This Southwest Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad is loaded with vibrant, flavorful ingredients, tossed with a creamy salsa Ranch dressing and topped off with crushed Doritos®. A fun choice to make and take to any summer gathering.
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Summer is here and I’m ready to take it outside! Pasta salad season is upon us, my friends.
We are blessed to live in Northern California within close proximity to gorgeous hiking trails and picnic areas with a water view.
We visit nearby Lake Vasona almost every week to hike the trails with our baby girl, Bridget, and whoever else we can snag to take along with us! This time is was Boy #2 (aka, Jake) and his girlfriend, Mina. A nice hike and picnic on the grassy areas along the edge of the water is my idea of a perfect day off! It’s also an awesome place to gather with family and friends for the summer holidays.
This Southwest Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad is excellent for outside dining. It’s a meal in itself, can be made ahead, and packs up really well for a meal outside. Plus, the ingredients are so colorful and just plain fun for a relaxed summer meal.
Combine cooked spiral pasta with a simple salsa Ranch dressing, chopped rotisserie chicken, olives, cubed Colby Jack cheese, green onions, black beans, corn, halved cherry tomatoes, and chopped red bell pepper. Pack it into portable containers, grab the bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and you’re good to go!
Crush the Doritos over the top just before serving. That crunchy topping makes this salad completely irresistible!
Visit Frito-Lay on Pinterest for more great summer recipe inspiration!
Southwest Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces rotini (spiral) pasta
- 1 cup frozen corn, defrosted and drained well
- 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained well
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 2.25 ounce can sliced olives, drained
- 1 cup cubed Colby Jack cheese
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cups chopped cooked chicken, I used rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup crushed Cool Ranch Doritos
Easy Salsa Ranch Dressing:
- ½ cup bottled Ranch salad dressing
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup chunky salsa
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook the rotini pasta according the package directions. Rinse with cool water for several minutes until pasta is no longer warm. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Transfer cooled and drained pasta to a large mixing bowl. Add dressing and toss to combine. Add remaining pasta salad ingredients, through chicken (reserve Doritos for later) and mix until the ingredients are well incorporated. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Top with crushed Doritos just before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Like this? Please rate & comment below!
Delicious, full of flavor! Made it for extended family camping, everyone loved it. Was told it’s a keeper and another said best pasta salad she’s ever had. Only change I made was omit the olives just because I’m not a huge fan of them. Also crushed up the chips and had in a bowel on the side so each could add and then they wouldn’t be soggy if leftover.