If you're looking for an easy, filling salad recipe that takes less than 20 minutes to make, you're going to love this lentil pasta salad.
It's pure deliciousness on the plate and has a firm spot on my family's menu rotation.
About Red Lentil Pasta Salad
One of the things I love about the red lentil pasta salad is that it tastes great even if you don't have every ingredient on hand. And it requires no special cooking skills.
I've made it with and without olives as well as with and without artichokes. And it tastes delicious both ways.
I'm also adding crumbled feta cheese. And it's something that my family enjoys. But you can also skip the feta cheese and turn the Red Lentil Pasta salad into a vegan dish.
Ingredients
- Red Lentil Pasta
- Artichoke Hearts
- Olives
- Dried Tomatoes
- Feta Cheese
- Champagne Vinaigrette
How to make Red Lentil Pasta Salad
- Slice olives and add them to the artichoke hearts.
- Unless you have some large pieces, the sun-dried tomatoes don't require much chopping. Add them to the olives and artichokes.
- Once the pasta has cooked, drain, and chill with cold water. Add the pasta to your chopped artichokes, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Add your gluten free Champagne dressing and season to taste. Typically, I'll add a dash of black pepper.
- Optionally, you can sprinkle your pasta salad with some crumbled feta cheese.
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Notes and Tips
So if you are a vegan, just skip that step.
Thus far we have no plans to eat exclusively vegetarian or vegan, but most of our diet is plant-based. If you eat fish, you can easily take this dish up a notch and serve it with some broiled salmon.
Check out my super simple and roasted salmon recipe - it pairs exceptionally well with the Mediterranean-inspired red Lentil Pasta Salad. We've made this dish dozens of times by now and also found that it keeps well for a day or two.
Should you have any leftovers, I recommend you take the salad out fridge 15 minutes before serving. This way the dish can slowly rise to room temperature and be even more delicious on the second day.
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Buying Red Lentil Pasta
I just wanted to add a word about the ingredients. The closest grocery store to my house is Trader Joe's and we buy 90% of our groceries at Trader Joe's.
But that doesn't mean you have to use Trader Joe's products.
If you don't live near Trader Joe's you can, for instance, get this red lentil pasta from Walmart or these (already quartered) Reese's Artichoke Hearts from Target.
And if you don't like store-bought dressings you can easily make your champagne vinaigrette.
The point is that this salad has a lot of ingredients from one type of store, but you'll have no trouble finding similar products at your local grocery store.
Tools used to cook the Red Lentil Pasta Salad
- Cutting Board
- Good Set of Knives (mine were from Costco and are no longer available)
- Pasta Pot (I got a similar one at Home Goods)
- Over-the-Sink Colander
- Salad Bowl (mine is similar but was another Home Goods find)
Lentil Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bag red lentil pasta
- 1 can artichoke hearts roughly chopped
- ¾ cup kalamata olives halved
- ¾ cup sun dried tomatoes julienne
- ⅓ cup champagne vinaigrette adjust to taste
- ¼ cup feta cheese crumbled, optional
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to instructions. Once cooked, drain and chill the pasta with cold water. Set aside.
- Combine artichoke hearts, kalmata olives, and sun-dried tomatoes into a large mixing bowl.
- Combine the chilled, cooked pasta with the chopped artichokes, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Add the champagne dressing and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pasta salad with crumbled feta cheese.
