We eat a lot of salad all year round, but in summer I definitely up my salad game, and main dish pasta salads come into regular rotation for weeknight dinners, with lots of leftovers for lunches. They can be mixed up in a thousand ways with different shapes of pasta, different kinds of veggies, protein, dressings and toppings. Even though boiling pasta is hot work in summer, it only takes a couple of minutes and by the time it comes to the table it’s cool, creamy, refreshing, light-tasting but hearty enough to be a one-dish meal. Like this Tex-Mex Pasta Salad, crammed with diced chicken, Cheddar cheese, black beans, corn and peppers, coated with a zingy chili-spiced dressing, and topped with a generous jumble of diced avocado and crumbled bacon.
Farfalle (bowtie) pasta is the perfect size and shape for Tex-Mex Pasta Salad, with lots of little nooks and crannies for the dressing to cling to. You could substitute another medium-small pasta shape with curves or grooves, since as fusilli or cellentani.
Speaking of the dressing, it’s very similar to the dressing for my Chili Chicken Chopped Salad. For pasta salad I like the dressing to be a little thicker than for lettuce-based salads, so I tweaked the proportions a bit, but both dressings rely on Better Than Bouillon Chili Base for that intense hit of chili flavor. It’s my secret weapon in just about every Tex-Mex/Southwestern dish I make. It’s hard for me to find in my local grocery stores – they carry other flavors of BTB but not the chili flavor – so I buy it from Amazon. If you don’t want to do that, you can substitute taco seasoning with some vinegar and salt to approximate the flavor. See the recipe for details.
I stir together the pasta and dressing with all the add-ins except the avocado and bacon. Yes, scattering the avocado and bacon over the top of the salad makes for a beautiful presentation, but that’s not the only reason for holding these two special ingredients back. Avocados are too soft and delicate to take being stirred in with the pasta and other hardy ingredients, and of course they turn brown within a few hours, making leftovers unpalatable. Bacon will soften and turn slimy after prolonged exposure to dressing and other moist ingredients – also unpalatable. But up on top of the salad – added at the last minute and only to the portion you plan to serve right away – these two star ingredients are protected, and easy to appreciate. One is creamy and mild, the other crunchy and salty, and their textures and flavors play off each other and complement the firm smoothness of the pasta, the meatiness of the chicken, the juiciness of the tomatoes… Every component of this Tex-Mex Pasta Salad adds something unique to the mix, and for me that’s the very definition of a great salad.
Making Tex-Mex Pasta Salad ahead, and what to do with leftovers:
- Since the pasta takes 20 minutes or so to cook (including the time it takes to heat up the water), there’s really no need to prep ahead for this dish – use those 20 minutes to mix up the dressing and chop and prep all the add ins. The bacon cooks while the pasta is chilling.
- Do make the pasta salad far enough ahead that it has at least an hour to chill before serving.
- It will keep for 5 days in the fridge, so make it ahead or keep leftovers within that timeframe. If you’re not serving all the pasta salad right away, use whatever portion of the bacon you need for the number of servings (for example, 3 slices if you’re serving half the salad, for 4 people). You can store the leftover cooked bacon in the fridge and crumble more bacon on the leftovers later. (If you really want to, you can reheat it in the microwave to re-crisp it, but it’s not essential. As long as the reserved bacon hasn’t been in contact with the moist salad, it will still be crisp enough even when it’s cold.) Since avocado doesn’t keep well, I usually use a whole avocado no matter how many servings I’m dishing up. No one seems to mind getting an extra-generous serving of avocado.
Tex-Mex Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound farfalle (bowtie) pasta, or other short pasta
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
- 1 cup mayonnaise, plus additional
- ¼ cup Heinz chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon chili base (or 1 teaspoon taco seasoning plus 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 cup drained and rinsed black beans
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored, and ½-inch diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, cored and finely minced
- 3 cups diced cooked chicken breast (about 12 ounces)
- 4 ounces Cheddar cheese, ½-inch diced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or cilantro
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 avocado
Directions
- Step 1 Cook the farfalle in boiling salted water according to the package directions. If you’re using fresh corn kernels, add them to the pasta for the last minute of the cooking time. If you’re using frozen kernels, put them in a colander in the sink while the pasta cooks and drain the pasta over the corn when it’s done
- Step 2 Drain the pasta (or pasta/corn mixture) into the colander and run cold water over it, tossing with a large spoon, until the pasta is cool to the touch. Set it aside.
- Step 3 Make the dressing. Combine 1 cup of mayonnaise with the chili sauce, sour cream, chili base and black pepper. If you’re using the taco seasoning and vinegar in place of the chili base, add 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon if using Morton’s. If you’re using the chili base, don’t add salt at this step.
- Step 4 Shake any excess water off the pasta and corn and transfer them to an extra-large bowl. Add the black beans, red pepper, jalapeño, chicken, cheese and oregano (or cilantro if that’s what you’re using). Toss until everything is well combined. Add the dressing and toss gently but thoroughly until all the dressing is evenly distributed. Chill the salad for 1 hour.
- Step 5 While the salad chills, cook the bacon. Heat the oven to 400 degrees on the Roast setting and line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange the bacon on the baking sheet. Roast the bacon, turning it over with tongs about halfway through, until browned and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, then let it sit at room temperature until needed.
- Step 6 Stir the pasta, then taste it, adding salt to taste and/or additional mayonnaise if the salad seems dry. Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl. Halve the avocado, remove the pit and peel, and cut it into 1-inch cubes. Scatter the avocado over the top of the salad. Crumble the bacon with your hands and scatter the bacon pieces over all.
