Cold Pesto Zucchini Pasta Salad
on Aug 03, 2017, Updated Nov 04, 2020
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Question – how is it already August!? I feel like I made the first version of this “pasta” salad in June thinking it would be great for Summer and just like that Summer is SPEEDING by!! The older I get the more I feel the days and months moving by faster and faster. And why is it that when you are loving your life the days go by even faster than when you are in a slump? Time is weird. All I know is that although it is already August we still have lots of warm weather and BBQ’s ahead of us! I know you guys are always looking for a healthy option to bring to parties and this Cold Pesto Zucchini Pasta Salad is perfect for that!! There isn’t real pasta in here – just zucchini pasta cut from my Inspiralizer! You just cut a little slit half way through the zucchini before spiralizing and it makes these little circles of zucchini. They are perfect for coating with pesto and mixing with cherry tomatoes and avocado!
This salad also lasts a few days in the fridge because you eat it raw! Usually cooked zucchini noodles get extra soggy the longer they sit in the fridge but eating these raw allows them to hold up to the sauce much longer. This is a great thing if you want to prep it and have it for lunches throughout the week! If you do want it to last all week, I do suggest keeping the pesto out until maybe the night before you want to eat the portion as it probably is only best for about 3 days with the pesto on it. I got most of the produce in this salad from the farmers market and holy moly it was some large produce! This whole thing used 4 zucchini but they were massive – so I also suggest using up to 8 if you are using the smaller ones that I normally get at Trader Joes. You can really adjust this recipe however you like with the amounts of produce depending on how many people you are serving! This was about 10 servings as a side for us, which was more than we needed – aka – LEFTOVERS! Add some rotisserie chicken to this and you have a full meal!
Big avocado chunks are necessary!
We love pasta salads of every kind, here are a few more recipes:
Greek Pasta Salad with Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing
One-Pot Creamy Pesto Pasta & Veggies
Cashew Coconut Crusted Salmon over Creamy Curry Pasta
Pin this Cold Pesto Zucchini Pasta Salad for later!
Cold Pesto Zucchini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 3–4 large zucchini  (8 if smaller)
- ¼ cup minced red onion
- ¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil (drained)
- 2 cups chopped cherry tomatoes
- 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
- Juice of half a lemon
- Pesto <– click for link to recipe at the bottom of the page
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Slice the ends off of your zucchini then cut them in half widthwise. Make another cut halfway through length wise and then run it through your Sprializer on the thinnest noodle blade. Â I have the Inspiralizer and I used the D blade.
- Once you have repeated with all of your Zucchini, place them in a large bowl.
- Toss with pesto sauce then add red onion, sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, avocado and juice of half a lemon.
- Stir it all together and season to taste with salt and pepper.
so clever and refreshing! Love this for summer.