Taco Pasta Salad
🌮🍅🥑 EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and loaded with great Mexican-inspired ingredients including corn, black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, and more! Serve it as a hearty side or as a stand alone lighter meal. Perfect for picnics, parties, and potlucks because this is a guaranteed family FAVORITE!
Servings: 8
Calories: 477cal
Ingredients
Salad
- ¾ pound pasta cooked according to package directions (small shells, rotini, bowtie, etc.)
- one 15-ounce can black beans drained and rinsed (I used no-salt added)
- 2 cups Mexican shredded cheese blend
- about 1 1/2 cups sliced cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups corn fresh or frozen
- ½ cup green onions sliced into thin rounds
- ½ cup fresh cilantro finely minced
- 1 or 2 medium/large Hass avocados peeled and diced small
Dressing
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup Santa Cruz Organic Lime Juice®
- ¼ to ⅓ cup honey or agave
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning (I use reduced-salt, medium heat)
- 1 or 2 cloves garlic minced or finely pressed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
For Serving
- Santa Cruz Organic® Lemonades
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a very large bowl.
- Add the black beans, cheese (note – if you don’t want the cheese to melt, make sure the pasta has cooled before adding the cheese), tomatoes, corn, green onions, cilantro, and stir to combine.
- Add the avocado and stir gently to combine.
- To a medium bowl, add the olive oil, lime juice, honey, taco seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, and whisk to combine.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette over the pasta bowl, stir well to combine, taste, and check for seasoning balance. Add more salt, pepper, lime juice, honey, cilantro, etc. if desired.
- Serve with Santa Cruz Organic beverages.
Notes
Storage: Pasta salad will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4 days, noting the avocado will oxidize as time passes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 477cal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 781mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 16g
