A fresh and easy southwest tortellini pasta salad that can be made in less than 30 minutes! It’s loaded with veggies and protein and coated in a deliciously simple and healthy southwest dressing.
If I had it my way, I’m pretty sure I could live off of pasta salad. I think I’ve mentioned that before.
I have a ton of various pasta salad recipes on my site because they make a great main dish OR side dish! You can usually customize them with ingredients you already have in your pantry too.
One thing I especially love about this Southwest pasta salad is that it’s made with TORTELLINI! Tortellini pasta are pretty much a staple in my freezer.
They’re perfect for nights when I need something really quick to throw together, and my family loves them!
A few of our other favorite tortellini recipes include One Pan Lemon Chicken Tortellini and Creamy Tomato and Spinach Tortellini.
Things I love about this Southwest Tortellini Pasta Salad:
It can be made ahead of time.
Cook the tortellini, chop the veggies and make the dressing on the side. Then combine everything right before you’re about to eat! It’s already a really quick dish to prepare, but doing those things ahead of time make it the perfect side dish to dinner, BBQ’s or any type of event where you have to bring a side dish to share.
Refrigerated cheese tortellini are the best kind!
Although the dry packaged kind will work for this recipe, I just don’t think they taste as good. The refrigerated kind only take a few minutes to cook once your water is boiling and they’re cute little bite-size bites of cheesy bliss 🙂
It’s a great healthy meal your family will love!
This is one of the healthier meals I like to feed my kids. They LOVE it, and I love that it’s loaded with veggies and good protein from the beans. The dressing is pretty mild–definitely not too spicy for my family. If you do want to add a little “heat” to the dressing you could add some Valentina hot sauce.
Consider trying these pasta salad recipes:
- Healthy Chicken Pasta Salad
- Creamy Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Italian Pasta Salad
- BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad
- Pasta Primavera
This easy southwest tortellini pasta salad is ready in 30 minutes, loaded with veggies and protein and coated in a delicious and healthy southwest dressing.
- 20 ounce package three cheese refrigerated tortellini
- 1 cup corn fresh from 1 ear of cooked corn, canned or frozen corn
- 15 ounce can black beans , drained and rinsed
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 avocado , chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes , halved
- 1/4 cup red onion , chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro , chopped
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- juice from 2 limes
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Cook the tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Add tortellini to a large bowl. Add cooked corn, black beans, bell pepper, avocado, cherry tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.
- Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a resealable jar. Shake until combined. Pour desired amount of dressing (you may not want to use it all) over the pasta and toss to coat.
You might also enjoy Creamy Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad.
Recipe Video
Tips for making this ahead of time are listed in the post above.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Hanna says
This sounds simple enough to make. A shout out to our sisters and brothers in arms at the realfood-project.com
Rachel Quarnberg says
Just made this… and almost ate the whole bowl! SO tasty! Thank you!
Lauren Allen says
Love to hear it! Thanks!
Pam says
I’m eating this right now. Wonderful!!!
Lauren Allen says
So happy to hear it! Thanks for sharing!
trisha says
I made this last night for a pot luck good bye party and it was a hit all around! Thx for such a great recipe! It’s beautiful to look at and absolutely delicious to eat
Lauren Allen says
Love to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing! <3
Lisa says
Just made this to take to a bridal shower tomorrow. Recipe notes sat to add dressing when ready to eat but I would really like to finish it up today…..will it be ok or will it get soggy? And will the avacados be ok since there’s a lot of lime juice in the dressing?
Thanks so much!
Lauren Allen says
Hi Lisa, sounds perfect for a bridal shower! The reason I suggest adding the dressing right before serving is that the noodles will absorb most of it if it sits overnight. I would add some extra lemon or lime juice to the avocados before they sit overnight, just to make sure they don’t brown. Hope that helps!
Lisa says
Thanks so much….I made extra dressing so I will just a little more if it gets all soaked up overnight. Looks so yummy!
Tracey says
I have two teenage boys and am wondering if this would be enough as a main dish for them or if I should have this as a side dish. Thoughts?
Lauren Allen says
If there are just 3 of you eating (you and your 2 teenagers), I think it would work great as a main for your boys. If there are more people than that I would probably have something else to go with it. Maybe some grilled chicken and fruit. Hope that helps!
