After a long day on dusty trails, it’d be nice to have a side dish that both quenches your parched throat and leaves your belly full, wouldn’t it? Cowboy Pasta Salad reckons it could be that dish, and it has the party-rustlin’ skills to prove it; everyone will be herded to the table to have a scoop or two! Tender pasta and juicy ground beef form a posse with spicy jalapenos, sweet cherry tomatoes, fatty bacon crumbles, and herbaceous cilantro. The Cowboy Pasta Salad may not have a Stetson, but it dons a creamy, tangy dressing with plenty of smoky Southwest energy that befits the name. Yee-haw, but if this isn’t the tastiest, easiest, and quickest pasta salad on either side of the Mississippi!
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup salsa, of your preferred spice level
- 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- hot sauce, to taste
For the pasta salad:
- 1 pound of mini farfalle or other small pasta such as rigatoni or shells
- 1 pound of lean ground beef
- 1 (4-ounce) can mild diced green chiles
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4-6 tablespoons diced canned/pickled jalapeño peppers, from a 4-ounce can
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- corn from 1 ear sweet corn
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
- 1/4 small red onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 pound of bacon, thick center cut, cooked, and chopped
Directions
Step 1 –Whisk together the ketchup, the mayonnaise, the sour cream, the salsa, the brown sugar, the Worcestershire sauce, the yellow mustard, the apple cider vinegar, the paprika, the salt, the pepper, and the hot sauce.
Step 2 –Cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions.
Step 3 –Rinse the pasta with cold water and drain.
Step 4 –Add the pasta to a large salad bowl and toss it with 1/2 of the dressing.
Step 5 –Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, for about 5-7 minutes.
Step 6 –Drain the excess grease from the skillet.
Step 7 –Stir in the green chiles, the chili powder, the cumin, the garlic powder, the onion powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt.
Step 8 –Add the beef mixture, the jalapeños, the bell pepper, the black beans, the corn, the tomatoes, the cheddar cheese, the red onion, and the cilantro to the pasta.
Step 9 –Top with the bacon and the remaining dressing and serve.