Southwest Pasta Salad


Southwest Pasta Salad:- A delectable chipotle ranch sauce covers cold pasta, grilled chicken, and veggies in this southwest pasta salad. It makes a great summer bbq or potluck side dish or lighter lunch or dinner.

 

Southwest Pasta Salad

A delicious pasta salad is one of my favorite dishes because it is a dish that is not only light but also filling. It is ideal for a BBQ or a potluck in the spring or summer (although we might not be doing a lot of them right now, it will be the ideal thing to bring to a celebration cookout after all of this is over!) Irrespective of the day of the week, it can also be consumed as a delicious alternative for either lunch or dinner.

This pasta salad from the Southwest is brimming with delicious ingredients from the Southwest. All of these ingredients, which include maize, red onion, tomatoes, black beans, bell pepper, and cilantro, are laden with a delicious flavor. When I think about these flavors, I immediately think of the summertime!

You have complete control over the ingredients that go into this southwest pasta salad, which is one of the many reasons why it is so delicious. You are free to add any vegetables that you have on hand, or you may choose to include only the ones that you enjoy eating. If you wish to make it vegetarian, eliminate the chicken from the recipe. In the event that you do not require as much, try halving the recipe. You can include some cheese if you so desire. You should use whatever medium or short noodles that you have available to you. The list goes on.

 

Tips for making southwest pasta salad:

  • Prep all your ingredients, while your noodles are cooking, and set them aside till you need them.
  • You’ll need 2 cups of cooked chicken for this pasta salad. You can cook up your own chicken in a saute pan, or on the grill, or you can buy pre-cooked chicken from the store. A rotisserie chicken, or some chopped grilled chicken from the deli work great for this.

 

  • You’ll use a chipotle ranch for the dressing on this pasta salad salad. You can use my homemade chipotle ranch or you can buy some from the store.
  • You can put your choice of toppings in this pasta salad. I added canned black beans and corn, with fresh red onion, green bell pepper, and tomatoes. Some other good toppings would be avocado, diced jalapeno, or black olives.
  • You can cut the recipe in half if you don’t want or need to make enough for a big group.
  • Add some cotjia cheese, queso fresco, shredded cheddar, or other cheeses to the pasta salad.

 

How to make southwest pasta salad?

You’ll start by bringing a large pot of water to boil. Add in your noodles and cook according to package directions, till cooked al dente. While the pasta is cooking, get all your other ingredients ready, drain and rinse your black beans. Drain your corn. Dice up your bell peppers and red onion. And slice up your tomatoes. Chop up your cilantro. Dice your grilled chicken.

After the noodles are cooked, rinse them off with cold water, and allow them to dry completely. In a large bowl, mix your noodles, bell pepper, red onion, black beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken, and cilantro. Add in the chipotle ranch dressing and stir to coat everything evenly with the dressing. Cover the pasta salad and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

 

How long does southwest pasta salad last?

This southwest pasta salad is a perfect make ahead dish, because the flavors just meddle more the longer it sets in the fridge. It can stay in a covered container for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.

This southwest pasta salad is loaded with so many good fresh ingredients! All topped with an amazing creamy dressing. It’s the perfect mix of great flavors and textures, and every bite is so delicious!

 

Ingredients

  • 12 oz rotini pasta (or other medium sized noodled)
  • 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 can corn (drained)
  • 1 cup bell pepper (diced)
  • 1 cup red onion (diced)
  • 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes (cut in half)
  • 1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
  • 2 cups grilled chicken (chopped)
  • 1 cup chipotle ranch dressing

 

Equipment

  • Large Mixing Bowl

 

Instructions

  • Cook your noodles according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Allow to drip dry.
  • Drain your black beans, and corn, and rinse.
  • Cut up your bell pepper, red onion, and tomatoes.
  • Chop up your cilantro.
  • Chop up your chicken.
  • In a large bowl, stir together your pasta, black beans, corn, bell pepper, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro, and chicken.
  • Stir in the chipotle ranch dressing until everything is evenly coated.
  • Cover bowl and place in the fridge for 1 hour, up to a few hours, then serve.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 340kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 17gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 253mgPotassium: 391mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 608IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 29mgIron: 2mg

Author

  • JASMINE GOMEZ

    Jasmine Gomez is the Wishes Editor at Birthday Stock, where she cover the best wishes, quotes across family, friends and more. When she's not writing for a living, she enjoys karaoke and dining out more than she cares to admit. Who we are and how we work. We currently have seven trained editors working in our office to produce top-notch content that you can rely on. All articles are published according to the four-eyes principle: After completion of the raw version, the texts are checked by (at least) one other editor for orthographic and content accuracy.

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