Arugula Pasta Salad

on Apr 19, 2025

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With roasted red peppers, chickpeas, kalamata olives and cucumbers, this arugula pasta salad has so much wonderful flavor in each bite. I toss it in a zesty vinaigrette made with baby arugula, garlic and fresh lemon juice. This easy pasta salad recipe also has grated parmesan, red onions and toasted pine nuts. Serve it as a side dish or a vegetarian main dish.

If you’re looking for another option, try this classic Italian pasta salad recipe.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This is an all-purpose pasta salad that can be a main dish on its own or a side dish that plays well with other things and has a ton of personality. That includes proteins or for vegetarian meals.

This pasta salad is a fantastic combination of fresh and cured/marinated/roasted ingredients. The olive bar at the grocery is where I stock up on antipasti. Roasted red peppers and kalamata olives are bursting with flavor and team up with the freshness of the arugula, cucumbers and lemon.

Pasta salads are great for meal prep. They’re the kind of salad that can handle being stored in the fridge for a few days. Another reason to make them is that you get such a good balance of noodles and vegetables. I always like a veggie-packed pasta salad for a quick lunch.

The Ingredients

Ingredients including arugula, pasta, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, chickpeas, olives, pine nuts, red onions, vinegar, olive oil, garlic and lemon.

This is what you need:

Pasta: Short shapes are always best for pasta salad recipes. I like twisted options like gemelli and fusilli because they hold onto the dressing and mix well with the rest of the ingredients. You can use whole wheat pasta or gluten-free chickpea pasta.
Arugula is one of my favorite leafy greens. It has a peppery flavor to it. You can substitute with baby spinach or use a combination of both.
Chickpeas: I dump a can of chickpeas into a colander and rinse them with cold water. When I pat them off with a towel, I do the extra step of removing the skins from the garbanzo beans. It’s for looks and texture, so loose skins won’t end up appearing throughout the salad.
Roasted red peppers come in jars packed in liquid. Use a fork to take out the peppers and then chop them. You can substitute with sun dried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, if it is tomato season.
Cucumbers: English cucumbers or Persian cucumbers are best because their skin is more delicate, and they have less seeds than regular cucumbers.
Olives: Of course, go with pitted olives. I like kalamata, but if you want more variety, then use a Greek olive mix.
Red onions give the pasta a sharp accent. Make sure to finely chop them, so they blend right in with everything else.
Pine nuts: Toasting nuts makes a big difference because it enhances their nutty flavor. If you don’t want to spend the money on pine nuts, which tend to be more expensive, substitute with chopped walnuts. Toast them in a 350-degree F oven for 5-7 minutes.
Parmesan: I toss the salad with freshly grated parmesan cheese. If you prefer something stronger, you can also include pecorino cheese with it or use crumbled feta cheese instead.
Arugula vinaigrette: The arugula lemon dressing comes together in a food processor or blender because you need to super finely chop the baby arugula leaves with garlic, whole grain mustard, fresh lemon juice, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper.

Optional Additions

Like most pasta salad recipes, you can customize this one too:

Chopped salami or pepperoni give it a more traditional Italian pasta salad vibe. If you have vegetarians and carnivores, you can serve it in a separate bowl.
Chicken: Shredded rotisserie chicken adds protein and makes the salad more filling as a main dish.
Hard-boiled eggs: Serve a whole egg on the side for each person or dice a few and stir them in with the other ingredients.
Avocados: You can dice a ripe avocado and add it with the red peppers, cucumbers, olives and chickpeas.
Pepperoncini: Thinly sliced, these sweet mild chili peppers give the salad a kick.
Fresh herbs: If you already have them in your kitchen, you can add chopped parsley or torn fresh basil.

How To Make This Arugula Pasta Salad

1. Make the vinaigrette. In a food processor or blender, puree the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, arugula, lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil until smooth.

2. Cook the pasta. Follow the recommended cook time on the package directions, and simmer the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Be careful not to over cook it. Drain the pasta and rinse it with cold water in a colander.

Arugula vinaigrette in a food processor. pasta in a colander.

3. Stir the drained pasta with half the vinaigrette in a large mixing bowl.

4. Toss the chickpeas, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, olives, red onions, pine nuts, parmesan cheese and arugula with pasta. Drizzle in more vinaigrette if you want. Sprinkle with grated parmesan before serving.

Vinaigrette tossed with the pasta. Red peppers, chickpeas, cucumbers, arugula, olives and parmesan stirred into pasta in a bowl.

Serving

As mentioned, you can treat pasta salads like a main dish or a side dish. It just comes down to what else you do or don’t serve with them. They are a good choice for meal prep or for potlucks and barbecues. If you do serve it for a main, I like keeping things simple and pairing the salad with slices of crusty bread or focaccia.

Leftovers, Storage & Make-Ahead Tips

Any pasta salad is best the day it is made. You can make the vinaigrette up to 3 days in advance. Store it in a jar in the fridge. Let it sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before you whisk it and toss it into the salad because the oil will harden in the cold temperature of the refrigerator.

Do not make the pasta ahead of time. It’s best to wait to cook it until you assemble the salad, or the noodles will stick together and get soft.

You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Just know that the longer it’s stored, the more the pasta will soften. Let it sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before you serve it. I also like throwing in some fresh arugula leaves.

Recipe Tips

Do not overcook the pasta. Look at the recommended cook time on the package. If you see a range, go with the least amount of time. I even try a noodle 30 seconds before my timer goes off. My goal is for the pasta to be al dente.
Do not make the pasta ahead of time. As mentioned, for the freshest pasta salad, cook the noodles when you are going to toss the salad ingredients together. You can make the vinaigrette up to 3 days in advance and store it in the refrigerator.
Check the seasonings. Cold pasta salad tends to need more salt and pepper than than pasta served warm. After you toss the salad in the dressing, taste it and see if it needs salt and/or pepper. Salt is the on-switch for all the ingredients in a recipe.
Make the vinaigrette from scratch. Homemade is always better than store-bought dressing.

More Pasta Salad Recipes

Strawberry Cucumber Pasta Salad
Southwest Pasta Salad
Roasted Veggie Chickpea Pasta Salad
Roasted Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad
Broccolini Zucchini Pasta Salad
Sesame Noodle Salad