Corn Pasta Salad with Bacon and Creamy Pesto Dressing takes only 30 minutes and makes a beautiful appetizer, light meal, or even dinner! This crowd-pleasing side dish is perfect for sharing and bringing to picnics, potlucks, BBQs, or parties. Your family and friends with love the fresh, savory, and sweet combination of flavors! Make it in the Summer and year-round
1. Corn Pasta Salad With Bacon & Creamy Pesto Dressing
Ingredients
Corn pasta salad
- 8 oz orecchiette pasta or other short pasta
- 1 cup corn kernels cooked
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 4 slices bacon cooked and sliced
- fresh cilantro chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Salad dressing
- ⅓ cup basil pesto store-bought or homemade
- 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lime juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
Cook Pasta
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions. Drain.
This kind of texture works the best with the pasta salad especially if you want to make it ahead. To cook pasta al dente, you normally have to boil pasta 2 minutes shorter than normal. For example, if the package instructions tell you to boil pasta for 10 minutes – cook the pasta in boiling water for 8 minutes instead.
While the pasta is cooking, proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Make Salad Dressing
In a mason jar, whisk together basil pesto with Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
If your dressing is too thick, you can thin it out by adding more Greek yogurt, small amounts of water, or extra lime juice (or lemon juice). Or, combination of what I just listed.
Assembly
In a large bowl, combine cooked and drained pasta, cooked corn kernels, diced bell pepper, and chopped cooked bacon. Mix to combine.
Distribute into individual salad bowls. Top with the salad dressing. Sprinkle the chopped fresh cilantro on top.
Notes
Corn. I used 1 cup of cooked corn kernels. That equals to 2 ears of corn (corn on the cob).
Basil pesto. Use store-bought or homemade basil pesto.
Pasta. I used orecchiette pasta in this recipe. The next best choice would be fusilli (spiral pasta) or farfalle (bow-tie pasta).
Variations
Pasta. I used orecchiette pasta but you can use any kind of short pasta. This includes small pasta shells, and fusilli (spiral pasta). Bow-tie pasta (farfalle) will be your next best choice. Or, you can use penne, rigatoni, or rotini.
Use prosciutto instead of bacon. You can briefly crispy up the prosciutto in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes.
Fresh herbs. I use fresh cilantro here, you can also use fresh basil leaves or fresh thyme.
Add cheese if you like. Feta cheese, goat cheese, or small Mozzarella balls (pearls) are all great choices! You can also sprinkle the corn pasta salad with grated Parmesan cheese.
Add a protein, such as grilled chicken, sauteed or grilled shrimp, or salmon to make it a perfect and easy weeknight dinner!
Storage Tips
Store leftover corn pasta salad in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
If you plan on refrigerating the salad, you can combine all the salad ingredients, except the salad dressing and fresh cilantro. Add creamy pesto salad dressing and cilantro last minute before serving.
You can easily make this salad ahead by combining all salad ingredients together except the salad dressing and fresh cilantro. Add those two immediately before serving.
