This Texas Style Pasta Salad is pasta salad made Texas-style with great southwestern flavors and nacho cheese tortilla chips crumbled on top!
We love all things Texas around here since my son Brooks (RecipeBoy) is going to college in Texas. I’m sure Texans don’t typically make their pasta salad this way, but this Texas Style Pasta Salad (as it’s named in the cookbook the recipe came from) has some great flavors going on. The crumbled nacho cheese tortilla chips add to the fun and make this a super delicious pasta salad!
We’ve picked up a new cookbook to get some new dinner ideas. Betty Crocker’s The Big Book of Pasta has lots of those! There are 175 recipes for pasta dinner, pasta salads and soups that contain pasta too. If you’re a pasta lover, then this book will be a good one for you to add to your cookbook collection. The recipes in the book all seem to be pretty easy to follow. We love pasta at our house, so this was a good purchase!
Here are a few recipes in the book that are on our list to try:
- Ravioli Sausage Lasagna
- Italian Chicken Noodle Soup
- Mexican Manicotti
- Thai Beef Noodle Bowls
- Grilled Caesar Pasta Salad
- Bacon Spinach Fettuccine
- Parmesan Orzo and Meatballs
- Cheesy Southwest Chicken Skillet
Ingredients needed:
- penne pasta
- cheddar cheese
- red bell pepper
- canned whole green chiles
- fresh cilantro
- green onions
- taco sauce
- vegetable or canola oil
- lime juice
- ground cumin
- nacho cheese tortilla chips
How to make Texas Style Pasta Salad:
Since the chips are added in, it’s best to serve this Texas Style Pasta Salad right after you make it because you don’t want soggy chips. It’s totally okay to assemble the salad ahead of time, cover and refrigerate. Then crumble the chips on top when you’re ready to put it out for serving. This would be a good salad for a summer party or a Game day party. Enjoy!
The Best Texas Recipes:
Texas Style Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces penne pasta
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
- One 4-ounce can whole green chiles, drained and chopped
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
- 1 cup medium taco sauce
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup nacho-flavored tortilla chips, coarsely crushed
Instructions
- Cook and drain the pasta as directed on the package. Rinse with cold water; drain.
- In a large bowl, combine the pasta, cheese, bell pepper, chiles, cilantro and green onions.
- In a small bowl, combine the taco sauce, oil, lime juice and cumin. Pour over the pasta mixture and toss gently to combine. Top with the crushed tortilla chips. Serve immediately.