Southwest Tortellini Pasta Salad

A fresh and easy southwest tortellini pasta salad that can be made in less than 30 minutes! It’s loaded with veggies and protein and coated in a deliciously simple and healthy southwest dressing. 

This is one of the healthier meals I like to feed my kids. They LOVE it, and I love that it’s loaded with veggies and good protein from the beans. The dressing is pretty mild–definitely not too spicy for my family. If you do want to add a little “heat” to the dressing you could add some Valentina hot sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 20 oz package three cheese refrigerated tortellini
• 1 cup corn fresh from 1 ear of cooked corn, canned or frozen corn
• 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 avocado chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Juice from 2 fresh limes
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tsp EACH sugar, chili powder, cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook the tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. Add tortellini to a large bowl. Add cooked corn, black beans, bell pepper, avocado, cherry tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.
3. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a resealable jar. Shake until combined. Pour desired amount of dressing (you may not want to use it all) over the pasta and toss to coat.
4. Please visit Southwest Tortellini Pasta Salad for full instructions.