This Fresh Southwest Pasta Salad is my go-to whenever I need to take a dish to a party, and also a favorite summer dinner at our house. It’s great with grilled chicken (Grilled Taco Chicken is a perfect pairing) or by itself as a one-dish dinner. This dressing is based off of our favorite Cilantro Vinaigrette. It’s so good and flavorful, packed with veggies, and does well sitting out or in the fridge for while before or during serving. Leftovers are fantastic, too!
Ingredients Needed for the Salad
- bowtie pasta – you could use a different shape if you wanted, but keep it short and “twisty”; don’t use long, thin pasta. Rotini, fusilli, or cavatappi are other excellent choices! These shapes have more surface area and grooves, allowing them to better hold onto dressings and mix-ins.
- black beans – drained and rinsed. Canned works great!
- roma tomatoes – diced. If you don’t have any around, you could also use about ¾ cup halved cherry tomatoes.
- bell pepper – red, yellow, or orange are all delicious here; we don’t recommend green pepper for this recipe.
- green onions
- corn – we always recommend frozen corn. Canned corn has a unique flavor profile that doesn’t mesh well with most recipes. In this recipe, you’ll add the corn in frozen – no need to thaw it!
- limes
- chicken – optional. You’ll want to cook and chill this before preparing the salad. If you want something extra delicious, make this taco chicken. It fits the flavor profile perfectly!
- Queso Fresco or Cotija Cheese – I like to sprinkle on the cheese just before serving. Queso Fresco or Cotija is my favorite, or you can use grated pepperjack, jack, or cheddar.
Ingredients Needed for the Dressing
- fresh lime juice – from about 3 juicy limes
- white wine or rice vinegar
- garlic – roughly chopped
- chili powder
- cumin
- coriander
- kosher or sea salt
- sugar – if you find your limes are very sour or bitter, add a touch more than the recipe originally calls for.
- canola oil
- cilantro – roughly chopped. If you’re not a cilantro fan, you can always leave it out!
How to Make Southwest Pasta Salad
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Be sure to only cook the pasta until it reaches al dente stage.
- Blend together dressing.
- Combine pasta salad ingredients.
- Pour dressing into salad and toss gently.
- Chill for one hour before serving.
- Add cheese right before serving.
Storage & Other Tips
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 – 5 days.
- The flavors of this salad may mellow after storage. If you’d like, you can reserve a small amount of dressing to add right before enjoying any leftovers. You can also add more lime juice, salt, and pepper.
- You can make this salad up to a few hours ahead of serving. Toss is all together, but keep the dressing separate. Toss together one hour before serving, chill again to let the flavors meld together, then add cheese right before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! It’s even better after the flavors meld in the fridge. For best texture, consider mixing in the dressing right before serving or refreshing it with a bit more dressing.
Absolutely. While the recipe includes a delicious spin on our Cilantro Vinaigrette, you can use store-bought chipotle ranch, cilantro-lime dressing, or even a creamy vinaigrette.
Cook the pasta al dente and rinse it in cold water to stop the cooking process. If storing overnight, keep the dressing separate until serving.
Yes! Grilled chicken (like our Taco Chicken), shrimp, or even taco-seasoned ground beef can turn this into a hearty main course.
You can use kidney beans, chickpeas, or omit them entirely. Roasted red peppers or diced zucchini make great substitutes for corn.
Southwest Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- ½ lb bowtie pasta
- 1 14-oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced or about ¾ cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 bell pepper, red, yellow, or orange large, diced small
- ½ cup green onions sliced
- ½ cup corn, frozen
- zest from 2 limes
- 8 ounces chicken, cooked, diced optional; try our taco chicken
- ½ cup Queso Fresco or Cotija Cheese or you could substitute grated jack, cheddar or pepperjack
Dressing
- 6 tablespoons lime juice, fresh about 3 juicy limes
- ¼ cup white wine or rice vinegar
- 4-5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 2 teaspoon sugar add a touch more if your limes are extra sour/bitter
- ¾ cup canola oil
- ½ cup cilantro roughly chopped
Instructions
Cook Pasta
- Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions. While it's cooking, prepare dressing.
