An easy, vegan Southwest Pasta Salad recipe tossed with a creamy chipotle dressing! This crowd-pleasing dish is completely dairy-free and oil-free, yet full of zesty southwest-style flavors. (Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.)
This vibrant Southwest Pasta Salad will keep you coming back for more! It features all the good stuff - tender pasta, black beans, tomatoes, sweet corn, and fresh herbs.
Then it's tossed in a zesty, creamy chipotle dressing that I adapted from one of my all-time favorite sauces: this dreamy Chipotle Crema!
The result is fresh, smoky, and all kinds of delicious. Plus it's dairy-free, oil-free, and both fiber and protein-rich.
It's a great lunch, dinner, or side dish for gatherings like picnics, potlucks, and BBQs.
Ingredients for Southwest Pasta Salad
For this recipe, you'll stir together in a large mixing bowl:
- Elbow pasta: Be sure to use gluten-free pasta if desired. Lately I've been using the "Jovial" brand organic brown rice noodles for this dish. You could also use fusilli or rotini pasta.
- Black beans: You'll need one 15-ounce can black beans. Or if you cook your own from scratch, use about 1.5 cups cooked beans instead.
- Roma tomatoes: Or substitute vine tomatoes or regular garden tomatoes. Just be sure they're ripe and flavorful because it makes a big difference! For a stronger & sweeter flavor, swap in grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes instead.
- Sweet corn: Most often, I use a 15-ounce can of organic sweet corn for convenience. But you can use cooked fresh and cut off the cob, fire-roasted, or cooked frozen corn.
- Red onion
- Fresh cilantro
- Jalapeño pepper: This can be optional if you prefer to omit, but it adds great flavor!
- Raw cashews: This is the base for our creamy dressing. We'll "quick soak" them in hot water before blending to help create an ultra-smooth sauce.
- Chipotle in adobo sauce: These add delicious, smoky flavor. Use one or two depending on how spicy you want it. In my experience, canned chipotle peppers typically contain a small amount of oil. If you need a completely oil-free option, look for jarred chipotle peppers instead.
- Fresh lime juice
- Apple cider vinegar
- Spices: You'll need onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. (You could also use fresh garlic cloves instead of garlic powder if you'd like.)
- Salt: I use fine grain salt for this recipe. It's necessary to bring out all the flavors in the dressing, and will be a bit bland without it. But if you don't include salt in your diet, I suggest adding white miso paste instead.
Customizing
Veggies: Stir in other vegetables like fresh bell pepper, roasted red pepper, green onions, black olives, or diced green chiles. Or you can top it with diced avocado. (I suggest adding this right before serving to keep it fresh.)
Dressing: Fine-tune the flavors as you see fit! Add more or less of the ingredients you love. (Such as more garlic, lime juice, salt, or add lime zest.) You can also try other spices like ground cumin, chili powder, black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper, ancho chili powder, etc.
Spiciness: For sensitive palates, be mindful of the amount of chipotle and jalapeño you use. (Or you can replace the jalapeño with a small bell pepper instead.) Alternatively, add more of each if you like it spicy!
Serving
As is typical with pasta salad, this does start to dry out after a day or two. So it's best served within the first day of preparing. This helps keep the salad fresh and creamy. (But I find the leftovers are still great for another 2-3 days after!)
Temperature: You can enjoy it chilled, at room temperature, or even warmed up if you'd like.
Storing
Store salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. As mentioned, it's best served within the first day, but still quite enjoyable for 2-3 days after!
For more inspiration, also browse all vegan black bean recipes.
Southwest Pasta Salad with Chipotle Dressing (Vegan!)
Ingredients
- 12 oz. elbow pasta (gluten-free if desired)
- 15 oz. can black beans
- 1 1/2 cups sweet corn (or fire-roasted)
- 3-4 roma tomatoes
- 2/3 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup red onion
- 1 jalapeño pepper
For the creamy chipotle dressing:
- 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked*
- 2/3 cup water
- 1-2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce**
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or 2 cloves garlic)
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Cook pasta: Begin by cooking your pasta according to package instructions, leaving it al dente. (Slightly firm, not mushy.)
- Prepare salad: While pasta cooks, dice tomatoes. Roughly chop the cilantro. Finely dice the onion and jalapeño (if using), seeds removed. Place in a large mixing bowl. Then add black beans (rinsed and drained) and cooked corn.
- Make dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a small high-speed blender. (I use a NutriBullet.) Blend for 20-30 seconds or until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors if desired.
- Combine: When pasta is done cooking, drain well. Add to bowl, then immediately pour dressing on top. Toss well to combine.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (Estimate)
Sodium content: This is omitted as I cannot provide an accurate number. I encourage you to calculate your own to provide a much more precise reading based on the exact ingredients, brands, and amounts you're using.
If you're enjoying this vegan southwest pasta salad recipe, also check out:
- Southwest Black Bean Burger
- Vegan Taco Salad with Creamy Southwestern Dressing
- Southwest Corn Chowder
- Fiesta Rice and Black Beans
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Diane says
This recipe is delicious! We shared it with some non-vegan family members and they liked it too. Due to a nut allergy, we substituted peanuts for the cashews - still wonderful. We added a little more heat to the spices to suit our own taste.
Kaitlin says
Hello, Diane! Aww, thrilled to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe. What a great idea swapping in peanuts for cashews, and upping the heat! Thanks so much for giving it a try and sharing your kind and helpful feedback!