Broccoli Cheddar Pasta Salad
This twist on a classic broccoli salad features tangy flavors thanks to a simple tahini honey mustard dressing and cubed cheddar. It's great as a picnic-friendly salad or divided into mason jars for meal prep.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 500kcal
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 8 ounces rotini see note #1
- 1 medium head broccoli
- 1 ½ cups matchstick carrots
- 15 ounce can great northern beans drained and rinsed (small white beans or cannellini beans also work)
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar sliced into ¼-inch cubes
- ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds
- 1 small shallot finely diced
Dressing Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini see note #2
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- pinch of salt adjust to taste
- 1 to 3 tablespoons water as needed
Instructions
- Cook the rotini pasta until al dente in well-salted water, per package instructions. Once al dente, drain and rinse until cool running water to quickly chill the pasta.
- Roughly chop the broccoli florets into small pieces. One medium head typically yields about 2 heaping cups of chopped broccoli.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl or mason jar, whisk together the dressing ingredients: tahini, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, and salt. If needed, whisk in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dressing is a thick, pourable consistency.
- Transfer the cooked pasta to a large bowl. Toss with ½ of the tahini dressing. Stir in the chopped broccoli, matchstick carrots, white beans (optional), cubed cheddar, sunflower seeds, and diced shallot.
- Cover the pasta salad and transfer to the fridge to chill for an hour. Just before serving, toss with the remaining dressing. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Pasta: Works with any type of medium pasta shape, including whole wheat, gluten-free, or protein pasta.
- Tahini: Find this in the international aisle or by the nut butter in most grocery stores. For a more traditional pasta salad, replace with an equal amount of mayonnaise (makes the salad more deli-style), plain yogurt, or Greek yogurt (makes it's tangier).
- For cooked broccoli: I use raw broccoli in broccoli salad just based on preference, but this recipe does work with parboiled broccoli. To do this, heat a pot of water to boiling. Add the broccoli and boil for just one minute. Immediately drain in a colander. Once drained, transfer to a bowl on ice. This will stop the broccoli from cooking and cool it down quickly.
- Mason jar salad option: Makes 4-6 mason jar salads, depending on your appetite. From bottom layer to top layer: Honey mustard tahini dressing, white beans cooked pasta, hopped broccoli, matchstick carrots, sunflower seeds, diced shallot, cubed cheddar.
Nutrition
Calories: 500kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 234mg | Potassium: 940mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 6184IU | Vitamin C: 95mg | Calcium: 275mg | Iron: 4mg
