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Our Tortellini Pasta Salad is the ultimate 30-minute dish loaded with fresh veggies, black beans, avocado, and a simple homemade dressing. I love to make it as a light main dish or a potluck side.
Tortellini Pasta Salad always disappears fast.
This Tortellini Pasta Salad is quick, easy, packed with fresh ingredients, and works as both a main dish with some grilled chicken or as a side dish.
My biggest tip for this recipe, is to use good quality tortellini – it is the star after-all! The dry packaged kind will work, but the refrigerated kind cooks in just a few minutes and taste so much better!
Try more of my pasta salads, like Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, Orzo Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, Cold Noodle Salad, and Street Corn Pasta Salad!
How to make Tortellini Pasta Salad:
Prep Ingredients: Cook tortellini according to package instructions then drain and rinse with cold water. Combine all dressing ingredients in a resealable jar and shake to combined.
Combine: In a large bowl, dump in cooked corn, black beans, bell pepper, avocado, cherry tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. Drizzle the desired amount of dressing on top (go slow, you may not want it all) and toss everything to coat it.
If you love this recipe, try my Creamy Tomato Tortellini, Creamy Tortellini Soup, Pesto Tortellini, and Vegetable Tortellini Soup!
Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 20 ounce package three cheese refrigerated tortellini
- 1 cup corn, , fresh cooked, canned or frozen
- 15 ounce can black beans, , drained and rinsed
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 avocado, , peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, , halved
- 1/4 cup red onion, , chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, , chopped
Dressing:
- 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
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.20 ounce package three cheese refrigerated tortellini
- Add tortellini to a large bowl. Add cooked corn, black beans, bell pepper, avocado, cherry tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.1 cup corn, 15 ounce can black beans, 1 red bell pepper, 1 avocado, 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, ¼ cup red onion, ¼ cup fresh 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.3 Tablespoons olive oil, juice from 2 limes, 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 clove garlic, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, salt and freshly ground black pepper
Notes
- Add protein: grilled chicken, tofu, shrimp or steak.
- Substitute what you already have! Use your favorite kind of beans, and incorporate other veggies you like or already have on hand.
- Adjust Spice: add some hot sauce to the dressing, to turn up the heat.
- Dressing: if you don't want to make it from scratch (sigh!) you can add your favorite store-bought zesty southwest or Italian.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe February 2017. Updated April 2021 and May 2026.
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.
If I opt to use another pasta, how much would you suggest I cook? One pound would be my guess??
Yes, that would probably work well. Enjoy!
Wow, this dish was delicious! The dressing really sets it apart. I could eat it everyday!
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!!
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?
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
Thanks for sharing, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and the burritos!
Made this recipe with double the sauce and that wasn’t enough…recipe to mr so…so.. would not make again.
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.
I’ve found this one to be a crowd favorite too! Thanks for sharing Mike.
My daughter does not like raw onions, she would like to sauté them. Will that be ok.
Of course–sounds delicious! Enjoy!
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!
I’m Italian and … no, please! Tortellini can not, must not, be eaten cold! It is a heresy! 🙂