This easy curried vegan macaroni salad recipe is my plant-based version of a family favorite and a twist on classic macaroni salad with a touch of curry powder.
Just like my mom used to make - except for the vegan version part and that it's made with no mayo.

This 30-minute salad has a creamy cashew dressing similar to my homemade vegan mayonnaise with no added oil. The chopped dill pickles give it a little hint of my dill pickle ranch pasta salad. But this delicious salad gem is a force of flavor in its own right.
Table of Contents
⭐ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Serve it at room temperature, or make ahead for a cold macaroni salad.
- A perfect side dish for picnics and summer gatherings.
- Substitute elbow macaroni with other shapes or gluten-free pasta.
📋 Ingredients and Notes
Cashews. Use raw cashews. Roasted cashews will not yield a creamy dressing, and the flavor will not compare. Blanched almonds are the best substitute. If you use sunflower seeds, consult my recommendations for sunflower sour cream about how to prepare them.
Apple cider vinegar. I like to combine apple cider vinegar and lemon juice to make cashew dressings and vegan sour cream. You can substitute apple cider vinegar with white wine, mellow rice, or white vinegar.
Pickles. I used chopped dill pickles and haven't tried it with sweet pickle relish, but I bet it would be delicious. That's on my 'next time' list for sure. For more pickle flavor, add a little pickle juice to the dressing.
Curry powder. This is my wild card ingredient. Use hot, medium, or mild.
Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the complete list of ingredients with measurements plus recipe instructions.
📖 Recipe Variations
- Add crunchy vegetables, like diced or shredded carrots, cucumber cubes, or diced green pepper. Black olives are another tasty addition.
- Use this recipe to make a yummy vegan potato salad by swapping a few boiled diced potatoes for cooked pasta.
🥄 Creamy Cashew Dressing Tips
- For best results, soak cashews before blending them. My tried-and-true method is to cover them with boiling water and soak for 15 minutes. Even with a high-speed blender, soaking prevents gritty dressings. You can also soak them overnight, boil them, or steam them.
- Drain and rinse the cashews before adding them to the blender. This gets rid of excess oil and dust that emerges after soaking.
- Add ¼ cup of water to start, then add more as needed.
- Blend at a slow speed to start, then ramp it up to high as you keep adding water.
- The dressing should be a little on the thin side. Test that it runs off the spoon.
- If the dressing is gritty, add more water and keep blending.
Want to save this recipe? 🥣
🔪 Tips to Master Macaroni Salad
- Consult the package instructions before cooking the macaroni or other pasta.
- Add plenty of water. Pasta needs a lot of room to boil so it doesn't collide and stick together.
- Cook the pasta al dente ('to the tooth' in Italian), meaning you can bite through it without it being mushy.
- Rinse the pasta after draining. This stops the cooking process and rinses excess starch to keep cool pasta from drying out.
- Keep the diced red peppers, celery, and onions small so they don't overpower the smaller, elbow macaroni.
🍔 Serving Suggestions
Macaroni salad goes great with your favorite veggie burgers. I recommend meaty tempeh burgers, sweet potato Mediterranean burgers, or chickpea burgers for starters. It's delish mingling on a plate of lentil sloppy Joes too!
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Let it warm to room temperature and mix in a little lemon juice and/or vinegar to spruce it up.
If you are looking for a nut or seed-free and lower-fat option, silken tofu is a good substitute. Silken tofu has a lot of moisture, so you may not need any water to thin it out. Blend it with the rest of the dressing ingredients, taste, and adjust accordingly.
The best way to keep macaroni salad moist is to rinse the macaroni after it’s been cooked. You want to rinse away as much starch as possible. Before adding the dressing, you can try tossing the macaroni with a teaspoon of lemon juice.
Adding a pinch of salt to macaroni won't help the water boil quicker; however, it will make the macaroni more flavorful.
🥘 More Pasta Salad Recipes
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the newest recipes!
👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Easy Curried Vegan Macaroni Salad
Rate this Recipe:
Ingredients
Ingredients for Macaroni Salad
- 1 small red onion - diced, about ¾ cup
- 2 stalks celery - diced, about 1 cup
- 1 medium red bell pepper - cored and diced, about 1 cup
- ½ cup dill pickles - diced
- 16 ounces macaroni - 500 grams
- ½ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for the Dressing
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard - or yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika - or cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ - 1 cup water
Instructions
- Add the cashews to a small bowl and cover them with about 2 cups of boiling water. Set them aside for 15 minutes to soak.
- In a large pot, add the water for cooking the macaroni plus ½ a teaspoon of salt. Once it reaches a boil, add the macaroni and cook it until it is tender but is still firm and chewy. Consult the package directions times.
- When the macaroni is done, immediately drain and rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking process and rinse away the starch.
- To make the dressing, drain and rinse the cashews and add them to a blender. Add the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, curry powder, ground pepper, paprika, and ¼ a cup of water.
- Blend the dressing until it is smooth. Add more water (I used a total of ¾ of a cup) and blend until the salad dressing is thin enough to run off a spoon when you test it. Taste, adjust the ingredients if necessary, and add salt if desired.
- In a large salad bowl, combine the macaroni and dressing. Mix in the red onion, celery, red bell pepper, and pickles.
- Garnish the salad with a dash of paprika if desired.
Notes
- If the macaroni starts to absorb the dressing, mix in a tablespoon of lemon juice to help separate it.
- Place leftover salad in a container with a lid and store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To freshen it up, add lemon juice and/or vinegar.
- The best substitutes for cashews are soaked, blanched almonds or ground sunflower seeds. If using sunflower seeds, you'll need to add more lemon juice and vinegar. Taste to test it. Silken tofu is another option. In this case, you will only need a little water, if any.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
Leave a Reply