This pesto pasta salad recipe is just 93 calories and can easily be made vegan or gluten-free!
Try making this cold pasta salad with pesto for your next backyard BBQ or potluck. It’s easy and impressive… plus it’s packed full of flavor thanks to our low calorie (no oil) pesto sauce.
Pesto pasta salad recipes are great with chicken or without. And in the ingredient section, we will share how to make a pesto pasta salad with chicken.
Try these cold pasta salads with pesto today, and feel free to add in all your favorite veggies.
This pesto pasta salad recipe is just 93 calories and can easily be made vegan or gluten-free!
Low Calorie Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
This article will supply you everything you’ll need to make a healthy recipe for pesto pasta salad.
From a shopping list, to a printable recipe card. You’ll even find low calorie cooking tips, low calorie store-bought pesto sauces, and a nutrition label in the sections below.
You can make this pesto pasta cold, or hot… It’s great either way!
What You’ll Find in this Article:
- Ingredients in Cold Pesto Pasta with Peas (shopping list!)
- How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad
- Low Calorie Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe (recipe card!)
- Nutrition and Calories in Pasta Pesto Salad Recipe
Helpful Tip for Shopping: Take a screenshot of the shopping list to your phone. This way you have it at your fingertips the next time you go grocery shopping.
Recipe Card Uses: You can email yourself this recipe card so you can easily search for it (I have a folder in email just for recipes!) Or print it so you have it handy, and can make notes. You can even pin this could pesto pasta salad to Pintrest so it is safely stored for you.
Up next, a shopping list for pasta salad with basil pesto…
Ingredients in Cold Pesto Pasta with Peas
You can make this vegetable pesto pasta salad with chicken if you like… Just add 1 cup of cooked shredded chicken when you add the pesto sauce to the pasta.
Low Calorie Cooking Tips for Pesto Pasta Salads:
- Olive Oil Spray… You can save 100’s of calories and lots of fat by using olive oil spray in place of olive oil or butter!
- Homemade Pesto Sauce… Our homemade pesto sauce has no oil. It’s low calorie, healthy, and packed full of flavor!
Shopping List for Healthy Pesto Pasta Salad:
- Penne pasta (or gluten free)
- Olive Oil Spray
- Onion
- Zucchini
- Frozen peas
- Homemade Pesto Sauce (or store-bought)
- Pepper flakes (optional)
- Shredded parmesan or nutritional yeast (optional)
Special Tip: You can find all the measurements in the recipe card below. There you can choose how many servings of vegetarian pesto pasta salad you want to make, and it will do all the measurement math for you! All of the ingredients for this basil pesto pasta salad can be doubled or tripled with the click of a button.
Up next, how to make a healthy cold pesto pasta recipe…
How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad
This pesto macaroni salad recipe is easy and yummy! If you don’t have the time (or just don’t want to) to make homemade pesto… here are some healthy options you can buy at the store and order on Amazon.
Healthy Store-Bought Pesto Sauces:
How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas and Zucchini:
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the package.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with olive oil and add in the onions and zucchini.
- Cook the veggies for 8-10 minutes until they start to soften. Turn off the heat and add in the peas.
- Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and add to the skillet along with the Homemade Pesto Sauce, and if desired pepper flakes.
- Mix well and move to a large glass bowl. Sprinkle with cheese or nutritional yeast (if you desire) and cover.
- Move the the fridge to chill completely, 1-3 hours. Toss together once more before serving.
Special Tip: You can find these directions, along with measurements, nutrition and more in the sharable recipe card in the next section!
Up next, a sharable recipe card for the best pesto pasta salad recipe…
Low Calorie Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
Salads with pesto make great backyard BBQ sides, and travel well for potlucks. Try these healthy pasta recipes with pesto as a filling, flavorful side dish.
This pasta basil salad is just 93 calories per serving. And because it’s served cold, you can meal prep this low calorie pesto pasta salad recipe!
Basil Pesto Pasta Salad (JUST 93 CALORIES)
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz box penne pasta (or gluten free)
- Olive Oil Spray
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 zucchini sliced
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup Homemade Pesto Sauce (or store-bought)
- 1 teaspoon pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan or nutritional yeast (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the package.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with olive oil and add in the onions and zucchini.
- Cook the veggies for 8-10 minutes until they start to soften. Turn off the heat and add in the peas.
- Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and add to the skillet along with the Homemade Pesto Sauce and if desired pepper flakes.
- Mix well and move to a large glass bowl. Sprinkle with cheese or nutritional yeast (if you desire) and cover.
- Move the the fridge to chill completely, 1-3 hours. Toss together once more before serving.
Nutrition
Up next, nutrition and calories in pesto salad recipes…
Nutrition and Calories in Pasta Pesto Salad Recipe
We used low calorie cooking tricks to cut calories and fat from this healthy pesto pasta salad recipe. Make sure to check out the low calorie tricks in the “Ingredients” section above.
You can find more low calorie pesto, pasta salad, and Italian recipes in the next section… keep scrolling!
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