Bacon Ranch Vegan Pasta Salad: a quick, easy and creamy pasta salad with tempeh bacon crumbles, carrots, tomatoes and black olives all tossed together with cashew ranch dressing! Great potluck dish.
This Bacon Ranch Vegan Pasta Salad is going to be your new favorite dish to bring potlucks and parties. Filled with tempeh bacon crumbles and cashew ranch dressing, it has a ton of flavor!
What do I need to make Bacon Ranch Vegan Pasta Salad?
1 recipe Vegan Cashew Ranch Dressing (leave out the fresh dill for a more classic ranch)
Tempeh bacon crumbles (see recipe)
A bag of pasta, your choice (gluten free, bean pasta, whole grain or just plain old white)
Chopped tomatoes, black olives & shredded carrots
I hope you enjoy this vegan pasta salad as much as we have! It’s a pretty flexible recipe, you can add more vegetables if you want, such as chopped broccoli, peas, more tomatoes or cucumbers.
If you need it to be gluten free, make sure to find gluten free tempeh and use gluten free pasta.
If you want more summer potluck/bbq recipes, check these out!
- Vegan Potato Salad
- Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Jackfruit
- Black Bean Corn Avocado Salad
- Vegan Caesar Salad
♦ If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! Rate it, leave a comment and tag a photo @noracooksplantbased on Instagram. Enjoy! ♦
- 16 ounce box rotini pasta
- 1 large tomato, diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 ounce can sliced black olives
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 recipe Cashew Ranch (leave out dill if desired)
- 8 ounce package tempeh
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
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Get the tempeh marinating: In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, cumin and liquid smoke. Crumble in the tempeh with your fingers, cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 10 minutes to 2 hours, or overnight.
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Make the Cashew Ranch. May leave out the fresh dill if desired.
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Boil the noodles according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water, and stir so they don't stick together. Set aside to cool while you make the tempeh bacon.
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Cook the tempeh bacon crumbles: In a small pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil (or not for oil-free). Drain the excess marinade liquid, and over medium heat saute the tempeh crumbles for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown. Remove from heat.
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In a large bowl, stir together the pasta and ranch dressing. Now, toss with the tempeh crumbles, tomatoes, olives and carrots.
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Serve immediately or store in a covered container until ready to serve. The pasta may suck up some of the dressing over time, simply add a little water and stir if that happens.
Hey Nora!!! I just discover your recipes -they are really amazing – so happy I came by! Looking forward to making this pasta salad – maybe tomorrow! However I ‘ll give it a try with smoked tofu instead of tempeh (as this is the only smoked thing I have in my fridge right now 🙂 ) Do you have any recommendations for tofu?
wish you have a beautiful day
Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much!! I think it will work with smoked tofu, but I haven’t tried it myself. For the tofu, I would probably slice it pretty thin and fry it a little (with a little oil) to make it crispier. If it’s not already super flavorful, you could use the same marinade as the tempeh, and marinate for 10 minutes or so before frying. Then break it up into smaller pieces to add the the pasta salad. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for the idea using tofu instead of tempeh, which is hard to find in my area.
Sure! I think tofu would be great, too! 🙂