This chicken taco pasta salad happened after I bought way too much corn for taco night. No regrets, honestly.
I started mixing a creamy Mexican pasta salad with leftovers, and suddenly it tasted like one of those Mexican potluck dishes people guard with their lives. Everybody suddenly wanted the recipe.
The grilled corn, lime, and southwestern chicken pasta salad dressing give major chicken elote pasta salad energy without making dinner complicated. That’s my kind of lazy success.
Mexican Chicken Pasta Salad with Corn, Beans and Salsa-Lime Dressing
EQUIPMENT (PAID LINKS)
- Grill or grill pan
- Large spoon
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup light mayonnaise
- ¼ cup salsa
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or ¼ teaspoon for mild heat
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 ears corn husked
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Salt to taste
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken rotisserie chicken works well
- 3 cups cooked bowtie pasta
- 2 avocados diced or sliced
- ½ cup canned black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup crumbled cotija cheese or queso fresco
Instructions
- Make the Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the light mayonnaise, salsa, cayenne pepper, minced garlic, and fresh lime juice until smooth. Set the dressing aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.⅓ cup light mayonnaise, ¼ cup salsa, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Grill the Corn: Brush the corn with olive oil and season it with salt. Grill over medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, turning often with tongs, until the kernels are tender and lightly charred.2 ears corn, 2 teaspoons olive oil, Salt
- Cut the Corn: Let the grilled corn cool slightly so you do not burn your fingers over a pasta salad, which feels unnecessary. Use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cobs.
- Build the Salad: In a large mixing bowl, combine the baby spinach, shredded chicken, cooked bowtie pasta, grilled corn, avocado, black beans, cilantro, red onion, and cotija cheese.3 cups fresh baby spinach, 2 cups shredded cooked chicken, 3 cups cooked bowtie pasta, 2 avocados, ½ cup canned black beans, 1 bunch fresh cilantro, ½ red onion, ½ cup crumbled cotija cheese or queso fresco
- Dress and Toss: Pour the creamy salsa-lime dressing over the salad. Toss gently until everything is evenly coated, being careful not to mash the avocado unless you accidentally want pasta salad with a guacamole subplot.
- Serve: Serve immediately for the freshest texture. To make it ahead, chill the salad ingredients and dressing separately, then toss everything together right before serving.
How to Make This Mexican Chicken Pasta Salad Disappear at the Cookout
This is the stuff I wish someone had told me before I made this for the first time and accidentally brought an empty bowl home from the cookout. People get weirdly competitive around this pasta salad.
Rotisserie Chicken Is the Correct Choice
Could you cook and shred your own chicken? Sure. Could you also churn your own butter and raise backyard chickens while you’re at it? Rotisserie chicken works perfectly here and saves you from turning dinner into a full-time job. Store-bought shortcuts are sometimes just emotional wellness.
Don’t Overcook the Pasta
Cold pasta salad has exactly one enemy: mushy noodles. Cook the bowties just to al dente because the dressing softens them more as the salad sits. If the pasta feels slightly too firm at first, you actually nailed it.
Char the Corn Like You Mean It
The grilled corn is doing a lot of heavy lifting here flavor-wise, so let it get some real color. A few dark spots make the whole salad taste smokier and less like something that came from a grocery store deli container at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday.
Avocados Have Terrible Timing
Every avocado on earth is either rock hard or one hour away from becoming soup. If yours are super soft, add them right before serving so they do not disappear into the dressing. I have accidentally made avocado paste more times than I’d like to admit.
Cotija Is Great, But Don’t Panic
Cotija cheese gives that salty street corn vibe, but feta totally works if that is what’s hanging out in your fridge. I’ve even used shredded pepper jack during a “we’re not going back to the store” situation, and nobody complained.
The Dressing Gets Better After a Nap
If you have time, make the dressing 30 minutes early and let it chill in the fridge. The lime, salsa, garlic, and cayenne mellow together and suddenly taste like you put in way more effort than you actually did.
This Is a Peak Leftovers Situation
The leftovers are ridiculously good stuffed into wraps, scooped with tortilla chips, or eaten straight from the container while pretending to look for something else in the fridge. Some meals age gracefully. This one becomes a personality trait.
Control the Heat Before the Cayenne Controls You
Start lighter on the cayenne if you are feeding kids or spice-sensitive adults who think black pepper is “a lot.” You can always add more later, but you cannot un-spice a pasta salad without entering a full dairy-based rescue mission.
Make-Ahead Strategy for Sane People
If you are bringing this somewhere, keep the dressing separate until close to serving time. The spinach stays fresher, the avocado looks happier, and the whole bowl keeps that fresh summer texture instead of turning into cold picnic compost by hour three.
