Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad is full of fresh southwestern flavors with black beans, corn, cheese and tomatoes. This hearty chicken pasta salad recipe topped with Fritos is perfect as a main dish or a side dish for potlucks and parties!
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Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad is one of my favorite summertime meals because it doesn’t require the oven and it makes a huge batch which usually leaves us with enough leftovers to give me another night off from making dinner! Gotta love those no-bake/no-oven dinners!
Can you make this chicken pasta salad in advance?
This is also a perfect dish for taking to potluck dinners. You can make the salad immediately before serving, or you can make it 2-3 days in advance if that’s more convenient! This pasta salad recipe makes a large batch, so I like to serve it for dinner one night and then eat the leftovers the rest of the week! It stores beautifully in the refrigerator and this pasta salad is one meal that I actually like the leftovers for! Just wait to add the Fritos until right before serving or they will get soggy.
When do you add the Fritos to the salad?
Don’t forget the final step! Just before serving you’ll want to top the salad with Fritos. They add a lot of crunch and pair very well with the flavors in the salad. When I serve this salad at home, I usually just serve the Fritos separately and let everyone add their own to the top of their portion. That way, any leftovers that we have can be stored without the chips so that they don’t get soggy!
What types of toppings work best in chicken pasta salad?
This dish is very versatile – you can add or subtract any toppings you want and it still turns out wonderfully each time. I absolutely love the corn and the beans in this salad, and the cheese is amazing in it as well.
Sometimes when I serve this to my family, I will leave some of the veggies out and serve them next to the salad. That way everyone can add the ones that they like. Kind of like a chicken pasta salad bar! Olives, green peppers, onions and tomatoes are all toppings that can be added separately to the salad. This way I get to leave out the tomatoes, since as much as I’ve tried, I haven’t found a way to enjoy eating them!
What type of ranch dressing is used in this chicken pasta salad?
The key to the dressing for this salad is the Hidden Valley Fiesta Dip mix. You use this in place of regular ranch dip mix and the flavor is incredible! I will admit that I have had some difficulty finding it at certain grocery stores, but I have almost always been able to find it Walmart. Since I make this salad many times each year, I just make sure to stay stocked up! When I’m at a grocery store where I can find this, I get several so that I can make sure I have it when I need it. You’ll find it right next to the other dressing mixes.
There have been a few times where I have been in the middle of making this salad and then realized that I didn’t have any of my stockpile left, and I have used regular ranch dip mix in place of the Fiesta flavored one. If you do this, just add a couple tablespoons of taco seasoning or a Southwest seasoning to the dry mix before you add the wet ingredients. It won’t taste exactly the same as the real thing, but it’ll still be yummy! You can even just use regular ranch dip mix – it’s delicious too but doesn’t have the southwestern flavor of the Fiesta Dip mix.
Ingredients in Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad
- 1 pkg. of pasta (rotini, bowtie, tri-colored, etc)
- 3 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced (I usually use a rotisserie chicken)
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 package frozen corn
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 can of olives, sliced
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
SOUTHWEST DRESSING INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 pkg. Hidden Valley Fiesta dip mix (I have had best luck finding this at Walmart)
How to make Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad
The first step is to cook pasta, drain and cool.
Combine the cooked pasta with all of the other ranch chicken pasta salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk and Hidden Valley Fiesta dip mix. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Right before serving, add in Frito corn chips to taste. I usually just leave them in a separate bowl and let everyone add as many as they’d like to the top of their pasta salad.
FIESTA RANCH CHICKEN PASTA SALAD
Ingredients
- 16 oz pasta rotini, bowtie, tri-colored, etc
- 3 boneless chicken breasts cooked and diced (I usually use a rotisserie chicken)
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 10 oz corn frozen or canned
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 3 oz olives sliced
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1 pkg Frito Corn Chips (for topping)
SALAD DRESSING
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 pkg Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch Dressing Mix
Instructions
- Cook pasta, drain and cool. Combine with all of the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and then mix up the dressing.
- Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.
- Add dressing to the salad and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Right before serving, add in Frito corn chips to taste. Enjoy!
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What kind of chicken works best in chicken pasta salad?
I usually use a rotisserie chicken in chicken pasta salad because rotisserie chickens are easy and I love the taste and texture of the chicken. If I don’t have a rotisserie chicken to use, I prefer to bake chicken breasts (or chicken tenders) in the oven.
To cook chicken breasts in the oven, place them in a baking dish and brush a little olive oil on them, adding a little bit of salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°.
