Asian Pasta Salad
A summer time classic with an Asian twist! This healthy cold Asian Pasta Salad is filled with Pasta, cabbage, carrots, and edamame coated with an easy homemade sesame ginger dressing and topped with mandarin oranges and sliced almonds. Quick and simple to make ahead!
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked pasta any variety
- ¾ cup red cabbage finely shredded
- ¾ cup green cabbage finely shredded
- 1 medium carrot shredded (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup edamame shelled
- ½ cup mandarin oranges
- 3 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon cilantro finely minced
Sesame Ginger Dressing
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 3 teaspoons fresh ginger grated or finely minced
- ½ tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- ½ teaspoon salt *see notes
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- ½ tablespoon honey (optional) *see notes
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the Sesame Ginger dressing.
- Add the pasta, red and green cabbage, carrot, edamame to the dressing. Mix until all of the ingredients have been coated with the dressing.
- Add the mandarin oranges, almonds, and cilantro. Gently stir to combine.
- Serve cold.
Notes
If you plan on making this in advance, I recommend keeping the dressing separate from the rest of the ingredients. Stir the dressing into the pasta and veggie mixture right before serving. This will help keep the vegetables crisp and the pasta fresh.
If you are using soy sauce instead of coconut aminos, you might need to use less salt, if any. Mix the dressing ingredients without the salt. Add salt to taste.
Coconut aminos has a slightly sweet taste compared to soy sauce. When using coconut aminos, I do not add honey to the dressing. If you are using soy sauce, you may want to add a little bit of honey to counterbalance the vinegar and lime juice.