Vegan Macaroni Salad is an easy crowd pleaser! This salad is packed with colorful and flavorful veggies, tender pasta, and a dairy-free creamy dressing. You will love the crunch and the creaminess this macaroni salad brings to the table!
This simple recipe is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut free - just use vegan sour cream to make this dish vegan!
Why this Vegan Macaroni Salad is SO Good
- This crowd pleasing dish is super simple to make. It is literally a dump-and-stir type of recipe.
- This vegan macaroni salad without mayo is perfect for summer cookouts, Sunday potlucks, and more! No summer BBQ is complete without this delicious and creamy macaroni salad!
- This dish is highly customizable, like many of our recipes around here. You can easily add in more of your favorite ingredients and take out the items you do not care for.
- The texture is spot on. This salad provides a creamy and crunchy texture. You get the best of both worlds!
Looking for a delicious summer cocktail recipe? Try a refreshing gin mojito with lime and mint!
Tips and Tricks for Vegan Macaroni Salad
- Want to load up this vegan macaroni salad even more? Here are some ideas of additional ingredients you can add in: beans (garbanzo or white bean), vegan bacon bits, thinly sliced radishes, a dollop of pickle relish, diced cucumber and of course some vegan cheese!
- If you are using gluten-free pasta, it is best to use a brand like Jovial. It seems to hold up the best in pasta salad situations. It is also best to make it the "day of" if you are using GF pasta.
- Rinse your pasta. When making a cold pasta salad, it’s better to rinse the pasta; this will stop the cooking, speed up the cooling and remove the excess starch, which could risk sticking the pasta to the other ingredients.
- To make the macaroni salad extra creamy, simply add more vegan sour cream!
- This vegan macaroni salad should keep for a couple of days in the fridge. If you are using gluten-free pasta that timeline may be shorter since it can get mushy. I like to let mine sit, in the fridge, for about 2 hours to let the flavors come together before serving.
- Serve vegan macaroni salad with Watermelon Steaks, Pineapple BBQ Tofu, or get all my best tips and tricks for grilling tofu perfectly.
Need More Vegan BBQ Ideas?
Take any of these vegan salads and sides to the next summer party you're invited to:
- Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Colorful Zucchini Bake
- Vegan Caesar Salad
- Sweet Potato Brownies
- Vegan "chicken" Salad
- Broccoli Cranberry Salad (just skip the cheese)
- Polish Cucumber Salad
How Long Can Macaroni Salad Sit Out?
This is a very interesting question, particularly because we're talking about a vegan macaroni salad that doesn't include any mayonnaise, eggs, or dairy products.
Are the rules the same for regular mac salad and vegan mac salad? Let's see!
Traditional macaroni salad is made with mayonnaise, sometimes hard boiled eggs, and often other things like sour cream or yogurt. None of these items should be left out of the refrigerator for any length of time! The rule is, serve the salad, then put it back in the fridge asap so that nobody gets sick from eating spoiled salad.
On the other hand, this vegan, non-dairy pasta salad is made with a dressing of vegan sour cream. The makers of Vegenaise state that their product can be kept at room temperature for up to 24 hours!
I wouldn't push it quite that far though. Just because this macaroni salad is dairy-free, doesn't mean that you should completely disregard food safety recommendations!
Your vegan macaroni salad can sit out at room temperature for as long as it takes to enjoy a meal. Otherwise, keep it in the fridge for best results.
More Vegan Recipes To Try
If you love air fryer recipes, be sure to check out our Sister Site, Air Fryer Eats.
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Vegan Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups macaroni pasta cooked
- 1 can red beans 15.5 oz can, drained and rinsed
- 2 shallots diced
- 3 green onions slied
- 1 bell pepper orange, diced
- 2 plum tomatoes diced
- 1 cup corn fresh or frozen
- ⅓ cup cilantro fresh
- 1 cup sour cream vegan
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 lime juiced (about 2 T)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the packaging instructions. Once the pasta is cooked, rinse and drain it under cold water.
- Wash and prepare all your vegetables. Add cooked pasta and vegetables to a bowl and stir.
- Then add in the sour cream mixture to the bowl.
- Next add in the salsa to the pasta mixture.
- Finally, add in the spices. Mix well to combine everything.
- You can let the vegan macaroni salad sit in the fridge for 1 hour to develop the flavor even more.
Notes
- Want to load up this vegan macaroni salad even more? Here are some ideas of additional ingredients you can add in: beans (garbanzo or white bean), vegan bacon bits, thinly sliced radishes, a dollop of pickle relish, diced cucumber and of course some vegan cheese!
- If you are using gluten-free pasta, it is best to use a brand like Jovial. It seems to hold up the best in pasta salad situations. It is also best to make it the "day of" if you are using GF pasta.
- Rise your pasta. When making a cold pasta salad, it’s better to rinse the pasta; this will stop the cooking, speed up the cooling and remove the excess starch, which could risk sticking the pasta to the other ingredients.
- This vegan macaroni salad should keep for a couple of days in the fridge. If you are using gf pasta that timeline may be shorter, it can get mushy. I like to let mine sit about 2 hours to let the flavors come together before serving.
Nutrition
All though this website attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, the information should only be considered an estimate. Varying factors such as different product types, different brands, etc. can change nutritional information. It is your responsibility as a consumer to read all labels to make sure the ingredients fit your dietary needs as well as calculate your own nutritional information as a double check.
Absolutely delicious! There is nothing about this recipe that I don't like - even my kids enjoyed it, and they are devils when it comes to eating veg!
Thank you