Southwest Pasta Salad is a cold pasta salad that is perfect to serve at a bbq, potlucks or as a simple side dish.
It can be made ahead of time to make meal planning easy!
This is the best southwest pasta salad! Your friends and family will love this recipe.
It's super easy to make and goes great alongside your grilled chicken, steak or burgers!
This salad is best served cold and it gets better and better as it chills so I would even make this a day ahead of time if you can. This pasta salad has no mayonnaise.
Southwest pasta salad ingredients
This quick and easy pasta salad is full of bold flavors!
- pasta
- black beans
- corn
- diced pimentos
- green onions
- chopped cilantro
- pepper-jack cheese
- cream style corn
- chipotle sauce
- juice of one lime
- avocado
How to make southwest pasta salad
Start out by cooking the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse the pasta under cold water once it is finished cooking.
While the pasta is cooking, work on the dressing. Mix them in a bowl until they are well combined and set aside.
Drain the canned black beans and corn and then give them a rinse before tossing into the pasta.
Add the pimentos, green onions, cilantro, pepper jack cheese and the dressing and then toss to coat all of the ingredients.
Cover and let chill in the fridge before serving. Add the avocado right before serving to prevent them from browning.
Tips for making the best southwest pasta salad
- Wait until you serve it to add the chopped avocados to avoid them turning brown in the fridge.
- The chipotle sauce used in this recipe is a canned chipotle sauce. If you can not find this type of sauce, replace it with any kind of chipotle flavored hot sauce.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days, covered.
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Southwest Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 oz. dry pasta
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 can corn rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup diced pimentos
- 3 green onions chopped
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 4 oz. pepper-jack cheese diced
- ½ cup cream style corn
- 2 tablespoons chipotle sauce
- juice of one lime
- 1 avocado
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse under cold water.
- Toss the ingredients, except the avocado, in a large mixing bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Dice the avocado and toss into the salad right before serving. Keep leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!