Southwest Pasta Salad With The Best Creamy Bbq Dressing

A Favorite BBQ Side Dish

The delightfully flavorful Southwest Pasta Salad recipe is sure to be a hit at your next summer barbecue. The dressing for the pasta is a mixture of ranch dressing and BBQ sauce which gives the pasta a rich and tangy flavor without overpowering the freshness of the vegetables in the salad. This is a very versatile salad. I like it because I can use my family’s favorite ranch dressing, our Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, and our favorite BBQ sauce, Sweet Baby Ray’s, to give it the flavors we like the most.

Southwest Pasta Salad Ingredients

The base recipe for this pasta salad is simple. Once you get the base recipe down, you can go crazy and add whatever ingredients your heart desires. Here’s what you need:

Rotini pasta- regular or whole wheat Black beans – drained and rinsed Corn – Frozen, or canned corn will work great. You can also use fresh cooked or grilled corn. Green onions Grape or cherry tomatoes – you can also use fresh, diced tomatoes Avocado Fresh lime juice Ranch dressing BBQ sauce – store bought or homemade BBQ sauce

Make It Your Own

What you add to the salad is just as versatile. I’ve included in the recipe what I like the best in this salad. You can substitute the green onions for red onion or chickpeas for the black beans. You can use baby corn instead of frozen corn, or even better, corn fresh from the garden. Chopped Roma tomatoes can be used instead of grape tomatoes. If you aren’t a fan of avocados, they can be replaced by green peppers or artichokes. So many possibilities! You can make this BBQ Ranch Pasta Salad a hearty meal on its own by adding some protein. Try adding some leftover grilled chicken or steak, or some chopped or shredded rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Here are some more add-in ideas:

Spices: Cumin, garlic, chili powder, or red pepper flakes. These can all be mixed in with the ranch dressing for aded flavor Cilantro Shredded cheddar cheese red bell pepper (or orange or yellow bell pepper) Chipotle peppers Fire-roasted corn Black olives Salt and pepper, to taste (if needed)

What Goes Well With Southwest Pasta Salad?

This versatile side dish can go with so many BBQ dishes! Try it with our Saucy BBQ Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, or Grilled Chicken. Here are some more dishes that will go well with this pasta salad:

Tips for Making Southwest Pasta Salad

Cook the pasta to al dente as directed on the pasta packaging, or even a minute less. The pasta will continue to cook after it has been drained. Overcooking the pasta will make the pasta too soft and will make it lose some of its creaminess Mix the dressing ingredients in a large bowl or blend it in a blender before adding to the pasta Store your leftover pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.