Creamy Southwest Pasta Salad

Why Make this Recipe

If you’re in need of a fantastic side dish for a party, picnic, barbecue, or just for dinner at home, this creamy southwestern pasta salad with chipotle dressing is hard to beat.

With its mixture of spices, lime juice, corn, black beans, and more, it’s an amazing twist on your standard pasta salad recipe.

This salad has bell peppers, onion, beans and tomato, so it’s a great way to get more plant-based foods into your diet. Not to mention – it’s packed with flavour thanks to the chipotle dressing!

For something so simple to make, this cold pasta salad will certainly end up on rotation at your house for summers to come!

We love this Easy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad Recipe and Easy Vegan Cold Pesto Pasta Salad too!

Recipe Highlights

• Vegetarian and vegan (dairy-free), as well as easily made gluten-free.
• Quick & easy! You can put this together in about a half hour.
• Great for entertaining.
• Provides 18 grams of plant-based protein and 11 g of fiber per serving – or more if you use whole wheat pasta!
• Versatile! It can work as a side dish, appetizer, or light lunch or dinner.
• Full of flavor thanks to Tex-Mex/Southwestern favorites like chipotle powder, lime, and roasted corn.
• It’s wonderful for meal prep as the flavours get even better after storing.

Pasta Salad Ingredients

A complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the printable recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.

• Pasta: This recipe calls for about 375 g of rotini pasta. However, you can substitute it for your favourite kind, including gluten-free or whole wheat varieties. Small pasta shapes like bows, mini shells, macaroni, fusilli and penne work best.
• Black Beans: Canned black beans work or you can use chickpeas, kidney beans or pinto beans. I like black beans best for this recipe though.
• Corn kernels: Use fresh, thawed and drained frozen, or canned corn, depending on what’s available to you. Fresh is best during the late summer months when corn is in season!
• Olive oil: You’ll need 2 tsp to roast the corn. Avocado oil and canola oil are good substitutes. It’s best not to omit the oil since it prevents the corn from drying out!
• Smoked Paprika: If you don’t have smoked paprika you can add regular paprika but the smoked paprika does add a nice hint of smoky flavour to the salad.
• Chipotle Powder: If you don’t have the chipotle powder you can use 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce or 2-3 tsp of the adobo sauce from the can.
• Other Spices: You’ll need cumin, salt and pepper. Feel free to adjust these as necessary to your preference. If you’d like a little more heat you can add a pinch of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
• Roasted cashews: You can use roasted or raw cashews for the dressing but roasted cashews add a nice layer of flavour. We’ll cover some options for making this recipe nut-free below.
• Garlic: A fresh clove of garlic is best but you can use 1 tsp of garlic powder as a substitute if that’s what you have.
• Tomato: You can use grape tomato, cherry tomato or Roma tomato.
• Bell Peppers: The recipe calls for red bell pepper but you can use any colour of bell pepper such as green or yellow bell pepper.
• Jalapeno: Be sure to de-seed the jalapeno and wash well (and wash hands well after handling!). Poblano pepper would work as a substitute.
• Cilantro: Skip it if you’re not a fan!
• Limes: You’ll need 2-3 fresh limes to make the lime juice and lime zest.

Step 1: Cook Your Pasta

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook your pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse well under cold water. This will stop the cooking and help prevent the pasta from sticking together once cooled. 

Step 2: Roast the Corn & Jalapeno

While the pasta is cooking, mix together the corn kernels, diced jalapeno, and olive oil in a medium-sized bowl (or just mix on the baking tray). Place this mixture evenly on a baking sheet and roast in the oven on broil for 2 minutes.

Give it a stir and then place it back in the oven for an additional 2 minutes or until the corn is golden brown. Remove it from the oven and let cool.

Step 3: Make The Chipotle Dressing

Once the cashews have soaked, add the cashews and water to a blender along with the spices, garlic, lime juice, and zest. Blend until completely smooth.

If needed, you may need a little water to adjust the consistency. It should be thick and creamy but able to be poured from the blender.

Quick Tip: When preparing the lime zest, make sure you’re using the green peel only and not the bitter white pith underneath. A citrus zester works best for this!

Notes & Tips

1. Timing: Start a pot of boiling water for the pasta and get the cashews soaking right away. While you wait, chop up the fresh ingredients so you’re ready to go.
2. Serving Size: This recipe can easily be cut in half or doubled as needed.
3. No-Cook: You can skip the roasted corn and just fresh, canned or thawed frozen to make this even easier with cooking involved.
4. Spiciness: For more heat, add up to 1/2 tsp cayenne or red chili flakes. You can also add more chipotle powder or 1-2 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.

Variations & Additions

• Add diced avocado as a topping upon serving.
• Add up to 1 cup of sliced black olives.
• Add up to 1 cup of finely chopped scallions (green onion).
• Sprinkle with feta cheese, cotija cheese, queso fresco or grated cheddar for serving.
• Southwest Macaroni Salad: Use macaroni noodles instead of rotini.

Serving Suggestions

• The salad can be served on its own for a light and refreshing meal.
• As a side salad, it’s great for BBQs, picnics, grilling and potlucks.
• Serve with any protein on the side or mixed into the salad.
• Serve with this quinoa beet burger or chickpea burger.