Taco Pasta Salad

With the familiar flavours of tacos, this easy taco pasta salad recipe is a treat for the taste buds! It combines plenty of ground turkey, veggies, black beans, cheddar cheese, avocado and rotini pasta all generously coated in a deliciously creamy dressing.

Remember that taco salad recipe I shared a little while ago? Well, today I’m sharing a pasta salad version. It’s a little more hearty (because of the pasta), but just as scrumptious.

It’s chock-full of hearty and delicious ingredients, making it super satisfying and definitely crave-worthy. The recipe yields quite a bit, making it perfect for get-togethers with family and friends.

Ingredients

• Creamy Dressing: You’ll need plain Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice, taco seasoning, granulated sugar, salt and black pepper:
• Rotini pasta: I like to use rotini pasta for this pasta salad, but you could substitute with a similarly sized pasta, such as penne.
• Olive oil: Used for sautéing the ground turkey.
• Ground turkey
• Taco seasoning: I used homemade taco seasoning, but you could use a store-bought variety if you like.
• Salsa: Use a variety you like, mild or spicy.
• Corn: I used canned corn. Make sure you drain it well before using so it doesn’t add unnecessary moisture to your pasta salad and dilute the dressing.
• Black beans: This recipe uses canned black beans. Like the corn, make sure the beans are drained well before using.
• Tomatoes: I used grape tomatoes that I cut in half. Chopped Roma tomatoes work great too.
• Cheese: I used marble cheddar cheese that I cut into small cubes.
• Pickled jalapeno peppers: I used pickled jalapeno peppers that I chopped. Feel free to substitute with fresh jalapeno peppers if you like.
• Green onion: Don’t have green onion? Try using chives.
• Avocado
• Lettuce: Lettuce is optional. It does tend to wilt a little in the salad, so you can totally omit if you like or use a heartier green lettuce.

How To Make Taco Pasta Salad

Here is an overview of how to make this taco pasta salad (full details are in the recipe card below):

1. Make the creamy Greek yogurt based dressing by combing plain Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice, taco seasoning and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk to combine, then add salt and black pepper to taste.
2. Cook the rotini pasta about a minute or two longer than the package instructions. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.
3. Heat some olive oil in a skillet. Add the ground turkey, season with taco seasoning and cook until it’s fully cooked through.
4. Stir in salsa and allow the ground turkey to cool.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked rotini pasta, the cooked ground turkey, the creamy dressing and the remaining taco pasta salad ingredients.
6. Stir to combine everything, ensuring that the salad is nicely coated in the dressing.

Serving

I’ve served this pasta salad as a side dish and as a main dish. It yields about 8 side dish servings or 4 main dish servings.

As a side dish, taco pasta salad goes well with so many things. I love to serve it with any of these:

• Refried bean quesadillas
• Grilled steak
• Roasted chicken
• Chickpea tacos
• Chicken fajitas
• Moose taquitos

Tips and Variations

• Dressing: If you want a richer dressing, you could substitute some (or all) of the Greek yogurt for mayonnaise.
• Try a different protein: I used ground turkey as my protein of choice in this taco pasta salad recipe. For a change, you can use ground chicken or ground beef instead.
• Add some crunch: For a nice crunch and pop of flavour, garnish your pasta salad with some crushed up corn chips or tortilla chips. Do this right before serving so the chips maintain their crunch.
• Corn: For convenience, I used canned corn. As an alternative, if you have a little time, you can grill some fresh corn and remove the kernels from the cob to use in your salad.
• Add some acidity: If you want to add a little bit of acidity/brininess to the pasta salad, you can substitute pickled red onions for the green onion.
• Mix up the cheese: For a fun twist, try using crumbled Queso Cotija instead of cheddar.
• Serving: I find this taco salad is best prepared and served right away. If you want to prepare it up to a day ahead of time, though, you certainly can. Just leave out the avocado and lettuce (if using) until you serve it. After making, store the pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator and add the avocado and lettuce right before you want to enjoy it.

More Pasta Salad Recipes

• Lobster Pasta Salad
• Creamy Greek Pasta Salad
• Vegetable Pasta Salad

If you try this taco pasta salad recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!