Liven up your next pasta dinner with this Southwest Pasta Salad. It’s got all the fun south-of-the-border flavors with the ease of a noodle salad.

If you make a pasta salad with rice noodles…

…you’re gonna want some beans to go with.

And if you’ve got beans and rice together, well, naturally you need to add some corn kernels, chopped pepper, cilantro, and tomatoes.

And since it’s a pasta salad, it’s only natural to add some black olives and onions.

This recipe was born out of my desire to make a gluten-free pasta salad and it kind of got a life of its own after that. I started with rice pasta and since I serve a lot of rice and beans around here, it only made sense to throw in a can of black beans.

Make Southwest Pasta Salad for an easy supper!

Pasta salads are some of the easiest recipes to prepare. They easily feed a crowd, come together quickly, and can be made several days in advance.

Assembling several types of salads at one time can make for an easy and delicious meal that is very serve-yourself. Perfect for busy families!

Give your next pasta salad a little southwest twist with this recipe for Southwest Pasta Salad.

How do you make a cold pasta salad?

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Since the pasta is going to be dressed, you want it just a bit undercooked. That gives it room to absorb the dressing without getting soggy.

Rinse, drain, and cool the pasta. Then toss it with the dressing and the mix-ins. That’s it! Super simple.

Chill the pasta salad until ready to serve, up to three days in advance.

What goes in a pasta salad?

A cold pasta salad is one of the easiest dishes to prepare. It’s also the most versatile. You can add whatever mix-in’s you like and change up the flavor profile in a myriad of ways. Asian flavors? Sure. Mediterranean? Absolutely! Italian? Of course.

Choose a salad dressing and then get creative with the mix-in’s. Options include:

shredded or crumbled cheese
cooked chicken or turkey
sliced salami or pepperoni
olives (sliced or whole)
artichoke hearts
asparagus
assorted grilled vegetables
corn and peas
diced peppers
shredded carrot
sliced or chopped onion
chopped fresh spinach
diced tomatoes
garbanzo beans or other favorite beans
fresh, chopped herbs

How do you make Southwest Pasta Salad?

It’s pretty simple to assemble this pasta salad with a southwest flair. I like using rice pasta because it adds just that bit of rice flavor that I associate with Mexican food. You can use regular wheat pasta as well.

I’ve included other mix-in’s that I associate with the southwest: corn, black beans, cilantro, chopped peppers, sliced black olives, chopped onions, and tomatoes.

How I make this good and cheap:

This Southwest Pasta Salad is pretty economical by virtue of its being a simple pasta dish. Here are some of the strategies I use to make this recipe even more affordable:

Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale! When I see a great price on pasta, I buy a lot of it. We almost always have a stockpile of noodles in the pantry.
Shop at your cheapest stores. This may vary based on where you live and how close you are to great stores. For me, Costco and ALDI are the best game in town, even though I have to drive a town over to get to them. These ingredients are pretty cheap at both places.
Make your own salad dressing. In a pinch, you could use bottled dressing, but making homemade is so much cheaper. Tastier, too!

Tools I use to make this recipe easy:

This is a pretty straight-forward dish. You don’t need any fancy equipment to cook pasta! However, having some good basic kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs. Here are the tools that I like to use in this recipe.

large stockpot – Mine is a Kitchenaid that I’ve had for 14 years!
collander – We just bought this one this year to replace a broken plastic one.
large pasta bowl – I have one like this and love it!

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