Mexicali Pasta Salad

  4.4 – 32 reviews  • Rotini Pasta Salad Recipes

Serve as a light lunch or with cheese and tortillas. It works well as a side dish for your preferred Mexican dishes.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
Servings: 12
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 (16 ounce) package tri-color rotini pasta
  2. 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  3. 1 (11 ounce) can Mexican-style corn, drained
  4. 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
  5. ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
  6. ½ cup Italian-style salad dressing, or more to taste
  7. ½ cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
  8. 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  9. ⅓ cup minced fresh cilantro
  10. 1 slice onion, minced
  11. 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
  12. ½ lime, juiced

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; cook the rotini at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes; drain.
  2. Mix black beans, corn, green chilies, red bell pepper, Italian dressing, Mexican cheese, green onions, cilantro, onion, taco seasoning, and lime juice together in a bowl. Add rotini and lightly stir to combine.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 246 kcal
Carbohydrate 41 g
Cholesterol 5 mg
Dietary Fiber 5 g
Protein 9 g
Saturated Fat 2 g
Sodium 651 mg
Sugars 3 g
Fat 6 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Maria Morales
Made this a couple of times so far for parties and it is a hit. I probably add extra according to taste but I don’t change ingredients. Making again for 4th of July party. It is my new go to pasta salad.
Amy Williams
Left out the cilantro (yuck). This is fabulous- and if you leave out the pasta it would make a great dip for tortilla chips. Some reviews said it was dry but I didn’t have that experience.
Debra Flores
It was good
Brenda Carlson
I increased this recipe to 40 servings and split it, both a baby shower and a college graduation party on the same day, hours apart, thank goodness! I chopped and mixed everything together the night before. I only made enough for the parties, no extra, very little to sample the next morning, maybe two tablespoons full! and I REALLY like it! My fiance, not so much, he doesn’t like onions, especially green onions or pasta Im not a big Italian-Style Salad Dressing fan, so, the only change I made was that I used the Dorothy Lynch Style Salad Dressing recipe, per another customer review and suggestion and I like it too. It enhanced the taco seasoning, the black beans, the mexican corn, green onions, so good!!
Jodi Miller
Simply no flavor and Im Italian
Julia Cook
Turned out fantastic!
Courtney Lopez
Wonderful! Tried with and without the cheese; Didn’t need the cheese. Used Dorothy Lynch dressing from this app, as well as Instant pot chicken. Also did the pasta in an instant pot. Terrific recipe!!
Holly Valdez
I love this recipe! I make is all the time! I usually double it and mix my bell pepper colors up. I went vegan a year ago and make it without the cheese and add arugula to it. Now I fix it once a week and eat it all the time! I like onion so I use red onion and about a 1/4 of one instead of a slice. This dish is awesome!
Jason Gordon
Added a jar of corn salsa, more cheese ..everyone at the party loved it..
Claudia Hudson
This is a wonderful recipe! I usually follow the recipe for the first time, then add my own touches to it later. This served as a perfect base recipe. Instead of a package taco seasoning I used a recipe here on allrecipes for the taco seasoning. I also used Queso fresco cheese instead of shredded. It turned out perfect for our Cinco de Mayo family dinner! This is a keeper
James Reid
It turned out great. I just needed to add more dressing then what was required.
Melissa Reed
This was good, but not incredibly flavorful.
Monica Garner
This is similar to some other recipes I have with pasta & beans. Hubby liked this a lot, but I’m not so sure because of dental work my taste buds aren’t what they should be. I did fluctuate on the ingredients by using more yet not in proportion to number of servings. I did let the salad sit most of the day so flavors could blend. Will probably make again & then see which of the recipes that are like this is the best.
Nancy Callahan
I used whole wheat rotini and made my dressing from olive oil, fresh squeezed lime juice and Mrs. Dash fiesta lime seasoning. I will definitely be making this again!
Mr. Samuel Oneill
I used half as much pasta and used black beans with jalapenos.
Diana Thompson
I halved the recipe and didnt use taco seasoning. Just working with what I had. Nice and easy to make. Great recipe for summer.
Laura Miller
I didn’t have any green chilis so added more jalapeno. Very good recipe. Will make again.
Brittany Turner
I think this would be good if you use store bought taco seasoning. My homemade is mild so it wasn’t strong enough to match the Italian. I also used dried cilantro, fresh would have been perfect.
Jennifer Sampson
Made this the night before for a work lunch pot luck and it was super dry. So the next time I made it I used 1-1 1/2 cups of Zesty Italian salad dressing. I also doubled the onion and cheese. I used frozen corn instead of canned. I also omitted the green chilies because my kids don’t like them and omitted the cilantro because I don’t care for cilantro. Overall a great recipe you can make tweak to make your own.
Bradley Smith
a great tasty recipe! feeds an army! We love it!
Stephanie Jennings
Awesome! Perfect for lunch. I added chicken seasoned with chili pepper, paprika, and onion powder to it.

 

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