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Pasta Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing
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5 from 1 vote

Pasta Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing

This creamy, spicy, packed with flavor pasta salad with a chipotle dressing is a fun twist on a classic. This is a great way to spice up the pasta salad routine...literally!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Tex Mex
Keyword: family friendly, party and entertaining, pasta salad, potluck recipe
Servings: 10
Author: Jess Smith via Inquiring Chef
Cost: $6.00

Equipment

  • Large Saucepan or Stockpot

Ingredients

For the dressing:

  • ½ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
  • ½ cup Mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp White Wine Vinegar
  • ½ tsp Smoked Paprika
  • ½ tsp Ground Cumin
  • ¼ tsp Ground Coriander
  • tsp Onion Powder
  • 2 tsp - 2 Tbsp Adobo Sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo)

For the pasta salad:

  • 12 oz Fusilli Pasta (sub any pasta shape)
  • 3 ears Corn, kernels sliced off (or 2 cups frozen corn kernels, defrosted)
  • 1 14 oz / 397 g can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 Bell pepper, diced (we used thinly sliced small sweet peppers in the version photographed)
  • 6 oz Cheddar Cheese, cubed
  • 1 Avocado, cubed
  • 2 - 4 tsp Lime juice
  • 2 stalks Green onions, finely chopped

Instructions

  • Boil pasta according to package directions.
  • Whisk together all ingredients for the dressing. Taste and add the adobo sauce a bit at a time to adjust to your spice (you can skip it altogether if you don’t want the pasta salad spicy).
  • Toss together pasta, corn, black beans, bell pepper, cheese, and avocados (see note below - if not serving right away, wait to add the avocado).
  • Just before serving, toss together the dressing and pasta salad with lime juice, to taste. Top with green onions.

Notes

In the version photographed above, we used thinly sliced small sweet peppers (instead of bell peppers).
For the cheese, an extra sharp cheddar is great as is pre-shredded Mexican Blend (pre-shredded saves time too!). We made the version above with Pepper Jack Cheese which added extra spice but was great!
If making this ahead, store the dressing separate from the other ingredients and just toss everything together at the last minute. It’s a good idea to wait to cube and add the avocado at the last minute as well.
This is great with rotisserie chicken tossed in which makes a great lunch!

Nutrition

Serving: 10g | Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 359mg | Potassium: 248mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 703IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 141mg | Iron: 1mg