This Buffalo Pasta Salad features perfectly cooked pasta tossed with a zesty buffalo ranch dressing, crunchy veggies, and creamy feta for a bold and tangy flavor. Ideal for summer gatherings or as a tasty summer meal prep, it brings a flavorful twist to traditional pasta salads.
You’ll love this Easy Pasta Salad Recipe
Wow this Buffalo Pasta Salad is elite. Truly, not sure if this one or the Hot Honey Pasta Salad is going to be my recipe of the summer! They’re two of the BEST pasta salad recipes I’ve tried to date.
This recipe has all of the flavors and textures that just WORK together. There’s creaminess thanks to the avocado, ranch, and crumbled feta. There’s crunch and freshness from the garden veggies bell peppers and cucumbers, and there’s a bit of heat from the buffalo and jalapeño.
I love bringing this pasta to a backyard barbecue or potluck, as its got great flavor and everyone seems to love it! It’s vegetarian and can easily be made gluten free with chickpea noodles or another GF pasta. It also holds up great for meal prep and can be enjoyed throughout the week as a quick pack and go lunch.
And if the heat of this buffalo pasta salad isn’t for you, check out this Feta Pesto Pasta Salad or this Italian Orzo Pasta Salad, both which I think you will love! Or if you’re a big buffalo fan, reach fot this Healthier Buffalo Chicken Dip or the Buffalo Chicken Sliders.
Recipe Ingredients
- Noodles – Use your favorite short shape pasta. I used Capavitti, but I think macaroni noodles would be a good choice as well.
- Chickpeas – Sautéd and seasoned with paprika, salt and pepper and the tasty buffalo dressing.
- Veggies – We will use bell pepper, cucumber, red onion, gren onion, tomato, avocado, and jalapeño.
- Ranch – The perfect way to balance the heat of the spicy buffalo sauce.
- Buffalo Dressing – We mix the buffalo sauce with a few other ingredients like honey, mustard, oil and vinegar so there is still strong buffalo flavor, but it makes for a more smooth and enjoyable spicy dressing with just the right amount of heat.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- Not a fan of ranch? Use blue cheese dressing instead! I think this is a taste I’ll grow into, but for right now – it’s not my favorite. I know bleu cheese and buffalo compliment each other very nicely though! You can also use crumbled blue cheese instead of feta.
- Skip the noodles and make this a regular salad! Sub arugula, spinach, or do lettuce-less and double up the cucumbers, tomatoes and chickpeas.
- Want a dairy free version? Skip the feta and use Primal Kitchen Dairy-free Ranch. You can find this at Target.
- Are you a fan of more texture and crunch? Add chopped carrots and/or celery. These are two classic veggies to pair with buffalo sauce, like I did in this Buffalo Chicken Crunch Wrap.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Start by cooking the noodles according to package instructions. Then drain, rinse with cold water and let cool in the fridge while you prep the remaining ingredients. I used my vegetable chopper to quickly and evenly dice: red bell pepper, cucumber, jalapenos, and red onion. Quarter the grape tomatoes.
2. Make the buffalo dressing in a small bowl or pyrex. Whisk together until hot honey is completely dissolved.
3. Rinse and drain the canned chickpeas. Heat a skillet to medium heat. Once warm, add the chickpeas and toss until the remaining water evaporates. As they start to toast, stir in black pepper, salt, and paprika. Stir in half of the buffalo dressing to coat the seasoned chickpeas.
4. Once the noodles are cooled, add them to a large mixing bowl and add diced red onion, jalapeno, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, cucumber, buffalo chickpeas and crumbled feta cheese.
5. Pour the remaining buffalo dressing and ¼ cup of ranch on top of the pasta salad.
Toss together, ensuring everything is coated well.
6. Before serving, add sliced avocado to the top of the salad along with the remaining (2 tablespoons) buffalo sauce and ¼ cup ranch. Garnish with green onions. Best served chilled!!
PRO TIPS
Make a double batch of the seasoned buffalo chickpeas! You can save them to also add to salads or grain bowls throughout the week. Or just snack on plain!
Recipe FAQs
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The vegetables are still crunchy, the noodles haven’t absorbed all of the sauce yet, and all of the flavors are fresh!! I recently found these mixing bowls with lids which you can make the salad directly in then cover up for easy storage.
As a side dish, generally, 1 cup is a good portion. If you’re serving as a main, you’ll want to double that to at least 2 cups for a full meal. This recipe makes ~6 perfect side dish portions.
Yes! For pasta salad, it is appropriate to rinse the noodles because you really want to prevent them from sticking together and you want to cool them quickly. Rinsing helps with both of these things.
For hot pasta, however, it is advised against rinsing the noodles after cooking because this removes some of the starch on the outside of the pasta, which makes it very difficult for any sort of sauce to cling.
Serving suggestions
Add a protein!! Grilled chicken breasts or rotisserie chicken on this would be the perfect pair for a little Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad action! Serve with a refreshing beverage, like my Sparkling White Wine Sangria!
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Buffalo Pasta Salad
Equipment
- Sauce pot
- strainer
- skillet
- measuring cups / spoons
- Whisk
- small bowl or glass beaker
- Large mixing bowl
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 8 oz noodles, I used cavatappi
- 1 can chickpeas, 15 oz
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 bell pepper
- 2 mini english cucumbers
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 avocado
- 1 small jalapeño
- 1/2 cup green onions
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing
- 2 tbsp buffalo sauce
Buffalo Dressing
- 1/4 cup buffalo sauce
- 2 tbsp hot honey
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- pinch salt & pepper
Instructions
- Start by cooking the noodles according to package instructions. Then drain, rinse with cold water and let cool in the fridge while you prep the remaining ingredients.
- I used my vegetable chopper to quickly and evenly dice: red bell pepper, cucumber, jalapenos, and red onion. Quarter the grape tomatoes.
- Make the buffalo dressing in a small bowl or pyrex. Whisk together until hot honey is completely dissolved.
- Rinse and drain the canned chickpeas. Heat a skillet to medium heat. Once warm, add the chickpeas and toss until the remaining water evaporates. As they start to toast, stir in black pepper, salt, and paprika. Stir in half of the buffalo dressing to coat the seasoned chickpeas.
- Once the noodles are cooled, add them to a large mixing bowl and add diced red onion, jalapeno, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, cucumber, buffalo chickpeas and crumbled feta cheese.
- Pour the remaining buffalo dressing and ¼ cup of ranch on top of the pasta salad.
- Toss together, ensuring everything is coated well.
- Before serving, add sliced avocado to the top of the salad along with the remaining (2 tablespoons) buffalo sauce and ¼ cup ranch. Garnish with green onions. Best served chilled!
Nutrition
Video
Notes
more of our favorite Buffalo Flavored Recipes…
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two things meant to be together: ranch andddd buffalo! This pasta salad is killer!
I didn’t have any noodles and just doubled the chickpeas and LOVED this salad