Southwest Pasta Salad
Tex Mex, Southwest Pasta Salad
Are you on the hunt for a new pasta salad, sick and tired of making the same macaroni pasta salad or orzo salad to bring to your summer cook outs? Give this Tex Mex inspired, Southwest Pasta Salad a try. It is unlike any pasta salad you have had before and is totally addictive.
A great dish for making ahead or for meal prepping. Additionally this recipe is delicious cold or reheated. Also, to make it even better for my macro friends: It is super Easy to adjust protein, carbs, and fats to meet your macro requirements.
Everything you will need to make this Amazing Southwest Pasta Salad:
Equipment:
- Large Pot
- Large Bowl
Ingredients:
- 6′ cup’ Rigatoni Pasta
- 8.8′ oz’ Black Beans,’ rinsed and drained, (½’ can)
- 8.8′ oz’ Crisp Sweet Corn,’ rinsed and drained, (1′ small can)
- 8′ oz’ Tomato Sauce,’ no salt added, (1′ small can)
- 20′ count’ Pitted Calamata Olives
- 1′ cup’ Cherry Tomatoes,’ chopped
- 1′ tsp’ Black Pepper
- 1′ tsp’ Garlic Powder
- Dash of Red Pepper Flake
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, chopped
- 1′ tsp’ Red Pepper Flake
- ¼’ tsp’ Ground Oregano
- ½’ tsp’ Salt
- 2′ tbsp’ Fresh Cilantro
Instructions:
- Bring a large pot with 8 cups of water to boil. Once the water is boiling add the rigatoni pasta to the water. Then season the water with salt. Cook the pasta at a rolling boiling until tender, about 10 minutes.
- While the pasta is cooking combine all other ingredients in a large bowl: Beans, corn, tomato sauce, olives, cherry tomatoes, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flake, oregano, and cilantro. Stir everything together until well combined.’
- Next, once the pasta has finished cooking, strain the water out and rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process. Once you have cooled the pasta off with the cold water. Add the pasta to the other ingredients and stir once more, until the pasta is fully incorporated into the other ingredients.’
- Serve with a few sprinkles of additional chopped sprigs of cilantro on top.
Notes for Meal Prep:
This is a wonderful recipe for meal prepping. You can store this southwest pasta salad as one large serving or as individual servings in the fridge for up to 1 week and eat it as it fits your meal plan.
Even better, this Tex Mex Inspired Southwest Pasta salad taste amazing both warm or cold. To reheat simply place in the microwave for 30-60 seconds, stirring halfway through.
Notes for my Friends Counting Macros:
PROTEIN:
There is not a lot of protein in this southwest pasta salad recipe, if you would like to increase the protein for this dish, chicken breast is the perfect option.
- For every 1 ounce of chicken breast you add, you will increase the protein by 8.8 grams. Check out my recipe for making the perfect juicy chicken breast.
CARBOHYDRATE:
The carbohydrate can also be adjusted based on the amount of pasta used. By decreasing the pasta you turn this pasta salad, into a southwest veggie salad, but still delicious.
- For every 25 grams (about 1/2 a serving), you decrease the carbs by 18.5 grams.
FAT:
The best thing about this southwest pasta salad is you can add other Tex Mex flavors to the dish. To increase the fats I would add a little avocado.
- For every 35 grams (about 1/4 avocado) you increase the fats by 7.3 grams.
Tip:
You can pre-cut your avocado: Toss your avocado chunks with a little lime juice, then portion into zip lock bags. Suck all the air out of the zip lock bag and store in the fridge. Typically my pre-cut avocados will last 2-3 days before starting to brown if I sucked all the air out.
When making adjustments to the macros you will want to keep in mind the number of servings you are making.
Southwestern Inspired Pasta Salad
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Large Bowl
Ingredients
- 6 cup Rigatoni Pasta
- 8.8 oz Black Beans rinsed and drained, (½ can)
- 8.8 oz Crisp Sweet Corn rinsed and drained, (1 small can)
- 8 oz Tomato Sauce no salt added, (1 small can)
- 20 count Pitted Calamata Olives
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes chopped
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flake
- ¼ tsp Ground Oregano
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Fresh Cilantro
Instructions
- Bring a large pot with 8 cups of water to boil. Once the water is boiling add the rigatoni pasta to the water. Then season the water with salt. Cook the pasta at a rolling boiling until tender, about 10 minutes.
- While the pasta is cooking combine all other ingredients in a large bowl: Beans, corn, tomato sauce, olives, cherry tomatoes, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flake, oregano, and cilantro. Stir everything together until well combined.
- Once the pasta has finished cooking, strain the water out and rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process. Once you have cooled the pasta off with the cold water. Add the pasta to the other ingredients and stir once more, until the pasta is fully incorporated into the other ingredients.
- Serve with a few sprinkles of additional chopped sprigs of cilantro on top.
Macro Nutrition
Looking for more Make Ahead Recipes? Here are some of the top snacking recipes you can find here at A Dash of Macros:
- Cranberry Energy Balls
- Chocolate Protein Muffins
- Blueberry Bread
- Fresh Squeezed Beet and Apple Juice
- Cranberry Breakfast Cookies
- Raspberry Chia Seed Parfait
- Homemade Chocolate Granola
- Garlic and Chive Dip
