Meghan Markle’s Spring Garden Pasta Salad Is a Crowd-Pleaser

I tried Meghan Markle’s new spring garden pasta salad.
The dish features seven different vegetables, including cherry tomatoes, snap peas, and zucchini.
I was surprised by how long it took to make the dish, but it was a hit at my friend’s barbecue.

Spring is in the air, and Meghan Markle is back on our TV, which can only mean one thing.

It’s time for a spring garden pasta salad à la the Duchess of Sussex.

After reviewing Meghan’s new line of As Ever products and spending a weekend trying hosting tips from her Netflix show, I knew I also had to try some of Meghan’s recipes.

I was a huge fan of her Chantilly Lili dessert, a twist on banana pudding that Meghan named after her daughter, Princess Lilibet. Would the spring garden pasta salad be as big of a success?

Let’s find out.

Meghan Markle’s spring garden pasta salad appears on her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan.”

Meghan Markle on her new Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan.”

Jake Rosenberg / Netflix

In the first season of her new show, Meghan demonstrates two different pasta dishes. My colleague Erin McDowell tried her one-pot pasta, a quick and easy dish that only requires a skillet.

The recipe for the spring garden pasta salad, which also appears in The New York Times, has far more ingredients and steps. According to the Times, the dish was inspired by Meghan’s kitchen garden in Montecito — her star-studded California neighborhood — and the duchess’ “fondness for meals filled with vegetables.”

Meghan’s spring garden pasta salad is packed with seven different vegetables.

Ingredients for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Meghan’s spring garden pasta salad is packed with different veggies.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

To make the pasta salad at home, you’ll need:

1 pound of rigatoni
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 cup of snap peas, strings removed
½ cup of green peas
1 small bunch of Lacinato kale or Swiss chard, stems and leaves separated and finely sliced
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lemon, preferably Meyer
Parmesan or Manchego cheese or both, for serving
Fresh mint leaves, for serving
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil

Meghan notes that frozen peas work well for this dish and don’t need to be thawed beforehand.

If you opt for fresh peas instead, boil them in salted water for about one to two minutes until they turn “bright green and crisp tender,” according to the recipe.

Then, drain the peas, rinse them under cold water, and drain again before adding them to the skillet.

Before I began cooking, I prepped all my veggies — a step that took far longer than expected.

Chopped zucchini and shallots for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — The chopped shallots and zucchini.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

The recipe states that prep time for the spring garden pasta salad will take 20 minutes, but it took me at least half an hour to chop, slice, and dice everything.

I should note that I’m not the quickest with a knife and was already pretty tired from a day full of trying Meghan’s hosting projects, so I wasn’t exactly working at full speed.

If you’re also a bit of a novice, make sure to budget enough time before dinner for prep.

I didn’t start boiling the water for my pasta until I finished chopping the vegetables — big mistake.

Boiling water for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Boiling water for the rigatoni pasta.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I forgot that it can take quite a bit of time to bring a large pot of water to a boil, so I wasted precious time by not putting it on the stove right away as I did my prep work. Don’t make my same mistake!

And, as always with pasta, make sure to generously salt the water.

As I waited for the water to boil, I placed a large skillet over medium heat and added olive oil.

Adding olive oil to pan for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Make sure to cover the pan with olive oil.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

The recipe says you should add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

I let the olive oil warm up in the pan, then added the shallots and garlic.

Cooking veggies for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Adding shallots and garlic to the pan.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Meghan says you should season the shallots and garlic with salt and cook them until they just start to soften, making sure to stir often.

This should take about one to two minutes.

Then, I threw in the zucchini, snap peas, frozen green peas, and kale stems.

Cooking veggies in pan for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — I cooked all the veggies together for about three minutes.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Meghan says you should salt everything again and cook until the veggies are “crisp-tender,” which should take two to three minutes.

My water was finally boiling!

Cooking pasta and veggies for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — I took my skillet off the heat as I cooked the rigatoni.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I took my skillet off the heat and threw in the box of rigatoni to my boiling pot of salted water, cooking the pasta until it was al dente.

I made sure to save some pasta water before draining the rigatoni.

Saving pasta water for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — I saved some of the pasta water in a glass measuring cup.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

The recipe recommends saving half a cup of pasta water.

I transferred my noodles to a large bowl and drizzled olive oil on top, making sure to coat the pasta lightly.

Adding olive oil to pasta for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — I drizzled the drained rigatoni with olive oil before adding some reserved pasta water.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Per Meghan’s recommendation, I also added a splash of pasta water since my noodles seemed a little dry.

It was time to mix everything together.

Adding cooked veggies to pasta for Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Mixing the veggies with the pasta.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I added all the cooked veggies from the skillet to the big bowl, then added the halved cherry tomatoes.

I zested the entire lemon over my pasta, then squeezed juice from one of its halves.

Adding lemon and lemon zest to Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Squeezing fresh lemon juice into the pasta.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I stirred everything together to coat the rigatoni noodles evenly. After tasting my pasta, I added a bit more olive oil and pasta water.

Last but not least was the cheese.

Mixing Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Adding cheese to the pasta.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I love Parmesan and Manchego cheese, so I opted to use both for this recipe. I grated a generous amount of each over the pasta, which I topped with lots of freshly ground black pepper.

This is also the step where you can scatter the mint on top — although I must admit I forgot!

Meghan’s pasta required far more time than I expected, but it was a huge hit at my friend’s barbecue.

Meghan Markle's spring garden pasta salad — Meghan’s spring garden pasta salad.

Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

After nearly 10 hours of trying Meghan’s various projects, I was pretty exhausted when I finished making this dish. And, full transparency, that tiredness immediately made me not want to like this pasta.

But when I arrived at my friend’s barbecue, I was surprised by how much everyone loved this dish. The pasta salad was packed with bright flavors from all the veggies, perfectly captured in each bite of the chewy rigatoni.

It tasted light and fresh, pairing well with our chicken and steak kebabs. I especially loved the pasta when I added some chili crisp on top the following day. The extra heat, melding with the salty cheeses, added more depth and elevated the overall flavor.

There are a lot of great spring pastas that take much less time and work — I’m partial to Ina Garten’s spring spaghetti carbonara — but if you’re quick with a knife, or have an extra pair of hands to help, Meghan’s spring garden pasta salad will be a crowd-pleaser.

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