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Spoonful of creamy cowboy pasta salad lifted from a large bowl, showing beef, bacon, beans, corn, and tomatoes.
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Cowboy Pasta Salad

Cowboy Pasta Salad with seasoned ground beef, crispy bacon, charred corn, black beans, sharp cheddar, and cherry tomatoes all tossed in a smoky barbecue mayo dressing with lime and chili powder. Feeds 10 people and gets better as it sits.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cowboy pasta salad, summer pasta salad recipe, Tex-Mex pasta salad recipe
Servings: 10
Calories: 678kcal
Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

For the dressing

For the salad

  • 1 pound rotini or cavatappi pasta
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
  • 8 ounces thick cut bacon chopped
  • 1½ cups corn kernels
  • 1½ cups cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese cubed or shredded
  • 15 ounces black beans 1 can, drained and rinsed
  • 3 green onions sliced
  • 1 jalapeño seeded and minced
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the 1 pound pasta just until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, and set aside. Rinsing matters here, it washes off the surface starch so the salad does not turn gluey.
    Rotini pasta boils in salted water before being lifted from the pot once perfectly cooked to al dente.
  • While the pasta cooks, make the dressing. Whisk together the 1 cup mayonnaise, ½ cup sour cream, 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and a few dashes of hot sauce. Refrigerate it while you build the rest, so the flavors have time to come together.
    side by side pictures showing how to make cowboy pasta salad dressing.
  • Cook the 8 ounces chopped bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Lift it out onto a paper towel, leaving a little of the fat in the pan.
    Chopped bacon cooks in a skillet until golden brown and crisp, releasing flavorful fat for cooking the beef.
  • Add the 1 pound ground beef to the same skillet and cook, breaking it up, until browned. Stir in the 1 tablespoon taco seasoning and a splash of water, then simmer for 2 minutes until it coats the beef. Set it aside to cool.
    Browned ground beef is combined with taco seasoning and cooked until richly seasoned for cowboy pasta salad.
  • Char the 1½ cups corn in a dry skillet over medium high heat, tossing every couple of minutes, until browned and blistered in spots. This step is small but it is where a lot of the smoky, cookout flavor comes from, so do not skip it.
    Overhead before-and-after view of corn kernels cooking in a skillet until golden, charred, and blistered in spots.
  • In a large bowl, combine the cooled pasta, browned beef, bacon, charred corn, 1½ cups cherry tomatoes, 1½ cups cheddar, the black beans, sliced green onions, and minced jalapeño. Pour the dressing over the top and toss until everything is well coated. Taste and adjust with more salt or hot sauce.
    Cowboy pasta salad ingredients topped with creamy dressing beside finished salad tossed until evenly coated in a large bowl.
  • Serve right away, or chill for up to an hour. If it sits longer and drinks up the dressing, just stir in a splash more before serving.

Notes

  1. Cool everything before tossing: Warm beef or pasta will wilt the tomatoes, melt the cheese, and make the dressing separate. Let everything cool completely first.
  2. Rinse the pasta: Cold water rinse after draining stops the cooking and washes off surface starch that would make the salad gluey. Always rinse pasta for a cold salad.
  3. Char the corn properly: High heat, no oil, let it sit without stirring for a minute or two at a time. You want actual dark blistered spots not just warmed corn. This is where the smoky cookout flavor comes from.
  4. Refrigerate the dressing while you work: Even 20 minutes in the fridge lets the flavors meld. The dressing tastes noticeably better for it.
  5. Hold back some dressing: If making ahead reserve about a quarter of the dressing and toss it in right before serving if the salad has absorbed too much.
  6. Sharp cheddar: Mild cheddar gets lost in the bold dressing. Sharp cheddar has enough flavor to stand up to everything else going on.
  7. Thick cut bacon: Stays crispier in the salad than regular bacon. Worth seeking out.
  8. Jalapeño heat: Seeded and minced for mild heat. Leave some seeds in for more kick. Leave it out entirely for no heat.
  9. Make ahead: Excellent made a few hours ahead. Gets better as it sits. Just refresh with a little extra dressing before serving if needed.
  10. Storage: Up to 3 days in the fridge. Stir in extra mayo or sour cream before serving if it's absorbed the dressing.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 678kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 688mg | Potassium: 599mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 636IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 172mg | Iron: 3mg
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