Pasta Salad with Grilled Italian Sausage, Peppers, Mushrooms, & Cherry Tomatoes (Vegan)
This easy crowd-pleasing vegan pasta salad recipe featuring grilled Italian sausage, peppers, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes is full of fresh flavors and a family favorite!
Course Appetizer, Main Dish
Cuisine Italian, Vegan
Keyword easy potluck recipe, vegan pasta salad, vegan sausage
Heat a large pot of water to boil. Add a tiny amount of salt and olive oil.
Once the water starts boiling, add in the pasta and cook according to package. Once done, rinse thoroughly with cold water, toss with a tiny bit of olive oil to avoid sticking, and set aside. In the meantime, continue with the rest of the recipe.
Stove-top & Oven Method:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Halve the mushrooms & cherry tomatoes, and slice the bell peppers.
Toss the veggies with the minced garlic, thyme, some olive oil, and season with salt to taste.
Spread a single layer of the veggies on the baking sheet and broil on HI for about 15 minutes or until the veggies start to grill & slightly blacken.
In the meantime, heat a non-stick pan on medium-high heat with a tiny bit of olive oil.
Crumble all of the Field Roast Italian Sausages and saute for about 10 minutes until they start to become slightly textured & browned.
Once the veggies and sausage are done, set aside and allow to cool.
Outdoor BBQ Method:
Rub the bell peppers, mushrooms, & cherry tomatoes with some olive oil, salt, dried thyme, and the minced garlic.
Skewer the cherry tomatoes & mushrooms to easily grill on an open BBQ.
Grill the Field Roast Italian Sausages, bell peppers, mushrooms, & cherry tomatoes on a fire-loaded BBQ until the veggies are slightly charred & sausages are grilled. Set aside to cool.
Once easy to handle, slice the bell peppers, halve the mushrooms & cherry tomatoes, and crumble the plant-based sausages.
To Prepare Pasta Salad:
Add all the ingredients listed under 'Pasta Seasoning' above to the cooked pasta. Toss to combine.
Add the grilled veggies, crumbled grilled sausage, and fresh chopped basil.
Toss everything well to combine.
Season once more with salt, lemon juice, and/or freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add some red crushed pepper for added heat.
Serve cold or at room temperature!
Notes
You can use your stove-top/oven or an open-fire BBQ grill for this recipe. Both methods will turn out great.
If you're planning on grilling the veggies & Field Roast sausages at some other location, cook and toss the pasta with the past seasonings. Season and skewer the veggies ahead of time. Then grill once you get to your location, and toss everything together.
Pasta:
I prefer using rotini shaped pasta for this recipe, but you can use any shape you prefer.
I've used both the quinoa & brown rice rotini pasta (gluten-free) & regular rotini pasta. Since this recipe is more or less a dry pasta, most lentil-based pastas may not work well in this recipe (too dry).
Plant-Based Sausage:
I prefer to crumble the sausage for this recipe, but you can dice/slice if you prefer.
Make-Ahead Tips:
This recipe can be made the day before.
If you want to split it up into two days, you can grill the veggies & sausage the day before. Then the day of, simply boil the pasta and toss with the rest of the ingredients.
This recipe is kid & toddler approved!For Gluten-Free:
Use gluten-free pasta, and either omit the Field Roast sausage or substitute in this sun-dried tomato walnut crumble recipe (note, I have not tried this version without the Field Roast sausage).
Nutrition Info:
Uses Field Roast Italian Sausage nutritional information.