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Vegan Broccoli Caesar Pasta Salad

5 from 3 reader reviews
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 6
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Ingredients

Roasted Broccoli & Lentils

  • 400 grams small broccoli florets (about 5 cups)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder, divided
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup cooked brown or green lentils (I used canned ones)
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup

Vegan Caesar Dressing

  • ¾ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon capers
  • 2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons water (plus extra if needed)

Assembly

  • 300 grams rotini or other short pasta of choice
  • chopped fresh chives, optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • On one baking sheet, combine the broccoli florets, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to evenly coat broccoli. Spread everything out in a single layer and then roast until slightly tender and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes.
  • Blot the lentils dry and then transfer to the other baking sheet. Drizzle the lentils with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and add the remaining ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, smoked paprika, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine and spread the lentils out as much as possible. Roast in the 425°F oven until slightly crisped on the edges, about 15 minutes.
  • Make the dressing. Toss the drained cashews into an upright, high speed blender. To the blender, add the garlic, nutritional yeast, capers, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup, salt, pepper, and water. Blend on high until completely smooth. The finished dressing should be creamy but fluid and pour-able. Adjust seasoning/add more water if necessary and set aside.
  • Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water to cool it off quickly. Once pasta is cooled and drained, toss it with the roasted broccoli, smoky roasted lentils, vegan Caesar dressing, and some extra pinches of salt and pepper. Once combined, serve immediately with chopped chives on top if you wish.

Equipment

Recipe Notes

  • I don’t recommend prepping this one too far ahead of time unfortunately. The cashew-based dressing just gets totally soaked up by the pasta, resulting in a dry pasta salad.
  • Sliced almonds, pine nuts or macadamia nuts are great substitutes for cashews. Macadamia nuts should be soaked for at least 8 hours. Raw sunflower seeds work fine if they are very fresh and you have a high speed blender like a Vitamix.
This creamy broccoli Caesar pasta salad is so satisfying and big on flavor! The rich homemade vegan Caesar dressing beautifully coats roasted broccoli, smoky lentils, and rotini pasta. Perfect for a cookout or picnic!