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.
Some things I really 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 my favorite! 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 🙂
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.
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.
- 20 oz package three cheese refrigerated tortellini
- 1 cup corn fresh from 1 ear of cooked corn, canned or frozen corn
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 avocado chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- Juice from 2 fresh limes
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tsp EACH sugar, chili powder, cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
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Cook the tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
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Add tortellini to a large bowl. Add cooked corn, black beans, bell pepper, avocado, cherry tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.
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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.
To make ahead: Make the dressing and refrigerate. Make the pasta salad separately and store in an airtight container. Add dressing to pasta salad when ready to eat.
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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 🙂