Cowboy Caviar Pasta Salad is a side dish served cold that can be added to any backyard BBQ or potluck. The flavours in this pasta salad pair well with all BBQ meats, especially traditional smoked meats like brisket.

A small bowl of cowboy caviar pasta salad in front of a larger bowl.

Enjoy this pasta salad as a side to accompany burgers, sausages and hot dogs or add it to a summer potluck. Cowboy Caviar Pasta Salad is creamy with vegetables and beans, making it hearty and filling.

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What’s In Cowboy Caviar Pasta Salad?

The recipe for this pasta salad is in two parts. The salad and the dressing.

The Salad:

Pasta. Fusilli or Rotini work well for this dish, but macaroni can also be used. Shaped pasta works best.
Sweet pepper. Red, yellow or orange peppers can be added to the salad. Sometimes we use a combination of the three colours of peppers.
Jalapeno. These add a touch of heat to the salad and can be omitted if you prefer no heat. Or add a different chilli pepper if you want the dish to be hotter.
Corn. Frozen or canned corn. During the summer, we use fresh corn on the cob and roast it for this recipe.
Black beans. Canned beans are the go-to for this recipe, just make sure to drain and rinse before adding to the salad.
White onion.
Avocado.
Tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are used in the recipe. But you can use what you have on hand. In the summer we pick them fresh from the garden and sometimes use diced beefsteak or romas from the garden.
Shredded cheddar. Sharp cheddar works well in this dish.

The Dressing:

Mayonnaise. This is the base of the dressing that makes it creamy.
Avocado oil or Olive oil. This thins out the mayonnaise dressing slightly so it distributes evenly over the pasta.
Lime. Both the juice and the zest of lime are added to the dressing.
Garlic.
Chili powder.
Cumin.
Mexican oregano.
Salt.
Pepper.

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How To Serve This Pasta Salad

Cowboy Caviar Pasta Salad should be chilled before serving. Chilling before serving allows all the flavours to come together to make the salad even better.

This salad is great to serve with just about any BBQ meat. Our favourite is to serve it with brisket but it also goes well as a side for burgers.

It can also be made into a meal by adding chopped brisket, cooked ground beef, shredded chicken or any other kind of meat.

Storing Leftover Pasta Salad

Any leftover salad should be refrigerated and used within 2 days. If the salad has sat out in the heat for longer than 1 hour, it may need to be discarded to avoid foodborne illnesses.

Have you made this recipe? Let us know in the comments below.