Dressing
- Zest limes and place the zest in a large salad bowl.
- Place the lime juice, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and sugar in a blender. (Basically everything except the cilantro and oil).
- Process until smooth. With the motor running slowly, add the oil in a steady stream until incorporated.
- Add the cilantro and pulse so it gets broken up, but some pieces still remain in tact.
Combine Salad Ingredients
- When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse immediately with cold water to cool.
- Place the pasta in the large salad bowl with the lime zest. Add black beans, tomatoes, diced pepper, green onions, corn (no need to thaw the corn), and chicken if desired. Toss with dressing. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Chill for 1 hour before serving.
- Right before serving, sprinkle cheese on top. Serve with extra lime wedges if desired.
Questions & Reviews
We love this salad with frozen, shelled edamame!
I tripled this for a large outdoor party and everyone loved it. Although it took some time to prepare, it will definitely be part of our meals. I plan to try it with chicken next time, just for dinner. Several people asked for the recipe. I didn’t use the entire triple amount of dressing, but I think it could have used it as it does get soaked up by the pasta. The hardest part of this recipe is actually the zesting and juicing of the limes.
Trying to see the answer to “can you make it the night before”; also, how many times the recipe for about 40 people?
I would prep everything and then toss it with dressing about an hour before serving. As for how much- just look at the serving size and do the math 🙂
I’m making this for a teacher/staff luncheon at school for 100 people. I’m thinking I should prep all the ingredients, cook the pasta, and make the dressing the night before. Then early morning mix it all together with the dressing and chill until I serve it at lunch. I’m kind of worried about the pasta being cooked the night before. Should I wait and do that in the morning? Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for a great recipe.
I had the same question, I wanted to make it for 50 ppl. Le me know how it worked out fr you ?
I’m doubling this recipe for a party, however for most dressing recipes I only use half to 3/4 of the dressing, Is this a recipe I will use the whole dressing, or would a single batch of dressing cover a double batch of pasta?
It probably depends on how much flavor I want, but I thought I’d ask anyway!!
My mouth is already watering! Looks delish! Love your site and use it all the time 🙂
Crystal, I wrote this recipe so one batch of dressing really is the amount you’ll need (or close to it) for one batch of salad. So if you’re doubling the salad, you’ll want to double the dressing too. If you don’t use all of it right away, you might want to add more once it sits for a bit because the pasta will absorb it. Hope you enjoy it!
OH MY DELICOUSNESS. If you are reading these comments trying to see if you want to make this, PRINT IT OUT ALREADY AND MAKE THIS BABY. It’s that good and that’s all I have to say. Thanks for yet another “keeper”, girls. I seriously love you two, and if I ever see you two in real life, watch out because I’m going to hug you and then kiss you. and then never let go of you.
This salad is so good! My husband said it’s so good, it’s like “crack”. He’s not a drug-addict! That’s just code for, “it’s really addicting.” 🙂 My two year old loved it to. It was amazing with the Taco Chicken from your cookbook. We didn’t think it was spicy at all. It’s actually really great for kids too!
Made this yesterday and loved it. My hubby was extremely impressed. He said it is restaurant quality. (Some of my children weren’t impressed, but you don’t know picky until you know my kids). I used penne pasta (it’s what I had) and forgot the tomatoes. Thanks!
I have now made this for the 3rd time and it is insane how excited I get to eat this. I make no changes…at all…(I usually do…to most recipes) Had to use olive oil once since I didn’t have canola and it is very good that way as well. Sometimes I add chicken, sometimes I don’t. Only if I have leftover chicken do I add it. Very good with or without.
This was delicious! I love the lime flavor. Thank you so much for sharing!