20-Minute Herbed Chickpea Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

May 14, 2020 (Last updated Dec 16, 2025) by Hannah Sunderani

Hiya friends! Today I am sharing a delicious Springy Lemon Vegan Pasta Salad. This recipe is easy, light, lemony, herby, and crunchy. Made with fresh green beans, peas, and spring onion. Sprinkled with flavourful fresh herbs, and drizzled with a simple lemon dijon vinaigrette.

Certainly, it’s a delicious recipe you can make for gatherings with friends, picnics and bbq’s. It’s bright, light, simple and vegan. In addition, I’ve made this pasta salad gluten-free and filling – opting in for chickpea pasta. This is a great way to keep the recipe vegan as well since the pasta salad will stick with you without the need for adding something like chicken.

And best of all, you can make this easy vegan pasta salad in under 30 minutes. So, let me tell you exactly how to make this 20-Minute Easy Herbed Chickpea Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette , so you can enjoy it pronto!

The Ingredients:

No doubt, this is a simple and straight forward recipe – using minimal ingredients. Which is why I have given it my newbie cook approved stamp. Certainly, everyone can make this pasta salad!

I also call this recipe “accidentally vegan,” because there’s no strange vegan substitute ingredients in this recipe. It just happens to be vegan!

Recipes like these are great to serve to vegan skeptics. Since they’re unfused, not intimidating, and not trying to replace their beloved recipe with a vegan version. It’s simply a tasty pasta salad that everyone can get on board with.

Plus, it shows vegan skeptics that in fact, a lot of recipes we eat just so happen to be vegan!

So, let me share exactly what you need for this recipe.

For the pasta salad, you will need:

• chickpea pasta (or pasta of choice)
• olive oil
• green beans
• fresh peas (or frozen)
• parsley
• dill
• green onion
• sea salt and pepper

As you can see, there is just 8-ingredients for this recipe. Some ingredients are fresh, while others are pantry staples that you likely already have on hand.

Now, for the lemony vinaigrette. You will need:

• lemon juice
• olive oil
• Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp agave (or honey, if not vegan)
• garlic
• sea salt

Again, these are simple pantry ingredients for a bright, light and refreshing vinaigrette.

Tips for this recipe

As I’ve mentioned. This recipe is super simple to make, and anyone can do it! However, it would be remiss not to mention the importance of cooking your pasta for perfect pasta salads. As a few tips will ensure optimal chewy texture.

Undercook your pasta

Yep, you heard me right. The trick to a perfect consistency pasta salad is to just under-cook it. Too often we overcook our pasta. And when making pasta salad specifically, we have to be extra careful not to overcook and end up with a starchy, gloopy mess.

My tip is to cook the pasta noodles until JUST al-dente. Because pasta noodles will continue to cook as they cool.

For this recipe, I’ve used chickpea pasta, which has a quicker cooking time than other traditional noodles (about 5 minutes total). So, I cooked the pasta for 3 minutes, until just al-dente.

My advice is to read the package instructions, and cook 2-3 minutes less than recommended. Give your pasta a taste, and if it’s JUST al-dente (i.e slightly undercooked) than it’s ready. Strain and rinse with warm water. As the pasta cools it will continue cooking to a perfect al-dente texture.

Season the pasta salad before it cools

Tip #2: dress the pasta salad with a bit of oil and sea salt as you let it cool. This will stop your pasta from sticking together into a clumpy mess!

After draining the water, bring your pasta back to your pot and drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and a pinch sea salt. Cover the pot with a tea towel and let cool until you’re ready to use.

So, there we have it. You’ve got yourself an easy, light, lemony, herby, and crunchy vegan pasta salad recipe. I think you and your loved ones are really going to enjoy it.

And, if you do make this recipe please let me know in the comments below what you think! I love hearing from you. And of course, tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #twospoons. Nothing makes me happier than to see your recreations.

• Spring