Roasted Summer Squash Pasta Salad

Pasta salad? For summer? Groundbreaking. But seriously, this roasted summer squash pasta salad is the perfect vessel for using up any summer squash you have on hand.

This summer squash pasta salad is loaded with roasted zucchini and other summer squash varieties, shallots, artichokes, and basil, plus a flavorful roasted garlic herbed vinaigrette.

I love serving this pasta salad warm paired with chicken or beef — it’s the perfect summer dinner. Plus, this salad saves super well in the fridge and keeps getting better as all the components marinate and mingle together.

Roasted Summer Squash Pasta Salad Ingredients

• Summer squash: The beauty of this pasta salad is that you can use almost any variety of summer squash. However, my favorite varieties to use for this dish are zucchini (a classic), yellow zucchini (similar in flavor to zucchini, but slightly sweeter), tatuma or tatume squash (a sweeter, nuttier summer squash that works great roasted), and striped zucchini (a sweeter, prettier version of zucchini). All four of these varieties are pictured below!
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Fusilloni or similar pasta: I love a classic spiral pasta for pasta salad. Any spiral shape will work well here, like giant fusilli, fusilloni, or the fusillotti from Rummo pasta. Personally, I have been loving the fusilloni pasta from Monograno Feliccete.
• Artichoke hearts: Full transparency, I’m not married to any one brand of artichoke hearts, I tend to buy what’s on sale at the time. Additionally, feel free to get plain artichoke hearts. The marinated ones taste great, but there’s so much flavor from the aromatics and dressing in this pasta salad that it doesn’t matter.
• Basil leaves
• Lemons
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Honey: Swap in agave to keep this vegan.
• Dried Italian herbs: As long as the Italian blend you use has oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, and marjoram, you’re golden!
• Aleppo pepper: Red pepper flakes also work.
• Black pepper, freshly cracked
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt: If you’re using Morton kosher salt, reduce the salt by half. Morton is much saltier and denser than Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

How to Make this Summer Squash Pasta Salad

Prep the zucchini and shallots. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and then chop it into half moons. For the shallots, peel off the outer skin, slice in half, and then slice across lengthwise to get shallot slices. NOTE: Don’t cut the zucchini or shallots too thin; they lose volume when roasting and will fall apart and char if cut too thin.

Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Add the zucchini, shallots, and garlic to the prepared pan, drizzle generously with olive oil and kosher salt, and toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the zucchini starts to brown. NOTE: I don’t like to stir the veggies and aromatics while it roasts; the zucchini tends to break apart a bit if tossed too much. As long as there is enough room in the pan for the veggies and aromatics to roast (not steam), you’re golden.

While the zucchini and aromatics roast, cook the pasta. Add the pasta to a large pot of water and cook according to package instructions – salt the water to season the pasta from within. I like to overcook the pasta slightly because pasta firms up when it’s cold. Drain and rinse the pasta and dump it into a large mixing bowl. Feel free to toss the pasta with 1-2 tbsp of butter (adds another layer of flavor).

Prep the pasta salad. Add the roasted zucchini and shallots to the bowl of pasta, along with the chopped artichoke hearts and basil leaves. Set aside.

Make the vinaigrette and toss. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together – smush the garlic against the bowl so it incorporates better in the dressing. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to combine. Adjust for salt and enjoy.

Notes, Add-Ins, etc.

• If you want to bump the protein up, leaving two options below that taste equally good
  • Slice a chicken breast, coat both sides with a generous drizzle of olive oil, then sprinkle with kosher salt, dried Italian herbs, cayenne pepper, ground cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder. Coat thoroughly, place on a sheet pan, and bake at 450°F until cooked through, about 25-30 minutes (depending on how thick the chicken breast slivers are). Let rest for 10 minutes, then chop into cubes and toss with the salad.
  • Alternatively, you can add 1 (13.5 oz) can of drained and rinsed butter beans or chickpeas to the salad.
• Store any leftovers in a glass container in the fridge — it tastes best within 3 days.

Can’t wait for you to make this zucchini pasta salad, it’s incredible. Don’t forget to leave a starred rating and review. I love hearing from you!

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