A dairy-free gluten-free pasta salad that no summer should be without. All the best parts of a BLT: bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado, along with a filling pasta and creamy dressing that is delicious on its own as a main dish, or a perfect side dish for potlucks and BBQs. This Avocado BLT Pasta Salad is free of: wheat, gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts. It’s top-8-free and can be vegan if you use vegan bacon crumbles! Perfect for those with dairy allergies, wheat intolerance or Celiac disease.
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Why you and I need this Gluten Free Dairy Free BLT Pasta Salad
Everyone needs a good pasta salad when the weather heats up during the summer months. And THIS is the recipe you’ll want to repeat all summer long. It has simple ingredients, isn’t difficult to make and has fresh, crisp veggies, salty bacon and filling pasta. Just because you can’t have the staples of gluten and dairy doesn’t mean you have to go without a good pasta salad! Forgive me for not posting this Gluten, Egg & Dairy-free: Avocado BLT Pasta Salad recipe sooner. We started eating this last summer and we just gobble it up so fast I can’t keep my family away long enough to snap a picture.
My mom has been staying with me for about the past month because 1.) she is a saint and 2.) to help raise my children while I worked wildly on my allergy friendly cookbook to get it sent to the publisher by the deadline. This was one of her FAVORITE recipes I made for her last year.
Another thing that I love about this allergy-friendly pasta salad is that my boys ACTUALLY ate the lettuce. Seriously this never happens. They do not like salads and if there’s something green they typically pick it out. I’m not into making different meals for them, so I figured they’d just have to eat around it. But to my surprise they were gobbling. SERIOUSLY GOBBLING this down. My son had an extra helping and he’s already asking when I can make it again–to which I will gladly oblige.
While some may feel it’s not a healthy pasta salad recipe because of the bacon–I still feel like this is a total mom win with the fresh vegetables like tomatoes and lettuce in it, both of which vegetables my kids aren’t huge on. It’s all about balance! One trick to getting my kids to eat more vegetables: stick it with some pasta and it will work magic. I swear! Also, a crunchy green, like Romain is usually more acceptable to my kids than something softer like spinach. They enjoy the texture.
This is versatile because sometimes it will be all I make for dinner, because it works as a main course (veggies+protein+grains) and sometimes it’s nice to take as a side dish to a BBQ. You won’t be sad no matter where this perfect pasta salad falls in your dinner line up.
What ingredients are in this gluten free dairy free pasta salad?
For this Avocado BLT pasta salad, all you need is:
- SALAD INGREDIENTS:
- Gluten free short pasta of choice, cooked to al dente (any brand you prefer should do, just follow the package directions)
- Avocado
- Bacon
- Cherry tomatoes
- Romain lettuce
- Red onion
- DRESSING INGREDIENTS:
- Vegan mayonnaise (if you can have eggs, you can use regular)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Garlic
- Salt and black pepper
- SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Large pot to boil pasta in
- Strainer to drain pasta
- Small bowl to stir dressing in
- Large mixing bowl to put everything in
Substitutions for the Avocado BLT Gluten Free Dairy Free Pasta Salad:
- VEGAN: If you need this to be pasta salad to be vegan, since the mayo is already a vegan mayo, it’d be an easy switch to use vegan bacon instead and ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, my vegan friends can have this as well!
- AVOCADO: And, if you’re not an avocado fan (seriously, how is that even possible??!) and you don’t want your salad to be extra creamy, then you can omit that too for a straight BLT salad instead of an avocado BLT pasta salad.
- WHEAT: If you can have wheat, go ahead and swap the gluten free noodles for regular noodles. Any short shape should do.
- EGGS: If you don’t need it to be egg free, go ahead and use regular mayo–same amount.
- BACON: If you don’t want to cook the bacon (I get it, it’s hot and it’s summer!) you can buy pre-bought bacon crumbles.
- GREENS: If you don’t want to use Romain, any other green can be substituted–same amount.
- VEGGIES: If you want to use more or less of the veggies, you can do that too–a bell pepper or cucumber would be great too!
- PROTEIN: If you want this to be extra filling, you could even add some chopped chicken for double the protein.
- POINT IN CASE: this salad is very tweakable and forgiving.
- PS: If you don’t want to lead a happy, fulfilling life, don’t make this salad.
I hope this helps you feel some pride when you go to a picnic or potluck, knowing that even if what you bring has to be allergy-friendly or tweaked for certain diets, that it can still be DELICIOUS. In fact, I think you’ll have the best pasta salad there! Hope you’re all having a wonderful summer (or should I say picnic season) my friends! Enjoy this gluten & dairy-free BLT pasta salad, I know we sure will!
How to store this leftover gluten free dairy free pasta salad recipe:
I like this pasta salad both cold and room temperature. Unlike some traditional pasta salads that taste better the next day, this is best eaten day of. The lettuce wilts and the avocado will brown, so it’s not the best second day, even when placed in an airtight container. But, I don’t think you’ll have any problems getting this all eaten up.
