We have almost entered my least favorite season. Summer. What makes me feel a little, teeny bit better about summer? The food! Pasta salad happens to be my favorite summer cookout food. This street taco vegan pasta salad is the absolute best. Carne asada tofu, chili lime vinaigrette, chopped white onion and cilantro! The whole things is totally incredible. Plus, it’s very easy to make.
What You Need For This Pasta Salad:
- Olive Oil and Lime Juice: They go in both the tofu sauce and the vinaigrette.
- Garlic, Chili Powder, Cumin: These are some of the flavorings for both too.
- Agave: It goes into the vinaigrette to sweeten it a bit.
- Smoked Paprika, Cayenne and Salt: Finish off the vinaigrette.
- Extra Firm Tofu: This acts like the meat in the carne asada. You just crumble it.
- Soy Sauce, Lime Zest, Oregano: These are to finish off the sauce for the tofu.
- White Onion and Cilantro: Mixed in with the pasta to create that street taco feel.
- Pasta: Of course. I used shells, but whatever short pasta you like will work.
This vegan pasta salad is one of a kind! The tofu is crumbled and tossed in a carne asada marinade. Then it is baked until nice and brown. The vinaigrette is so delicious! Chili lime flavors are one of my favorites. This also keeps this pasta salad pretty light, unlike mayo-based pasta salads. Mixed in with a good amount of white onion and cilantro. It’s like having a street taco in a bowl! Simple to make and it will definitely feed a crowd if you are headed to a party.
Why Should You Make This Summery Dish?
- It is super simple and you can make ahead.
- These tofu crumbles are delightful! Tasty in tacos, taco salads too.
- The chili lime vinaigrette is completely amazing.
- The crunch from the onion and flavor of the cilantro makes this pasta salad.
- So good served cold, so it is perfect to take to summer parties.
Street Taco Vegan Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Chili Lime Vinaigrette
- 1/3 Cup Olive oil
- 1/3 Cup Lime juice
- 2 teaspoons Agave syrup
- 4 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- Pinch of Cayenne
Carne Asada Tofu
- 2 Tablespoons Soy sauce or Tamari for GF option
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons Lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Lime zest
- 4 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoons Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 Block(15oz.) Extra firm tofu, drained and pressed*
For The Rest of The Pasta Salad
- 12 Ounces Pasta, gluten-free or regular
- 1/2 a White onion, diced
- 1/3 Cup Cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees(F).
- Make the vinaigrette. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients. Set aside.
- Now, make the tofu. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, olive oil, lime juice and zest, garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin and salt.
- Crumble your pressed block of tofu into small crumbles, then add them to the bowl.
- Toss the tofu and make sure the sauce is evenly soaked into the tofu crumbles.
- Spread the tofu out in a single layer on a large sheet pan that is lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Bake for 15 minutes, toss and then bake another 8-10 minutes or until the tofu crumbles are firm and brown.
- While the tofu bakes, cook your pasta according to package directions. Drain when done and let cool. I like to drizzle a little olive oil over the pasta and toss, so it doesn't stick together as it cools.
- Once the tofu is done, let that cool for about 15 minutes.
- When the pasta and tofu have cooled to room temperature, combine everything.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta and toss to coat, then add the tofu crumbles, onion and cilantro. Toss to combine.
- Taste and adjust seasonings. Chill and serve cold. You can serve warm too, chilled is just my preference.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
How do you think this would turn out if soy curls were subbed instead of tofu? I don’t have tofu on hand.
I think that would work great!
This was so easy to make and super delicious! Thank you for sharing!
How many cups of dry pasta would amount to 12 oz? Googling is giving me a range of answers. Ps. Love all of your pasta recipes!
I went with 4.5 cups of dry pasta. This recipe is amazing!!! And if I hadn’t made the carne asada tofu myself, I would think it was a store-bought vegan meat crumble.
Love this! I put this in our rotation. My meat eating family loves it too. I also add a bag of fire roasted corn, sooo good!
Loved the recipe! I modified the recipe by serving it on a bed of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and black beans to make it more of a complete meal. It was lovely on a hot summer day. Oh, and I added 1 TBSP of cornstarch to tofu marinade to make it crisper. https://photos.app.goo.gl/hiGDGTfRawsTugXMA
My husband loved this! Thank you! The flavor was great and not like most of the vegan dishes I make.
I added or and some green bell peppers too just for more variety.
This was amazing and came together so easily. The best thing about this recipe is I could see myself using both the tofu carne asada and vinaigrette for other recipes as they are so good that they could stand on their own.
What can you substitute for the oil?
Absolutely delicious!
This was delicious and so easy to make. I had everything on hand. I served over lettuce and topped with some hot sauce and vegan ranch.