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Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad is full of fresh southwestern flavors with black beans, corn, cheese and tomatoes. This hearty chicken pasta salad recipe topped with Fritos is perfect as a main dish or a side dish for potlucks and parties!
Jane Saunders says
This would be a great salad to make up for speedy lunchbox packing and my kids would definitely be happy with sprinkling a few Fritos on right before they dive in. i think it would casue some lunchbox envy actually.
Melanie M. Redd says
Yum!
This looks so good! I’ll have to try it!
Coming over from Modest Mom.
Have a blessed day~
Melanie (linking for Pam Blosser @journeytohim.com.)
Samantha says
So clever to add corn chips…they gave this pasta salad such great texture! Thanks for the recipe…everyone loved it.
Alison says
Samantha, yes such a satisfying crunch! Glad you all loved it!
Allison says
This is my kind of salad. Pasta AND chips?! Yes, please! Thanks for sharing this tasty recipe.
Alison says
Allison, our favorite too! So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Brianna says
Looks yummy! I’m going to try it for a church potluck next week. What size bag of frozen corn do you use?
Nellie says
Brianna – Different brands of frozen corn vary in size but they are usually between 14 and 16 ounces.
C says
Is this a 1lb box of Rototini or 2lb box?
Nellie says
I used a 1 lb box of rotini. Enjoy!
Denise M says
I used Uncle Dan’s Dry Ranch mix instead of HV Fiesta mix. Also added Taco packet to my Mayo/ buttermilk dressing. I didn’t add corn or Fritos. It was a Hit with my family. Creamy spicy taco flavored Dressing. I made my own buttermilk.
Kp says
We loved this! So refreshing and easy to put together. I just baked 3 chicken breasts with salt/pepper and chopped them up once cooled a bit. This will be great for a crowd! Thanks for sharing.
Lisa says
I’m not a huge mayo fan. What do you think I could sub for the mayo? Plain Greeks yogurt maybe?
Nellie says
Plain greek yogurt may work -I’ve never tried it! Let me know how it works!
Ashley B says
For speedy prep, I made this using a bag of frozen corn with peppers and onions already mixed in and canned chicken! I used half the buttermilk since I like my pasta salad a bit more on the dry side. Super easy and it’s delicious! Thank you!
Alison says
That’s perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Judy says
Can u omit chicken and just make it as a pasta salad!!
Alison says
Definitely! It makes an excellent side dish!
Marilyn Morey says
I am interested in knowing if anyone has made this, substituting plain Greek yogurt for the mayo. No one in my family likes mayo all that much. If anyone has tried the yogurt substitute, please let us know how it tasted and looked. Thanks.
Polly Urso says
Alison! I made this salad and received so many compliments! I prepped the ingredients the night before and Shazam two minutes in the morning, kitchen clean and served later in afternoon! I served corn muffins with it! I wanted to add , however that rather then buy buttermilk (knew I would waste it) the large bottle of hidden valley ranch with buttermilk was on sale so I added Taco seasoning to it and it was delicious! I tasted it to be sure flavor was sure and added seasoning to my taste! Thanks again for a true 5 star recipe!
Polly
Alison says
Love the small change you made! So glad this recipe was a success for you!
Lori S. says
This pasta salad was easy to make and tasty but next time I would cut back on the amount of onion, olives and not add the corn. I used 3 pouches of Tyson chicken breast, bowtie pasta, black olives and a small bag of frozen corn. Love ranch dressing and enjoyed it mixed in this pasta salad. Refrigerated overnight and mixed a couple times to get flavors working together. A quick lunch and packed up nicely for the hubby to take to work. Made and reviewed for the Alphabet Tag game.
Nancy says
This is so good but makes a LOT! Would it be okay to freeze some for later?
Nellie says
I’ve never tried freezing it…not sure if it would work. It does last about a week in the fridge though, so we usually just eat it for lunches/leftovers all week long!
Lauren Renee Sparks says
That sounds delish! Visiting you from the hearth and soul link up. laurensparks.net
Nellie says
Thanks for stopping by – glad you found us!
Heather shirley says
I used sour cream instead of buttermilk,I also used fresh cilantro and lime juice. It was amazing!
Kaylie says
Thank you, Heather!
Lisalia says
So so good! LOVE chicken salad – the pasta addition gave this such a light summery taste. Thanks!
wilhelmina says
We loved this pasta salad! It is so delicious and easy to make. A huge hit!