I don’t mind making it a few hours before serving, but I wait to add my avocado and dressing until right before eating. If you do add your dressing right after making it and plan on waiting to serve, reserve a little to re-stir into it right before serving. I find the cooked pasta absorbs it a bit, and it won’t be as creamy if you put all of the dressing on and then let it sit for hours.
Check out my other gluten free dairy free pasta salad recipes:
I told you I love an easy pasta salad! All of my pasta salads are: gluten, dairy and egg free. (With options to add those back in if you don’t need to avoid them.) Here’s to a summer full of delicious pasta salads! Enjoy this list of many allergy free versions:
- Gluten free dairy free Tuscan Pasta Salad
- Gluten free dairy free Taco Pasta Salad
- Gluten free dairy free Asian Spinach Pasta Salad
- Gluten free dairy free Roasted Cauliflower Pasta Salad (VEGAN TOO!)
- Gluten free dairy free Basil, Lemon and Avocado Creamy Pasta Salad (VEGAN TOO!)
- Gluten free dairy free Ham, Asparagus and Lemon Pasta Salad
- Gluten free dairy free ranch potato salad (not a pasta salad, but also BOMB for summer time)
Gluten, Egg & Dairy-free Avocado BLT Pasta Salad
A gluten and dairy-free pasta salad that no summer should be without. All the best parts of a BLT: bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado, along with a filling pasta and creamy dressing that is delicious on its own as an entree, or perfect as a side dish for potlucks and BBQs. This Avocado BLT Pasta Salad is free of: wheat, gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts. It's top-8-free and can be vegan if you use vegan bacon crumbles!
Ingredients
- SALAD:
- 12 oz box of gluten-free short pasta
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1 12-oz package of bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 carton of cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 heart of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
- DRESSING
- ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
- 2/3 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp minced garlic (approx 2 cloves)
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- optional: fresh chives for garnish
Instructions
- Boil the pasta until it's al dente, following the directions on the box for the kind you get. Rinse the pasta off in cold water and drain well. Add the pasta to a large mixing bowl.
- While the pasta boils, cook your bacon--either by doing it in a cast iron skillet on your stove top over medium high heat and turning until both sides are crisp, or by cooking it in the oven. If you cook it in the oven, place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, lay the bacon without overlapping it on the aluminum foil. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes, until the bacon is crisp.
- Either way you bake the bacon, once it's cooked lay it on a paper towel to drain excess fat. Once it's cool enough to handle, crumble the bacon and add it to the large mixing bowl.
- Wash and chop the lettuce and halve the cherry tomatoes. Add them to the large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients: finely chopped red onion, vegan mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste--season well. If the dressing is too thick for you, you can thin it a little with some rice milk.
- Dress the salad with the dressing, starting with just using half the bowl and working your way up, until it is coated as much as you like. Be sure to stir and incorporate the dressing on all of the salad, tossing as you go.
- Mince fresh chives and cube the avocado. Top the salad with the avocado and chives. Serve immediately. Great at room temp or refrigerated. If I refrigerate mine a few hours before serving, I like to reserve a little dressing, so that it's freshly dressed again, as the pasta can soak in the dressing and it can dry out a little and I like my salad a little more wet.
Notes
My husband says to mention that he likes to add to his salad some red pepper flakes for additional flavor and a kick of heat.
Inspired by: Bless This Mess & Kelsey Nixon's BLT Pasta Salads
Bless This Mess has so many great recipes. Be sure to check out more of hers like her:
DON’T FORGET TO PIN THIS GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE PASTA SALAD, SO YOU DON’T LOSE IT. BE SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT MY OTHER ALLERGY-FRIENDLY PINTEREST BOARDS FOR MORE IDEAS!
Looking for other allergy-friendly summer salads? Here are three of my other favorites:
Allergy-friendly Tuscan Pasta Salad
Roasted Cauliflower Pasta Salad
Apple Bacon & Spinach Salad with Red Onion Vinaigrette
Hi! I’m Megan, a mom to four kids, two with multiple food allergies & one with EOE. I’m a published cookbook author that constantly tweaks recipes to make them allergy friendly–it’s an addiction. I share every recipe & tip with you, to help you eat like you did before food allergies & dietary restrictions. You can still be awesome, even with food allergies!
Related Recipes:
Allergy-Friendly Red Pepper Pasta (GF, DF, Egg, Soy, Peanut/Tree nut, Free, Top 8 Free, Vegan)
30 Minute Sausage and Peppers Pasta (GF, DF, Egg, Soy, Peanut, Tree nut Free, Top 8 Free)
Gluten Free Vegan Pasta: Creamy Lemon Basil & Avocado
Gluten & Dairy Free Roasted Cauliflower Pasta Salad
Dairy & Gluten-free Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
Gluten & Dairy-free Asian Pasta & Spinach Salad
Sherry
This is the most delicious pasta salad I’ve ever made! I used smoked tempeh to make it entirely vegan and it is just such a yummy bite. Thank you so much for another great recipe!
Megan Lavin
You’re the best Sherry. Thanks so much. 🙂
Kate
Made this today and it is absolutely delicious! Such an easy and quick recipe for a fantastic dish to take to parties! Thanks for sharing, Megan!
Megan Lavin
You’re so welcome, Kate. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