This salsa and ranch pasta salad is loaded with Mexican flavors, full of vegetables, and is a great vegetarian and gluten-free pasta salad recipe to make for a potluck or dinner crowd!
Mexican Pasta Salad… Coming Right Up!
Growing up my mom frequently threw together something very much like this salsa ranch pasta salad to bring to baby showers, wedding showers, birthday parties, or potlucks.
No matter how late of a notice she got, my mom was normally able to whip this dish up just in time for the party.
Also, the addicting combo of salsa and ranch made this Mexican pasta salad one of the first dishes to disappear!
A Gluten-Free Pasta Salad for Potlucks
Although my mom did not originally make this as a gluten-free pasta salad, it’s so easy to adapt it to be gluten-free!
With all of the new gluten-free pasta brands out there, we have plenty of options to choose from without anyone else noticing a difference.
I tend to grab this gluten-free rotini pasta or this brand of gluten-free fusilli pasta when making this salsa ranch pasta salad.
Salsa + Ranch Dressing to the Rescue!
What I love so much about this Mexican pasta salad is that it combines salsa and ranch to give it the bulk of its flavor.
If you haven’t tried this epic combo… DO. IT. NOW!
Not only is this gluten-free pasta salad full of flavor, it is also loaded with healthy vegetables!
Black beans… check.
Bell peppers… check
Red onions, corn, and spinach… check, check, check!
How Can You Evolve this Salsa Ranch Pasta Salad?
I like to look at this pasta salad recipe as a blueprint for you to experiment with. While this recipe is already gluten-free and vegetarian, there are a few more tweaks you can make:
- Depending on your desired spice level, use mild or medium salsa.
- If you would like to make this a vegan pasta salad simply use vegan ranch dressing.
- Load up this Mexican pasta salad with even more vegetables. Tomatoes and kale are a great place to start!
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Ingredients
- 12 oz. fusilli pasta gluten-free if needed
- 1 cup canned corn drained
- 1 cup canned black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup red bell pepper diced
- ½ cup red onion finely diced
- ⅔ cup ranch dressing* divided
- ⅔ cup salsa mild or medium, divided
- 1 ¼ tsp. salt to taste
- ½ tsp. pepper
- 2 cups spinach leaves coarsely chopped
- ½ bunch cilantro finely chopped
- Green onions optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine pasta, corn, beans, bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, ⅓ cup ranch dressing, ⅓ cup salsa, salt and pepper to taste. Toss pasta salad until all ingredients are completely combined. Refrigerate pasta salad for at least 2 hours.
- Just before serving, add additional ⅓ cup ranch dressing, ⅓ cup salsa, and spinach. Mix well until everything is well coated in the sauce.
- Serve cold with additional cilantro and green onions and enjoy!*
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Notes
- To make this recipe vegan and dairy-free, simply use a dairy-free ranch dressing.
- If you would like to add additional protein, simply add 2 cups cooked rotisserie chicken. (Nutrition facts are calculated without added chicken.)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this pasta salad for a potluck and everyone loved it. Will definitely be making this recipe again!
Yay!! So happy they all enjoyed it 🙂 Thanks for your comment and rating!
Such an easy pasta salad to make. I already had everything I needed. Thanks for the great recipe!