Tex-Mex Chicken Pasta Salad
Tex-Mex Chicken Pasta Salad is an excellent summer meal or perfect for summer parties. It's different and refreshingly light, yet filling.
Tex-Mex Chicken Pasta Salad is an excellent summer meal or perfect for summer parties. It's different and refreshingly light, yet filling.
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 pound or 3 large chicken breasts seasoned, grilled and cubed
- 1 pound (16 oz. box) tri colored pasta cooked & drained
- 1/2 pint grape tomatoes halved
- 1 15 oz. can whole black olives drained
- 1 15 oz. can black beans rinsed & drained
- 1 c. frozen corn no need to thaw, rinse with beans
- 4 or 5 green onions finely chopped
- 1/4 c. evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
- 3/4 c. taco sauce / hot sauce (i use taco bell brand any heat)
- 1 tsp. taco seasoning (i use taco bell brand)
- 2 tsp. garlic minced
- 2 tsp. cilantro (dry) or 1/3 c. fresh
- 1 tsp. (approx) spicy seasoned salt blend
- Carbohydrate 51.475930453664 g
- Cholesterol 38.10156 mg
- Fat 40.0843201301895 g
- Fiber 6.94150957968101 g
- Protein 23.1288197685785 g
- Saturated Fat 2.66703902670681 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (262g)
- Sodium 890.332533790052 mg
- Sugar 44.534420873983 g
- Trans Fat 31.359741615821 g
- Calories 416 calories
Step-by-step
- Season and cook chicken on grill until cooked through; set aside to cool. Cook pasta as directed on box; drain, rinse and add it to a large bowl. Once chicken has cooled, dice it and add it to pasta in bowl.
- Chop peppers and tomatoes and add them to the bowl. Add the whole black olives, beans, and corn to the bowl as well.
- Finely chop the green onions and add them to a small mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients and whisk together to form a dressing.
- Pour dressing over everything in the large bowl and toss to mix and coat well. Taste and add more seasoned salt blend or hot sauce if you need according to your likings.
Temperature control during pasta cooling dictates the success of cold noodle dishes. Rinsing cooked tri-colored pasta under cold running water immediately stops residual internal cooking while stripping surface starches that otherwise cause gummy clumping. When multiplying quantities for large gatherings, avoid scaling dressing components linearly with denser ingredients like black beans and cubed chicken; fats and acids demand proportional restraint or the bottom of the mixing bowl becomes pooled with heavy liquid. Olive oil viscosity increases significantly inside refrigeration units, which mutes spice profiles during cold storage. Whisking the taco sauce, extra virgin olive oil, and minced garlic in a separate small vessel forces an emulsion before it meets the starches, preventing premature pooling. Frozen corn requires zero prior thermal processing because direct contact with ambient ingredients thaws the kernels safely within twenty minutes while preserving their cellular crunch. For optimal texture preservation, store prepared portions in airtight glass containers for up to seventy-two hours without adding tomatoes until the final hour of service to prevent excess moisture release.
