Hummus Pasta Salad
Hummus pasta salad is the perfect weekday lunch or dinner that is ready in just 15 minutes and packed with flavor. Great for cookouts, potlucks, parties or meal prep, this creamy Mediterranean pasta salad is so easy to make and perfect for any occasion.
Why you will love this recipe
- Hummus pasta is creamy and pairs perfectly with fresh veggies to make pasta salad! Unlike typical pasta salad, this recipe uses hummus for the pasta sauce, which is so easy to make and packed with flavor! You are going to love this combination once you try it!
- Versatile and simple! This recipe is so easy to change based on what you have on hand. Use whatever veggies you have and change the flavors easily by choosing a different hummus. You can’t get much easier than that! Trust me once you try hummus in salad, you never going to want salad without it!
- Filling lunch or dinner! This creamy Mediterranean pasta salad is the perfect light summer lunch or dinner. Pair with your favorite protein to make it even more filling! This vegan hummus pasta is even more filling with lentil or chickpea pasta.
- Budget friendly! This is a great way to use up your summer garden veggies! Make your own hummus using dried beans or lentils to make this dish even more budget friendly!
Ingredients
- Cooked pasta – I like to use a lentil or chickpea pasta to make this recipe gluten free and more filling. Chickpea and lentil pasta are both great sources of protein and fiber and instantly make this dish more hearty! You can use your favorite gluten free noodle to make this recipe.
- Hummus – Use your favorite homemade or store bought hummus for this recipe. It’s important that you love the flavor of the hummus though because it’s the star of this pasta salad.
- Lemon juice – Lemon juice helps to brighten up the dish and help all the flavors amplify.
- Tahini – Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds and is usually an ingredient in hummus. Tahini helps to make this hummus pasta sauce a bit creamier.
- Water – water helps to thin out the hummus pasta sauce so that it will coat the pasta without being too thick. Start with just 1 or 2 tbsp. and you can add more as you go if needed (depending on how thick your hummus is).
- Salt – Salt helps all the flavors in the dish pop.
- Red onion – red onions add color and flavor to the dish. When soaked in red wine vinegar, the acidic bite is removed from the onion, helping to mellow them out.
- Red wine vinegar – soak the onions in vinegar before adding to the salad to help mellow out the onions. The red wine vinegar goes into the salad once the onions are done marinating and it helps to brighten the salad.
- Cucumber, tomatoes, red bell pepper – these veggies help to add crunch, color and texture to the pasta salad! Use whatever veggies you have on hand.
How to make hummus pasta salad
Check out the step by step story on how to make vegan hummus pasta salad.
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.
While pasta is cooking, slice the red onion and add the red wine vinegar to the onions. Stir occasionally while pasta is cooking.
Make the hummus pasta sauce by combining the hummus, lemon juice, tahini, water and salt in a bowl or measuring cup. Stir well to combine. If sauce seems really thick and hard to stir, add 1 tbsp. of water at a time until it’s easier to stir.
When pasta is done cooking, drain the water and rinse well with cold water to stop the cooking process and cool off the noodles to make pasta salad.
Chop the rest of the veggies.
In a large bowl combine the cooked and cooled pasta, chopped veggies, red onion + red wine vinegar and hummus pasta sauce. Stir well.
Serve immediately or store in the fridge a few hours before serving.
Top tips
- Be sure to use a hummus that you love – the flavor/quality of the hummus makes this dish! I love everything bagel lentil hummus or for this recipe, it’s budget friendly and I always have the ingredients on hand! Butter bean hummus would also be great in this recipe!
- To help remove that harsh bite from onions, soak the onions in vinegar for a few minutes before adding the onions to the salad. This helps to make the onions a bit sweeter and easier to tolerate raw.
- Thin out the hummus with water, only add a little at a time to ensure it doesn’t get too thin. If you notice your hummus pasta sauce is too thin, add more hummus directly to the pasta.
- When served with hot pasta, it’s almost like an alfredo sauce because of the texture of the sauce. If you want to serve this hot, you may want to replace the cucumbers with zucchini.
- Salt your cooking water with a few tablespoons of salt – don’t worry you rinse most of the salt away. Salting the water helps to give the noodles more flavor as they will absorb the salt while cooking.
Other veggies you could use
- Artichoke hearts (jarred or packed in water and cut into bite size pieces)
- Roasted red peppers
- Spinach or baby kale
- Zucchini or summer squash (thinly cut or cooked first)
- Asparagus (grilled, roasted or sauteed)
- Mushrooms (roasted or sauteed)
- Sundried tomatoes
- Finely chopped broccoli florets (raw or sauteed)
- Avocado
- Kalamata olives (pitted)
- Capers
Other flavors combinations to try
Easily change the flavor of this dish by changing the hummus! Some great options include:
- Roasted red pepper hummus – serve with sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and asparagus
- Pesto hummus – serve with artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, spinach and tomatoes
- Creamy roasted cauliflower hummus – serve with tomatoes, red onion, spinach and kalamata olives
- Cilantro jalapeno hummus – serve with peppers, onions, avocado and pickled jalapeno.
