Celebrate warmer weather with this Summer Roll Pasta Salad! All the delicious flavors of fresh summer rolls without the hassle of assembling. Just add fresh vegetables, pasta, and this tasty peanut sauce to a large bowl and it'll be ready in under 30 minutes!
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Why You'll Love This Summer Roll Pasta Salad
- Fresh Summer flavors! This summer roll pasta salad includes fresh vegetables (like red bell peppers, carrots, red cabbage, and cucumbers), sweet mangoes, and a spicy peanut sauce. A great pasta salad made without any mayonnaise, like this tortellini salad and orzo salad!
- Ready in 30 minutes! Most of the time making this salad is spent prepping the vegetables, but once you've cut them all up, the recipe is basically complete! Just boil the pasta and mix the sauce. It's that easy!
- Very little cooking! The only ingredient that needs cooking is the pasta. The vegetables are served raw and the sauce is simply mixed in a bowl.
- Easily portable! This pasta salad can easily be transported to summertime potlucks, backyard BBQs, and beach or pool parties. Simply add to a large bowl, cover, and keep chilled until ready to serve.
Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Pasta: I used "trumpet" shaped pasta because I like the look of it in this salad. However, you can use spirals, shells, or rotini instead.
- Mango: Adds a subtle sweetness that pairs well with the other flavors of the vegetables.
- Jalapeño: This is optional for a little added flavor and spice. If you don't like spicy foods, feel free to leave this off! Learn how to cut jalapeños in a few simple steps.
- Mint and/or Cilantro: Both of these fresh herbs can be traditionally found in summer rolls. Feel free to use one or the other. You can also use both or leave both off if you don't like them.
- Spicy Peanut Sauce: I like to use this recipe for the peanut sauce. If you're sensitive to spice, only add a little sriracha or leave it out completely.
⭐️ See recipe card below for descriptions and quantities of each ingredient!
Instructions
- Step 1: Set a large pot of water on the stove. Bring to a boil and cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water to cool off.
- Step 2: In a small bowl, add sauce ingredients. Whisk to combine.
- Step 3: Cut and prepare veggies for pasta salad.
- Step 4: Add cooked pasta to a large bowl. Top with veggies and peanut sauce. Mix to coat the pasta and veggies in the sauce.
- Step 5: Serve chilled or at room temperature. You can also add your favorite proteins like shredded rotisserie chicken or cooked shrimp.
⭐️ Tip: If you need to thin out the sauce, use additional water in small increments until you reach your desired consistency.
Substitutions and Alterations
- Red Bell Pepper - Any color of bell pepper would work.
- Mango - If mango is hard to find or not in season, you can use pineapple, fresh peaches, or apple instead.
- Jalapeño, Mint, and Cilantro - Removing any of these from the pasta salad will not affect the flavor drastically. Therefore, if you don't like any of them, you can easily omit them.
- Spicy Peanut Sauce - If you don't like spice, you can still make this peanut sauce, just leave out the sriracha.
- Want to add some protein? Cooked shrimp, shredded rotisserie chicken, or leftover steak would all be great additions to this summer roll pasta salad!
How to Store Summer Roll Pasta Salad
To store: Store summer roll pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
To freeze: Freezing is not recommended.
Top tip!
Because this summer roll pasta salad is made without any mayonnaise, it can sit out at room temperature longer.
If you plan on bringing it to a summer potluck, it can be served for about 2 hours without needing refrigeration.
Recipe FAQs
Summer rolls are made of fresh vegetables, rolled in a rice paper wrapper. They sometimes include pork, shrimp, or shredded chicken. They are generally not fried and are typically served with a peanut dipping sauce.
Spring rolls, on the other hand, are typically vegetarian, though they can sometimes include pork. They're also generally wrapped in a crunchy spring roll wrapper and deep fried, served with a sweet chili or hoisin dipping sauce.
This spicy summer roll pasta salad can be made gluten free with a few simple tweaks. Use gluten free pasta and gluten free soy sauce (or tamari) to make it gluten free.
Yes! This pasta salad is naturally dairy free.
Nope! There is no mayonnaise in this pasta salad. Instead, the sauce is made from a combination of natural peanut butter, low sodium soy sauce, lime juice, and toasted sesame oil.
Related Recipes
Looking for other pasta recipes? Try these:
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know. Leave a comment with a rating at the bottom of this page!
Summer Roll Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Pasta Salad
- 1 pound spiral, rotini, or trumpet pasta
- 1 cup finely shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup thinly sliced bell pepper (about 1 pepper)
- 1 cup thinly sliced mango (about 1 mango)
- ½ cup matchstick carrots (about 1 carrot)
- ½ cup thinly sliced mini cucumbers (about 1 ½ cucumbers)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion (about 1 to 2 green onions)
- 1 thinly sliced jalapeno optional
- 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro optional
For the Peanut Sauce
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- Juice from ½ a lime or 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 to 3 tablespoons sriracha optional depending on spice preference
Instructions
- Set a large pot of water on the stove. Bring to a boil and cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water to cool off.
- In a small bowl, add sauce ingredients. Whisk to combine.*
- Cut and prepare veggies for pasta salad.
- Add cooked pasta to a large bowl. Top with veggies and peanut sauce. Mix to coat the pasta and veggies in the sauce.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature. You can also add your favorite proteins like shredded rotisserie chicken or cooked shrimp.
Notes
- *If you need to thin out the sauce, use additional water in small increments until you reach your desired consistency.
- If you plan on bringing this salad to a summer potluck, it can be served for about 2 hours without needing refrigeration.
Nutrition
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