Zucchini Pasta Salad With Mozzarella And Basil
The freshest of flavors come together in this salad, featuring zucchini noodles as the base.
Pasta salads can be heavy – especially when it’s hot outside.
Luckily, there’s an easy and healthy way to create great salads without the bulk of pasta.
Many traditional pasta salads can be made with zucchini noodles instead.
I decided to give this one a try: A base of zucchini, with tomatoes, pickled onions, and mozzarella cheese – and a flavorful basil dressing.
This is the lightest of salads that won’t weigh you down.
Clean Out Your Fridge
Have some leftover mushrooms, red bell peppers or cauliflower? Cut them up and throw them in this salad.
Zucchini Noodles With A Hand-Held Spiralizer
I use a hand-held spiralizer to make zucchini noodles. I don’t use it enough to justify buying a large machine.
Money-saving tips: Do not buy pre-spiralized zucchini noodles at grocery store. They are heavily marked up. Rather, purchase a hand-held spiralizer for $10.00 to $15.00.
Zucchini is one of the most budget-friendly vegetables out there. Incorporate more of this versatile vegetable into your diet – which is great for your waistline and your pocketbook.
How To Make Pickled Red Onions
- Slice a medium red onion in half. With the cut side down, slice each half into thin half moons. Place in an appropriate-sized Mason jar. Add some pickling spices, if desired.
- Bring 3/4 cup vinegar (I use a combination of white wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar, but any will do), 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil. Pour hot vinegar over onions. Let sit for 30 minutes and it’s ready to eat.
- Onions will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.
Here are some of my other favorite salad recipes:
Zucchini "Pasta" Salad With Mozzarella And Basil
Vegan, paleo and Whole30 diets: Omit mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 large green zucchini squash
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese chunks, cubed
- 1/3 cup pickled red onion (recipe above)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 10 basil leaves
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Make dressing: In a food processor, pulse basil and garlic clove. Combine oil and vinegar and slowly stream into processor. Add salt, to taste.
- Spiralize zucchini: Run zucchini through a vegetable spiralizer. Cut into bite-sized pieces, if spirals are too long.
- Combine: Combine zucchini, tomatoes, mozzarella, and pickled onions in a serving bowl. Pour in dressing and toss to evenly coat. Serve.
Love! And yes zucchini are great value! I use a spiralizer attachment on my KitchenAid – find the attachments have cut down on having so many machines, as you mention. Thanks!
I love the idea of adding the noodles to make it more filling! You are right. Zucchini are one of those vegetables that are vastly underused in our cooking! I love that you don’t actually really cook anything except the onions in hot vinegar for the thirty minutes. It’s a really good way to clear out a fridge especially if you’re a huge veggie lover. I will definitely try that. I found an Israeli salad that I make pretty often, but I think I might just end up combining the two. If I find a blend I like I would like to post it and give you credit for inspiration. I also would like to include this blog in my list of food blogs I love that provide inspiration for cooking on very low income. Thank you so much for this recipe…I am hoping to try it out this weekend.
Thank you for this. You’ve given me a good idea for dinner tomorrow! I’m always looking for ways to incorporate more veggies than I have before in our diet! Will have tons of leftover veggies to add to this to make it perfect.