Whether you’re in need of a hearty last-minute dinner or a tasty meal for packed lunches, you’ll love how easy it is to make this Avocado Tofu Pasta Salad. The creamy oil-free dressing uses only a handful of ingredients, including a ripe avocado or two.
Why This Recipe Works
- This delicious recipe for avocado and tofu pasta salad comes together quickly and can be made with any small pasta shape you have in your cupboard.
- Avocado gives the salad dressing a whipped, creamy texture without the use of mayonnaise or sour cream (plant-based or otherwise).
- I’ve given you suggestions for the toppings I like to add to pasta salad, but you can get as creative as you like with the ingredients you have on hand—this is an ultimate fridge-clear out recipe!
Recipe Background
Recipes for pasta salad can be traced back for centuries, although it wasn’t until the 1980s that pasta salad was given a much-needed Mediterranean-style makeover. Although pasta salad was a popular recipe during the 1960s, it usually consisted of equal parts macaroni shells and mayo (frozen peas optional).
Avocado dressing is a riff on classic Mexican guacamole, only I’ve thinned it to a whipped, creamy consistency by adding familiar vinaigrette ingredients such as lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and maple syrup. I’ve also given my suggestions for crunchy, flavourful add-ins to brighten and boost the flavour of the pasta salad.
What You’ll Need
A few important notes on some of the ingredients used in this Avocado Tofu Pasta Salad recipe:
Dry pasta: Pasta shapes that are grooved and have a ton of surface area—think rotini, farfalle (bow tie), or penne—work best for pasta salad. Thanks to the pasta’s textured shape, plenty of creamy dressing will stick to each noodle.
Avocado: Mashed avocado gives this creamy pasta salad dressing a thick, whipped texture. As an added bonus, thanks to having a naturally occurring healthy fat content, they’ll help keep you feeling full for hours.
Onion or Shallot: Finely diced red onions or shallots give this avocado salad dressing some heat and crunch.
Dijon mustard: Use either creamy or grainy Dijon mustard to give the avocado dressing some zip.
Lemon juice: Use fresh or bottled lemon juice to add tang to the finished dressed. The lemon juice also helps stop the avocado from turning brown too early.
Sweetener: I like to add a scant drizzle of maple syrup or a pinch of sugar to the avocado pasta salad dressing. Not only does it add a touch of sweetness, it also enhances the savoury and tangy flavours of the other ingredients.
Add-ins: Choose at least two of the following (and feel free to add as many as you like): bell pepper, celery, corn, smoked tofu, or shredded carrots.
For a full list of ingredients and quantities, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Ingredient Substitutions
If you’re following a specific diet or need to be aware of allergies, here are a few ways you can modify this recipe:
- Gluten-free: Use rice or chickpea pasta to make this plant-based pasta salad gluten-free. For the closest flavour and texture to wheat pasta, I like to use corn or quinoa noodles.
- Oil-free & WFPB: This pasta salad is naturally oil-free. To make the recipe WFPB (whole-foods plant-based) choose lentil or chickpea pasta.
If you made this recipe with a successful substitution, please let me know! Post a comment describing what you did so I can add it to this section and help future readers. (Leave your name blank if you don’t want to be credited.)
Step-by-Step Process
Step 1: Add avocado, onion, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to a large salad bowl.
Step 2: Mash the ingredients together until smooth and creamy (some small lumps are fine). A big spoon or large fork will do the job nicely.
Step 3: Cook the pasta in salted water until tender. Drain well and let it cool.
Step 4: Stir the pasta into the avocado dressing, along with any of your favourite add-in’s (bell pepper, celery, tofu, or corn kernels).
Meal Prep & Storage Tips
Fridge: This healthy avocado pasta salad with tofu will keep well-covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. If the salad dressing begins to brown, simply stir well before serving.
Freezer: I wouldn’t recommend freezing this recipe.
Recipe FAQs
Chop and mash the avocado for the dressing as close to the serving time as possible. The lemon juice will also help prevent browning from occurring right away.
Yes. Letting the cooked pasta cool completely before adding the avocado dressing will stop the other salad ingredients from cooking.
To test an avocado for ripeness, gently squeeze the fruit—it should yield to pressure without feeling overly mushy.
Recipe Card
Did you make this recipe? Please consider leaving a rating below to let me know how you liked it. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @earthtoveg, I will shout you out in my Stories!
Avocado Tofu Pasta Salad
Use Imperial/Metric buttons below to toggle between volume vs weight measurements. I recommend weighing out your ingredients for best results.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry pasta around 6 ounces
- 1 large avocado or 2 small ones
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tbsp maple syrup or sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Optional add-ins (pick at least two)
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 rib celery, diced
- ½ cup corn kernels
- 1 block smoked tofu, diced or shredded
- ½ carrot, shredded
Instructions
- Boil 2 cups dry pasta in salted water until cooked and tender. Drain well and set aside to cool.
- In a salad bowl, mash 1 large avocado or 2 small ones until smooth and creamy (some lumps are fine).
- To the mashed avocado, stir in 1/4 cup onion, diced, 2 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tbsp maple syrup or sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, and 1 tsp garlic powder.
- Add the cooled pasta to the avocado salad dressing mixture and mix well.
- Stir in any of the optional add-ins: 1 bell pepper, diced, 1 rib celery, diced, 1/2 cup corn kernels, 1 block smoked tofu, diced or shredded, or 1/2 carrot, shredded.
- Serve cold.
Okay, I am in love with this salad! I like it extra creamy so I throw another avocado in there, and for me that makes the texture perfect. I find that after about a day, it turns brown no matter how much lemon juice I add, so my advice is to try to finish it all within two days for best results.
Hi Delia, thanks for the review! Yeah, it’s hard to prevent the avocado dressing from turning brown sometimes… I find that it depends on the batch, sometimes, my avocados hardly brown at all but in other bags I buy, they oxidize really quickly. No clue why