Cowboy Pasta Salad - The Keep At Dwelling Chef

This is without doubt one of the most filling pasta salads on the market! It’s full of meat, cheese, beans, and greens. Carry to a BBQ or make as a fast and straightforward dinner at residence and we promise there received’t be any complaints about leaving hungry!

In case you love this recipe, you’ll love our “cowboy caviar” Black Bean and Corn Salad.

Why Our Recipe

Loaded with all the great things. We’re speaking beef, bacon, cheddar, and veggies.
Our creamy selfmade salsa verde dressing brings a smoky kick you’ll love.
Makes for an excellent filling dinner, or deliver it to a potluck or BBQ to feed a crowd.

A Bowl full of Cowboy Pasta Salad displaying the ingredients on top.

Half of this pasta salad’s flavorful goodness comes from our scrumptious, selfmade dressing. It’s our secret ingredient! Keep in mind, pasta salad is simply pretty much as good because the dressing you placed on it. Our cowboy dressing is made with salsa verde, lime juice, and loads of smoky spices and seasonings. The salsa permits you to actually mess around with the warmth stage, so for those who prefer it scorching, make sure that to make use of medium to scorching salsa.

Ingredient Notes

Overhead layout of Ingredients for Cowboy Pasta Salad.

Rotini Pasta: Rotini’s nice for grabbing onto all that dressing. No rotini? Use one other quick pasta like fusilli or penne.
Floor Beef: We like utilizing 80/20 beef for the perfect taste. Floor turkey or hen works too if you would like it a bit lighter.
Cheddar Cheese: Sharp cheddar brings a bit further punch, however truthfully, any cheese you like will work. Pepper jack could be superior if you would like a bit kick.
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes: Both one is ideal. Lower them in halves or quarters so that you get the proper chew. A mixture of crimson and yellow tomatoes appears to be like actually fairly too.
Black Beans: Give them rinse and drain to maintain issues from getting soggy.
Canned Corn: Completely tremendous to make use of straight from the can, however you may as well use uncooked recent corn or frozen corn.
Crimson Onion: Crimson onions are the perfect for consuming uncooked.
Jalapeño: Completely optionally available! Recent jalapeños add a pleasant spicy crunch, or use pickled for rather less warmth.
Bacon: Crumble it up! Prepare dinner your individual or seize the pre-cooked variety.
Salsa Verde: Seize a jar of your favourite delicate or medium salsa verde. Use no matter warmth stage you want.
Lime Juice: Recent-squeezed is all the time going to have the perfect taste, however bottled lime juice works too.

Regulate the Warmth

Top-of-the-line issues about cowboy pasta is how straightforward it’s to tweak the spice. In case you’re into warmth, seize a scorching salsa verde, bump up the chili powder, and toss just a few further jalapeño slices on prime. Not a fan of spicy? Stick to delicate salsa and skip the chili powder and jalapeños. Straightforward!

Closeup image of Cowboy Pasta Salad with dressing drizzled over it.

Make-Forward Directions

This salad’s tremendous straightforward to make forward. You possibly can whip up the dressing 1 to 2 days early and stash it within the fridge. Prepare dinner the pasta and floor beef the night time earlier than, too. Simply maintain them separate so all the pieces stays recent. If you’re able to eat, all you’ve acquired to do is chop the cheese and tomatoes and toss all of it collectively in a giant bowl. Completed and executed.