Roasted Vegetable Bow Tie Pasta Salad
on May 14, 2025
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Whether you’re meal prepping for the week, making lunch for a crowd, or bringing a something to a potluck, this roasted vegetable bow tie pasta salad is an easy recipe that’s colorful and fresh. It’s loaded with veggies including zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes and bell peppers. This sheet pan salad also has baby spinach, feta and toasted walnuts, tossed in a red wine vinaigrette.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This veggie-packed pasta salad can do it all as a main dish or a side dish. It works for lunch or dinner. That can be a weeknight at home or a potluck or barbecue.
Essentially this is a sheet pan recipe. That means it’s very easy. While the vegetables roast, you have time to simmer the bow tie pasta and make the vinaigrette. This vegetarian pasta salad has the perfect balance of vegetables and noodles.
Pasta salads are one of my top picks for meal prep. Unlike a lettuce-based salad, you can store them in the fridge for a few days, and they still taste good.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Zucchini and yellow squash are varieties of summer squash that are interchangeable. I use both for color and variety. Choose zucchini and squash that are firm and don’t have any soft spots.
- Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes are best cut in half and tossed in a salad because they hold their shape.
- Bell peppers: Orange, yellow or red peppers have sweeter flavor than more bitter green peppers, so that’s why I prefer them.
- Bow tie pasta, known as farfalle, is a summer pasta salad classic. This shape has folds that will catch the little things like chopped onions, nuts and feta, so that will prevent them from ending up in the bottom of the bowl. You can substitute with other short pastas including fusilli (rotini) or wagon wheels. You can use gluten free pasta.
- Spinach: Greens are a healthy addition to pasta salads. Besides spinach, you could do baby arugula for something more peppery.
- Red onions, finely chopped, give the salad a sharp accent, but don’t worry, they aren’t overpowering. You can substitute with thinly sliced scallions.
- Feta: Crumbled feta has a pleasantly salty bite that works with all the roasted veggies, especially the tomatoes. You can substitute with goat cheese. If you want a more mild option, add torn fresh mozzarella cheese or grated parmesan.
- Walnuts: Toasting nuts boosts their flavor. Spread your walnuts across a sheet pan and toast them in a 350-degree F oven for 5-7 minutes. I like to do a big batch all at once, and then I am stocked and ready for multiple recipes.
- Parsley: To give the salad a fresh herb finish, I toss in chopped parsley. You can use fresh basil leaves and/or chives or use a mix of all three.
- Red wine vinaigrette: The dressing ingredients include minced garlic, whole grain mustard, fresh lemon juice, red wine vinegar, kosher salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil.
How To Make This Bow Tie Pasta Salad Recipe
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Prep the vegetables. Toss the zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and peppers with oil, salt and pepper. Put the vegetables on 2 baking sheets in a single layer. The tomatoes should be cut side up.
2. Roast the vegetables. Give them 25-30 minutes and rotate the pans halfway through roasting. The zucchini, squash and peppers should be lightly browned at the edges, and the tomatoes should be wrinkled.
3. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente follow package directions. Then drain and rinse the bow tie pasta with cold water in a colander.
4, Make the vinaigrette. Whisk together the minced garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, honey, mustard, vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.
5. Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, roasted vegetables, baby spinach, red onions, feta cheese, walnuts and parsley.
6. Dress the pasta salad. Pour in half the vinaigrette and toss the salad. If you want, you can add more of the remaining dressing.
Serving
As mentioned, you can approach pasta salads as a main dish or a side dish. They are good for make-ahead lunches and meal prep or for a potluck or summer bbq. If you serve it as a main, pair the salad with slices of crusty bread or focaccia.
Leftovers, Storage & Make-Ahead Tips
This vegetarian pasta salad is best the day you make it. You can prep the vinaigrette up to 3 days ahead of time. Store it in a jar in the refrigerator. Then let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before you toss it with the salad because the oil will harden in the fridge.
Do not cook the noodles in advance. Wait to cook them until you put together the salad, or the pasta will stick together and become soft.
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Keep in mind that the longer you store it, the more the pasta will soften. Take leftovers out of the fridge 15 minutes before you plan to serve them. Then you can add some fresh baby spinach.
More Easy Pasta Salad Recipes
Strawberry Cucumber Pasta Salad
Southwest Pasta Salad
Roasted Veggie Chickpea Pasta Salad
Roasted Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad
Broccolini Zucchini Pasta Salad
Sesame Noodle Salad
Arugula Chickpea Pasta Salad
Italian Pasta Salad
If you’re a salad person, don’t miss my easy seasonal salad guide for inspiration all year long. Also, check out my collection of simple pasta recipes including some of my favorite ingredients and tips.
Roasted Vegetable Bow Tie Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For roasted vegetabels & pasta
- 2 medium zucchini, diced (about 1 pound)
- 2 medium yellow squash, diced (about 1 pound)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces bow tie pasta
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 lemon, juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, stir the zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and peppers with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
- Spread the vegetables across 2 sheet pans in a single layer. Arrange the tomatoes cut side up.
- Roast the vegetables until the zucchini, squash and peppers are lightly browned at the edges and the tomatoes are wrinkled, about 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through roasting.
- While the veggies are roasting, simmer the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water in a colander.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, honey, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl combine the pasta, roasted vegetables, baby spinach, red onions, feta, walnuts and parsley.
- Drizzle with half the vinaigrette, tossing to combine. Add more dressing as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can regular balsamic vinegar be subbed for the white?
Yes, you can use regular balsamic. It will make the final dish a little darker than if you used white balsamic, but it will still be delicious!