This fresh, egg free Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad is the perfect side for any summer barbecue. And who doesn’t love a good pasta salad on a summer day? I know I do!
The creamy homemade dressing for this eggless pasta salad is sweet, tangy, and has similar flavors to a ranch dressing. It’s loaded with fresh, crunchy broccoli, cauliflower, crisp bacon, and cheese, making it hearty enough to stand alone. It’d be especially tasty topped with fresh grilled chicken, making it a nicely rounded meal.
Kids even love this one, with its fun spiral noodles! My Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad is easy to make ahead of time (although it’s best made within a day of serving, to maintain its creaminess). Many dressings contain egg, but my 4 year old has a severe egg allergy, so I made sure to create this recipe egg free.
This recipe would make a great make-ahead meal to pack for school lunches, busy workday lunches, or a family picnic. It feeds a crowd as listed, but you can easily halve it for everyday use.
How I prep my egg free Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad ahead of time:
- Boil the water and cook the rotini noodles.
- Make the eggless pasta salad dressing while the water is heating/noodles are cooking, so I can immediately partially dress the warm pasta.
- Bake the bacon in the oven while all of this is happening (Yes, bake the bacon – line a baking sheet with foil, place bacon on foil, and bake at 400F for 15-25 minutes, depending on bacon thickness. Seriously, THE ONLY way we cook bacon in our house!).
- Broccoli and Cauliflower can be washed and chopped any time, so I just fit this in whenever there’s time (even if it’s a day or two earlier). Cheese can also be grated ahead of time, or you can use pre-shredded cheese.
- Store everything separately in the fridge overnight, and mix it all up a few hours before serving time. Voila! Eggless Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad.
Check out my Egg Free Ranch Dip or Egg Free Spinach Dip for another easy summer side!
The ingredients list for this creamy eggless Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad may look long at first, but most of it is for the dressing, which comes together pretty quickly. Feel free to tweak the seasonings to your liking, use more/less sugar, etc. That’s the beauty of cooking from scratch – you can always add or omit things as you go along!
This eggless Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad is:
- Egg Free (of course!)
- Soy Free
- Peanut Free
- Tree Nut Free
Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad (Egg Free)
Ingredients
Salad Dressing
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (white vinegar would also work)
- 2 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried dill weed
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
Pasta Salad
- Prepared salad dressing (see above)
- 12 oz rotini noodles
- 5 cups chopped fresh cauliflower
- 5 cups chopped fresh broccoli
- 1 pound bacon, cooked and diced
- 2-3 cups shredded or grated cheddar cheese (I used half white cheddar and half medium cheddar)
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients for pasta salad dressing until thoroughly combined. Store in refrigerator for later use. (I wash/prep my veggies and cook/dice the bacon ahead of time, also storing in the fridge until ready to use).
- Generously salt large pot of water, and bring to a boil. Add rotini noodles, and cook for 1 minute longer than instructed on package. This will ensure your noodles don't get too firm once your pasta salad is finished and refrigerated.
- Once pasta is cooked, strain and return to pot (removed from heat). Toss noodles with one cup of your prepared salad dressing, reserving the rest of the dressing for later. Allow to cool a bit, before storing noodles in an airtight container in the fridge.
- The day you plan on serving the pasta salad, stir all ingredients together with the dressing until evenly distributed. Serve chilled.
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