Portions: 6 servings Calories: 189kcal |
This awesome avocado pasta salad is a no-mayo version of the classic pasta salad but with all the flavor of avocado to make it a lot lighter while not less flavorful. This macaroni salad with avocado is so creamy, so tasty, so amazing, you'll love it too.
By - Last revised . Original Aug 16, 2012.
Why I ❤️ it Recipe Ingredients Video Preparation
Pasta salad with avocado.
Why I ❤️ it
This avocado pasta salad recipe has nothing to envy the traditional macaroni salad with mayo. This summer avocado pasta salad has the same creamy texture as the original but with the delicious flavor provided by the avocado and a touch of lime juice and healthy pasta salad ingredients that you may already have at home.
This easy avocado and pasta recipe also makes a great light main or filling side dish. It is perfect for vegetarians, vegans… or anyone who loves avocados, which should be everyone.
Avocado pasta salad recipe
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Utensils and tools
Ingredients
- ½ pound [0.2 kg] short pasta of your choice
- 2 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional).
- ½ cup green beans, blanched or from a can, cut into small pieces
- ½ cup peas, blanched or from a can
- 1 carrot, peeled, boiled, and cut into small cubes
- ¼ cup sweet corn, boiled
- 1 large, ripe avocado
- Juice of 1 lime (or lemon juice)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Video
Preparation
Before you start, make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.
Step 1: Cook pasta
Boil the pasta in salted water following the instructions in the package.
Drain water and place pasta in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Combining ingredients
Toss the pasta with green beans, peas, carrot, and corn. Chill for an hour.
Step 3: Seasoning and serving
Peel the avocado and cut into cubes. Mix with the pasta. Stir in the lime juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in cilantro and serve
Top tips
- This is best served immediately and at room temperature.
- If you want to store it, leave the avocado out (you can season it beforehand) and add it right before serving.
- You can add one-quarter of a minced red onion to the salad if you want.
- Use whole wheat pasta or gluten-free pasta to adapt to your preferred diet.
- You can also use penne or rotini pasta instead of macaroni.
- If you do not like cilantro, use fresh basil or parsley, or experiment with any of your favorite fresh herbs.
- If you are vegan, make sure the pasta you buy is egg-free (elbow macaroni, penne, or similar).
Serving suggestions
This salad is great to serve with your grilled meal, I love it with pork chops, turkey chops, pork escalopes, roasted brined chicken, and these air frier chicken drumsticks.
Variations
To make pasta salad with avocado and chicken: Shred a roasted chicken breast (supermarket rotisserie works great) and add it to the mix.
How to make pasta salad with avocado and tuna: Open a can of tuna in water, drain the water, crumble the tuna, and mix it with the salad.
If you want a creamier salad or don't want chunks of avocado, you can also prepare and add some avocado mayo or avocado with sour cream sauce to use as creamy avocado dressing.
Nutritional information
Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g |
Sodium: 398mg | Potassium: 180mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1870IU | Vitamin C: 6.9mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.8mg
More salad recipes
FAQs
How do you keep avocado from browning in pasta salad?
The best way to keep avocado from browning is to peel, chop, and add the avocado right before serving. The lime, lemon, or vinegar in the salad also help keeping the avocado from oxidizing. Covering the salad with a plastic film, touching the salad without leaving air pockets between the salad and the film delays browning too.
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Avocado Pasta Salad |Video+Recipe| Pasta Salad with Avocado
Ingredients
- ½ pound short pasta of your choice
- 2 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional).
- ½ cup green beans blanched and cut into small pieces
- ½ cup peas blanched
- 1 carrot peeled, boiled and cut into small cubes
- ¼ cup sweet corn boiled
- 1 ripe avocado (large)
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon cilantro chopped (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)
Instructions
Boiling pasta
- Cook the pasta in salted water following the instructions in the package.Drain water and place pasta in a large mixing bowl.
Combining ingredients
- Combine pasta with green beans, peas, carrot and corn to the pasta. Chill for an hour.Peel the avocado and cut into cubes. Mix with the pasta.
Seasoning
- Stir in the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.Stir in cilantro.
Serving
- This is best serve immediately and at room temperature.If you want to store it, leave the avocado out (you can season it beforehand) and add the avocado right before serving.
Cook's notes
To make pasta salad with avocado and chicken
Shred a roasted chicken breast (supermarket rotisserie works great) and add it to the mix.How to make pasta salad with avocado and tuna
Open a can of tuna in water and drain the water, crumble the tuna and mix with the salad.Nutrition
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By , published Aug 16, 2012 on Tia Clara
I just started eating avocado's a few years ago, always thought I hated them - now I love them!
I am totally going to make this over the weekend - thanks for the recipe!
Yummy. Looks delicious.
Simon
I love all of your recipes and all these wonderful foods and recipes. Keep up the beautiful website. I have shared with many.
Is there any possibilty to substitute the mayo with any other ingredient, since it has onions(which I'm allergcic to)? Also, can I cook this with wine, since it is more flavorful?
loved it
Hi, This is very nice, and it is true avocados are a very healthy food. I would just like to point out the avocados do not have cholesterol good or bad. No plant food contains cholesterol. Cholesterol is produced in the liver of animals and is therefore only found in… Read more »
I love avocado ...on almost anything. I however never had it with pasta but I really love the idea.
the salad looks great! nice clicks, will try out the salad for sure.
Thank you for the idea. I also am an avocado lover. I added baked chicken on the side to this plate and it was very good.
Great idea (serving with chicken). I am glad you liked it.
Yum, yum. This looks so good. I will try it soon.