Sue says
Making this today to take to a party. The hostess is vegetarian, so I’m sure she’ll love it. Will let you know how it goes over. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Lauren Allen says
Awesome! I would love to hear how everyone likes it!
Sue says
A hugh success!! I did double the dressing and added an extra avocado, but otherwise, changed nothing else. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you!!
Mary-Beth says
Hi I am curious how many people does this serve as a side dish? The recipe looks yummy!
Lauren Allen says
I’d think it would serve about 6-8 people as a side dish.
lauren says
just made this for lunch this week! so good – thanks!
Diane Gruel says
I am going to serve this as the main dish for a ladies luncheon. Do you think for 9 ladies, double the recipe is enough, or should I triple it?
Lauren Allen says
Hi Diane, If you’re serving this with a few others sides to go along with it than I think doubling the recipe should be fine (especially since ladies at luncheons don’t usually eat a ton). If it’s all you will be eating for the main course then you may want to triple it, expecting that you’ll end up with some leftover. Hope that helps! I’d love to hear how everyone likes it 🙂
Mr Loto says
I’m Italian and … no, please! Tortellini can not, must not, be eaten cold! It is a heresy! 🙂
Lisa says
Great recipe and such a colorful dish! I couldn’t get my picky younger kids to try this salad but my health-conscious older kids loved it and were impressed mom had made a dish containing so many vegetables. We especially liked the chopped avocado. Thanks for the recipe!
Linda says
My daughter does not like raw onions, she would like to sauté them. Will that be ok.
Lauren Allen says
Of course–sounds delicious! Enjoy!
Mike says
Delicious! I now have a “Go To” recipe for gatherings that is a huge hit. This Salad packs so much flavor and was quick to make. I have also , by request, removed the Avocado and replaced with a European Cucumber quartered and cubed. It was great this way too. Thank you for the recipe.
Lauren Allen says
I’ve found this one to be a crowd favorite too! Thanks for sharing Mike.
Karen says
Made this recipe with double the sauce and that wasn’t enough…recipe to mr so…so.. would not make again.
JB says
This delicious summer pasta salad should not be missed! I did not have fresh corn, so I used canned. To add flavor, I blackened the corn with the black beans and some spice over medium heat. I made this salad with the bean burritos on this website and dinner was a hit. Thank you so much Lauren
Lauren Allen says
Thanks for sharing, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and the burritos!
Kristen says
This was super yummy! Question though…I used this recipe as part of my meal prep this week. I prepared it on Sunday, portioned it out into individual servings, and made the dressing in a separate container. However, when I went to eat the first serving for lunch the next day, the dressing had hardened. I was sort of able to add some water and shake it up, but it continued to harden throughout the week. Any idea why or how I could keep that from happening? Thanks…awesome recipe!!
Lauren Allen says
Hi Kristen, I’m so happy you liked it, and I love the idea to meal prep this. I’m really confused about your dressing hardening…it would only do this if butter or another type of saturated fat was included–but olive oil doesn’t harden. Possibly it was in a cold spot in the fridge?
Christy says
Wow, this dish was delicious! The dressing really sets it apart. I could eat it everyday!
Carolyn Arenburg says
If I opt to use another pasta, how much would you suggest I cook? One pound would be my guess??
Lauren Allen says
Yes, that would probably work well. Enjoy!
Jean says
Tastes as good as it looks. Made this twice now. Tried to save some to take to my son but it’s just so good, I ended up eating all of it.
Katie says
Absolutely delicious! I’m going to use that dressing with my taco salad, too. We now have another favorite pasta salad.
Pat says
Not sure as to how many packages of tortellini are used. Thanks!
Lauren Allen says
One 20 ounce package of tortellini
Denise says
Thank you for all your recipes, they all look amazing. I love trying new recipes, can’t wait to try some.
Megan says
Can you use lemons instead of limes?
Lauren Allen says
Sure 🙂
Teri Bitler says
I have made this many times for potluck dinners, etc. and this recipe is always a HIT!!
Stacy says
Do you think substituting the sugar for Truvia/Stevia would work?
Lauren Allen says
Sure! Hope you enjoy it 🙂