Ways to make this recipe more filling
This hummus pasta salad is a great side dish for cookouts, parties or weeknight meals. It would also be a great light lunch or dinner, especially if served with a lentil or chickpea pasta. Other ways to make it more filling include:
- Protein: Add your favorite protein (chicken, salmon, shrimp, tofu, chickpeas or cooked lentils)
- Healthy fats: Add avocado, olives, sunflower seeds or hemp hearts
- Fiber: Use a high fiber pasta like chickpea or lentil pasta or add chickpeas, lentils, white beans to the salad.
Can you make this hummus pasta lower in carbs?
Yes! You can use a low carb pasta instead! Zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash or even hearts of palm noodles would be a great alternative to cooked pasta.
You could also make this with cauliflower rice (cooked and cooled) to make it more of a rice style salad.
You can also use a cauliflower based hummus instead of one based from chickpeas or lentils to lower the carbs.
Storing leftovers
Store leftover hummus pasta salad in the fridge for up to 3 days.
If you want to store this in the freezer, only combine the hummus and pasta together and freeze. The veggies will get mushy when reheating so I don’t recommend freezing them. Store frozen hummus + pasta in freezer for up to 3 months in a freezer safe bag. I like to use Souper cubes to measure out 1 cup portions for easy use later on.
Substitutions
- Cooked pasta: You can use cooked quinoa, rice, orzo, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash or cauliflower rice in place of the pasta.
- Hummus: Use whatever your favorite hummus is. You can make it from artichoke hearts, cauliflower, carrots, lentils, white beans or chickpeas. Feel free to use homemade or store bought!
- Tahini: Tahini is made from crushed sesame seeds (just like peanut butter is made from peanuts). It’s creamy and has a distinct sesame seed flavor. You could also use almond butter, sunflower seed butter or cashew butter in place of the tahini or you could use extra virgin olive oil depending on what you have on hand.
- Lemon juice: Lemon juices helps to brighten all the flavors. You could use 1-1.5 tbsp. red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar in place of the lemon juice.
- Red onion + red wine vinegar: If you don’t plan on adding red onions you still want to add 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar or use a whole lemon instead of half a lemon to ensure there is a balance to the hummus pasta sauce. If you don’t have red onion or don’t love red onion in recipes, you could also use about ¼ cup chopped green onion in place of the red onion.
- Veggies: Use whatever veggies you have on hand. See the list above for ideas.
If you love this recipe, you should try
- Creamy Lemon Tahini Pasta
- Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta
- Italian Quinoa Salad
- Greek White Bean Salad
- Italian White Bean Salad
- White Bean Pasta Sauce
Hummus Pasta Salad
$7.96 Recipe/$1.99 ServingIngredients
- 8 oz dried pasta, cooked - $1.99
- 1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin - $0.17
- 3 tbsp. red wine vinegar - $0.56
- 1 cup hummus - $1.50
- 1 tbsp. tahini - $0.21
- 2 tbsp. water - $0.00
- 1/2 medium lemon, juiced - $0.21
- 1/2 tsp sea salt - $0.03
- 1 cup chopped tomato - $1.00
- 1 medium english cucumber, chopped - $1.00
- 1 medium bell pepper, chopped - $1.29
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.
- While the pasta is cooking, slice the red onion. Add the onion to a bowl and cover with red wine vinegar. Stir occasionally.
- After onions are sliced, make the hummus pasta sauce. In a bowl combine the hummus, tahini, lemon juice, water and salt. Stir well. If the sauce seems too thick, add 1 tbsp. water at a time until the sauce reaches desired consistency.
- When pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta and rinse it with cold water until the pasta is cold.
- Add cooked and cooled pasta to a large bowl.
- Chop the rest of the ingredients (tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper) and add them to the bowl with the pasta.
- Add the red onions and red wine vinegar to the pasta along with the hummus pasta sauce.
- Stir to combine all the ingredients in a large bow. Serve immediately or let rest in fridge 2-3 hours.
Notes
- Roasted red pepper hummus – serve with sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and asparagus
- Pesto hummus – serve with artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, spinach and tomatoes
- Creamy roasted cauliflower hummus – serve with tomatoes, red onion, spinach and kalamata olives
- Cilantro jalapeno hummus – serve with peppers, onions, avocado and pickled jalapeno.
