This amazing Corn Pasta Salad is loaded up with fresh crisp veggies, roasted sweet corn, thick-cut bacon, and a tangy chili-lime dressing. Try my Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad for another refreshing pasta salad.

Bowl of Corn Pasta Salad from Overhead on a Cutting Board
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Corn Pasta Salad

Inspired by the traditional street-style Mexican corn on the cob, this street corn pasta salad will be a delicious addition to all your summer picnics and side dishes. (It pairs wonderfully with my bang bang shrimp.) So much more flavorful than the traditional pasta salad, the dressing has a little zing from the lime and a little zap from the hot sauce. To make sure every bite is better than the one before, don’t skip roasting the corn kernels. I also have a Cowboy Caviar Pasta Salad you will love!

Adding Dressing to Corn Pasta Salad in a Bowl

How to Make Corn Pasta Salad

I was just recently introduced to Mexican Sweet Corn.  Let me tell you, I was missing out! The flavor of the roasted sweet corn is out of this world!  The process is really simple, and you can use fresh corn on the cob, frozen, or canned corn. 

Find yourself a good-sized skillet and then in small batches, you simply char the corn. (Or, if your skillet is large enough, you may be able to fit all the corn in one batch.)  If using corn on the cob, I like to leave it right on the cob and flip it until I have hit all edges. However, many people will cut the corn off the cob and then just use a spatula to turn the corn in the pan. The benefit of the second method is that you char more sides of the individual corn kernels. And, drained canned corn works, too! Play around with it and see what works best for you.

Close up of a bowl of Corn Pasta Salad

Chili Lime Dressing

Fresh roasted corn, creamy avocado, thick and crispy bacon chunks, topped with a creamy tangy chili-lime dressing…are you drooling yet?  This dressing can be used on so many other salad variations!  It’s perfectly balanced with fresh lime juice and chili seasoning (among others).  I like to make a big batch and serve with chicken, shrimp, salmon, or even pork! 

Here is a great recipe for cilantro lime chicken that my family loves.  You could make this into a salad and use the chili lime dressing on top.  So yummy!  This chili lime dressing is so easy!  You’ll never want to buy store-bought dressing again!

Spoon with Bite of Corn Pasta Salad

More Pasta Dishes

5 from 6 votes

Corn Pasta Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
This amazing Corn Pasta Salad is loaded up with fresh crisp veggies, roasted sweet corn, thick-cut bacon, and a tangy chili-lime dressing.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (6 ounces) radiatori noodles (or your noodle of choice)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 can (15 ounces) corn kernels, drained
  • 1 large avocado, diced
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • ½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
  • 6 strips thick-cut bacon, cooked and roughly chopped
  • ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed

DRESSING

  • ½ cup full-fat mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, approximately 2-3 limes
  • teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  • Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain the noodles, toss them with olive oil, and set them aside.
  • In a large cast-iron skillet over high heat, add the corn kernels in a single layer. Heat just until slightly charred (2-3 minutes). Then, flip to char the second side. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the cooked pasta, corn, avocado, green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, bacon, feta, and black beans.
  • In a separate bowl, make the dressing by whisking together all the ingredients.
  • Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.

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Reader Comments

  1. My brain thinks this is screaming for diced chicken…I think I’m looking at the photos and assuming there’s chicken in it, OMG I’m such a gourmand. This looks great!!! Gonna make it soon. Thank you! Your ideas and site are amazing!

  2. Well, I just have today this is outstanding! I doubled the recipe today for a 4th of July party we’re having tomorrow. I grilled 8 ears of shucked corn till lightly charred and then used the kernels in the salad, otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. If the pasta soaks up too much dressing overnight I’ll just whip up a little more tomorrow and mix it in right before serving. But someone has got to hold me back from eating a huge bowl of this tonight!!

  3. 5 stars
    Wow. What an explosion of flavors. I think that roasting the corn is the secret to making this so tasty. I had to use rotini pasta, because that’s what I had access to, and no hot sauce on hand so I used a little cayenne instead. I’ll definitely make this again.

  4. I make this as a dip and not a pasta, but I’m going to try this. I’m gonna sub cojita cheese and Pico de gallo in place of the feta, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño.

  5. Made this today and it’s delicious! I did make 2 changes for allergy reasons. The 2 changes made – I used Hellmans Vegan mayo instead of regular mayo and Violife dairy free Feta cheese instead of real feta cheese (egg and dairy allergy). You can’t taste a difference from the real thing.

  6. I have not tasted the salad but i’ve tasted from my seeing, this COPN PASTA SALAD looks so amazing & yummy, gonna grab it for my tummy, its look very yummy.

    1. 5 stars
      Great recipe! I changed the feta to shaved Parmesan because I am pregnant and cannot have soft cheeses- absolutely delicious! I also doubled the dressing recipe because I like a lot of dressing on my pasta salad. Will definitely be making again!

  7. It’s delicious but I think maybe a little heavy on the cilantro. That’s an easy fix for the next time tho!

  8. I made this for a group, it was a huge hit! I will definitely make it again. I used the cojita cheese.

  9. Oh, my goodness! This was just wonderful, and a delicious change to the usual side dishes for us on Mexican nights. I changed out the whole corn for frozen whole kernel corn, mixed 1/4 C. sour cream with 1/4 C. mayonnaise, and instead of using only green chilies opted for a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies instead. It was a lot of changes made for using a recipe for the first time, but it still turned out tasting terrific and the family enjoyed it. It is a recipe worth keeping that you can make as hot seasoned as you like or as mild as you want.

  10. I just made this recipe over the weekend for a pool BBQ and it was a huge hit. I loved all of the flavors. Using the canned corn was a great trick! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!

5 from 6 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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