Taco Pasta Salad
Get ready to dive into this fresh flavored pasta salad with all sorts of Mexican flavors. Colorful and perfect for dinner or a party!
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta reduce carbs by using 1/2 lb pasta
- 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 6 oz can black olives sliced
- 1 cup diced peppers, yellow/orange baby peppers or bell peppers
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 12 pieces cilantro stems and leaves, chopped
- 2-4 tablespoons cotija cheese
- 1 whole jalapeno, diced (optional) remove seeds for less spice
- 3/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup is 6 oz
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup is 6 oz
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- pinch salt and pepper to taste I prefer coarse kosher salt and coarse black pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and soak in cold water for 5 minutes, drain
- In a bowl, prepare sauce, mix sour cream and mayo with taco seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut/prep all remaining ingredients, beans, tomatoes, peppers, olives, onion, cilantro, jalapeno (if using) and crumble the cheese.
- Blot pasta with paper towels if it's really wet, so the sauce with stick to the pasta.
- Choose to chill pasta then mix the remaining ingredients before serving. Or you can mix it all together, I like this recipe to remain colorful and place the remaining ingredients in a separate container and layer the ingredients before serving.
- Keep chilled until serving.
Notes
If you want more "sauce" add an additional 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup mayo and 1 tablespoon taco seasoning. This comes in handy if you make it ahead of time and certain varieties of pasta absorb more sauce than others.