard.
- Another optional add-in would be 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup chickpeas or white beans.
Tips and Variations:
- Yogurt Sub: Use another nondairy cream substitute such as coconut cream or cashew cream or blended silken tofu.
- sowfree: Add chickpeas instead of tofu.
- nuts : Omit pecans and add seeds of choice
- gluten free: Use gluten free pasta
How to make Vegan Tikka Masala Pasta Salad:
Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse in cold water and add to a bowl.
Chop the vegetables you want to use then add them to a bowl. Add the tofu, cilantro and nuts or seeds and mix well.
Make the dressing:
Add all the dressing ingredients to a bowl and mix really well.
If the dressing is too thick, add a tablespoon or so of water and mix. Heat it in a skillet or microwave until it boils. Then taste and adjust the salt and flavor, it will be salty but it’s going all over the bowl so you want to keep it slightly salty. Heating the dressing helps to infuse the spices. Cool for a few minutes
Add this dressing to your salad bowl, and toss to coat well. Taste and adjust the salt and flavor. Add more lemon juice if needed, more black pepper if needed.
Top with some fresh cilantro, let it cool for 15 minutes or so then serve.
Storage:
For best results, keep your leftover pasta salad in a closed airtight container. As a rule of thumb, pasta salad lasts about 3-4 days if stored properly.
