Quick, easy & filling – this pasta salad is a transformation of your favorite avocado and bacon sandwich! Ready in just 20 minutes, it’s creamy, fresh, and punchy, with lots of contrasting crunchy and silky textures. Plus, as a bonus, it’s vegan-friendly!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Trust me, this creamy BLT-style pasta salad comes together way easier than it looks. Everything you need, including exact steps and measurements, is down in the recipe card.
- Your favorite short pasta (like bowties or spirals)
- Ripe avocado
- Fresh baby spinach
- Fresh dill
- Plant-based natural yogurt
- Plant-based mayo
- Lemon juice
- Garlic
- Onion powder
- Salt & pepper
- Tempeh
- Soy sauce
- Maple syrup
- Olive oil
- Smoked paprika
- Canned chickpeas
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Ground cumin
- Turmeric
- Smoked paprika
- Cherry tomatoes
- Red onion
- More fresh dill
Instructions
Making this dreamy pasta salad is easier than you think. Just follow along with the steps below—and when you’re ready I’ve got all the exact details waiting for you in the recipe card below.
Step one: Marinate your sliced tempeh in soy sauce, maple syrup, olive oil, and smoked paprika. While it soaks, cook your pasta and set it aside to cool completely.
Step two: Toss chickpeas with oil and spices. Arrange them and the marinated tempeh in a single layer in the oven or air fryer. Cook until golden and crispy, flipping or shaking halfway through.
Step three: While that’s roasting, blend your avocado dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy.
Step four: Toss pasta, tomatoes, red onion, and dill in a large bowl. Add the avocado dressing and mix gently. Top with crispy chickpeas and tempeh bacon before serving.
Creamy Avocado BLT Pasta Salad with Tempeh Bacon
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
Pasta
- 400 g bow pasta or pasta shape of choice
Avocado dressing
- 1 avocado large, ripe, pit removed
- 80 g fresh baby spinach washed
- 1/2 bunch fresh dill
- 1/4 cup natural yoghurt plant-based
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise plant-based
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cracked pepper
Tempeh bacon
- 300 g tempeh
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
Crunchy chickpeas
- 800 g canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Other add-ins
- 250 g cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 red onion finely sliced
- 1/2 bunch fresh dill finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta to packet instructions and allow to cool completely.
- *Note – you can use either an oven or air fryer for this recipe. If using an oven, preheat it to 200C/400F.
Tempeh bacon
- Slice block of tempeh in half, then into thin strips approximately 0.5cm or 1/4 inch wide.
- Combine all remaining tempeh bacon ingredients in a medium size bowl to make a marinade. Taste and adjust flavor as needed. It should be salty, smoky, and sweet (the sweetness may seem excessive but it's needed to balance the natural bitterness of the tempeh).
- Add tempeh to the marinade bowl and massage with your hands. Leave to soak for 10-15 minutes.
Crunchy chickpeas
- Combine drained and rinsed chickpeas with all other ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- If using an air fryer, add the tempeh bacon to one half of the basket and the chickpeas to the other. Air fry for 15-20 minutes at 200C/400F, shaking half way through so they crisp evenly.
- If using an oven, transfer tempeh pieces using tongs onto a lined baking sheet in a single layer. Keep the remaining marinade. Place chickpeas onto another lined baking tray in a single layer.
- Bake tempeh for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven, flip, and brush generously with reserved marinade. Shake the tray of chickpeas so they cook evenly. Bake for a further 10 minutes, or until both the chickpeas and the tempeh are looking crispy.
Avocado dressing
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth.
Combine and serve
- Place the pasta and dressing in a very large bowl and mix until coated. Gently toss through the add-ins of cherry tomatoes, red onion, and dill. Then lastly, top with the chickpeas and tempeh bacon to serve.
Video
Janet k. says
Nailed it, so satisfying.
Hong Nguyen says
So filling and works really well as a vegan version!