This Peanut Broccoli Pasta Salad is the perfect summer side dish! Forget those boring pasta salads and make a batch of this broccoli pasta salad that is tossed in a simple peanut dressing.
Make-ahead
Minimal prep
You’ll Learn: How to pack pasta salad with veggies
Worth It: Crowd pleaser and conversation starter
Bonus: Easy to tailor to common diets
Why You’ll Love this recipe
- Crowd favorite – Pasta salad and broccoli salads are two of my favorite side dishes to bring to a summer BBQ or summer picnic SO I combined them into one perfect dish! This recipe is always a hit at parties and so easy to make for a big group.
- Packed with veggies – This pasta salad is filled with so many veggies. It is nutritious and tastes delicious.
- Customizable dish – You can mix up this recipe however you would like! You can add your favorite vegetables, herbs, nuts, whatever you want to make this broccoli salad your own.
Serving Suggestions
This recipe is perfect for summer. I love serving this dish at BBQs all summer long. To fill out your summer party menu, you could make Greek turkey burgers, grilled flank steak, or grilled ginger lime chicken for your main dish.
For another side, I like to make grilled sweet potato wedges. This frose recipe or frozen mango margarita are great cocktails to serve with your meal.
Dessert can be anything you want! S’mores cookies, cherry crisp, or strawberry pound cake would all be amazing ways to end your summer BBQ!
ingredients
- Macaroni pasta – I use macaroni pasta for a classic pasta salad shape, but you could use whatever pasta shape you prefer
- Broccoli – I cut my broccoli florets down to have nice bite-size broccoli in my pasta salad
- Red bell pepper – the red peppers add a great crunch to the broccoli pasta salad
- Shredded carrots – I buy pre-shredded carrots to keep it quick and easy, but you could also make your own matchstick carrots
- Toasted peanuts – I love adding toasted peanuts to this recipe. You can use raw too, but the toasted peanuts take it to the next level
- Toasted sesame seeds – by toasting the sesame seeds, you will bring even more flavor to your pasta salad
- Fresh cilantro – cilantro pairs perfectly with the peanut sauce in this recipe
- Peanut butter – the base of the peanut sauce that makes it so tasty and creamy
- Soy sauce – adds salt and depth of flavor to the sauce
- Rice vinegar – the vinegar is the gentle vinegar that adds some acid to the sauce
- Sesame oil – use this oil to make the sauce even nuttier and more delicious
- Sriracha – I love sriracha for a kick of spice but also a ton of flavor
- Lime juice – a bit of citrus brightens up the sauce and makes it so delcious
- Warm water – thins and smooths the sauce to make it the perfect consistency for the broccoli pasta salad
Ingredient Substitutions
This pasta salad with broccoli recipe is so customizable! You can add or take away just about anything in this recipe. Add in cherry tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, red onion, garlic, pecans, grapes, whatever you would like.
For your pasta shape, rotini pasta also works great. You can use gluten free pasta, but be careful with stirring the pasta because it can break down quicker than regular pasta.
If you would like your sauce to be a little sweeter, you can add a little bit of honey.
This recipe uses peanut sauce for the dressing, but you can swap in your favorite dressing for pasta salad, such as an Italian dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
For a broccoli cheddar style pasta salad, you could swap out the sauce for a couple of cups mayonnaise and cheddar cheese.
How to make
Step 1: Boil pasta and prep veggies
To begin, boil pasta in a pot of salted water. While the pasta cooks, cut broccoli and bell pepper into small bite sized pieces.
Step 2: make peanut salad dressing
Then, prepare peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice, sriracha, and warm water in a small mixing bowl.
Step 3: mix it all up and serve!
Next, drain and rinse cooked pasta in cold water and place in a large bowl. Add the broccoli, bell pepper, carrots and roasted peanuts to the bowl along with the peanut dressing.
Toss to combine all of the ingredients. Top with toasted sesame seeds and cilantro and serve!
Storage Reheating and freezing
If you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
You can also make this pasta salad with broccoli ahead of time. I recommend making the pasta salad with veggies and the peanut salad dressing separately to get all of the prep time out of the way. Then when you are ready to serve, toss the two together for a perfect mixture!
Check out these other summer side dishes!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Peanut Broccoli Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz dry macaroni pasta
- 3 cups chopped broccoli
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3/4 cup shredded carrots
- 1/3 cup toasted peanuts
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Boil pasta in salted water. While the pasta cooks, cut broccoli and bell pepper into small bite sized pieces.
- Prepare peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice, sriracha, and warm water in a small mixing bowl.
- Drain and rinse cooked pasta in cold water and place in a mixing bowl. Add the broccoli, bell pepper, carrots and roasted peanuts to the bowl along with the peanut dressing.
- Toss to combine all of the ingredients. Top with toasted sesame seeds and cilantro and serve!
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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