Halloween Pasta Salad

5 from 5 votes

This Halloween pasta salad is ready in 20 minutes and loaded with veggies! Serve this pasta salad on Halloween after trick or treating or on a spooky Halloween party buffet table!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: Servings

Calories: 435kcal

Author: Lynn Polito

Ingredients

1 lb Vegetable Pasta
1 cup Carrots, Chopped 2 medium carrots
1 cup English Cucumber, chopped Plus ¼ cucumber to carve for garnish
1 cup Halved cherry tomatoes
8 oz Fresh Mozzarella Pearls Drained
¼ cup Fresh Basil Chopped
2 tablespoon Fresh Parsley Chopped
1 teaspoon Granulated Garlic
¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Instructions

Boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
While the pasta cooks, chop the carrots and add them to the pasta water 3 minutes after you add in the pasta.
Divide the cucumber in half and chop half of the cucumber into bite sized pieces. The other half of the cucumber, slice into ¼ inch thick pieces. Carefully, using a pairing knife, cut two triangles into the cucumber slices for the jack o lantern's eyes, and then cut a mouth using the same technique. Place the carved cucumbers aside to garnish with, and place the diced cucumbers into a large bowl.
Add the halved tomatoes, chopped basil, chopped parsley, and fresh mozzarella pearls into the bowl.
When the pasta and carrots are done cooking, drain them into a colander and run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking process and to cool the pasta down.
Add the pasta and carrots to the large bowl and add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and granulated garlic to the pasta. Season with salt and pepper to your liking and mix everything well. Garnish with the carved cucumber faces.
This is best served chilled after the flavors have had a chance to come together, but it can be served at room temperature as well.

Notes

If you can't find vegetable pasta, use black bean pasta, whole wheat pasta, or your favorite pasta shape.
Instead of using vegetable pasta, you can dye the pasta water black to get black pasta.
Diced fresh mozzarella can be substituted for mozzarella pearls.
The skins of the English cucumbers are very thin, so you do not need to peel them. If you are using a regular cucumber, you will probably need to peel them as the skin can be tough.

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