Mexican Tortellini Salad

By Maria Lichty

Updated March 26, 2019

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Mexican Tortellini Salad-cheese tortellini with black beans, tomatoes, corn, avocado, cotija cheese, and a simple cilantro vinaigrette. This easy pasta salad is great as a main dish or side dish. 

We had a great time in San Francisco and visiting family in California. We were gone for a week and are happy to be home, but I am struggling with getting back into my routine. I was going to use the weekend to get caught up on work, laundry, and errands, but instead we played. We acted like we were still on vacation. I went on a trail run up the mountain with a friend, we took the boys fishing, went on a picnic, and went to a friend’s cabin. I didn’t tackle anything on my to do list. I am still in major vacation mode. I am not ready to get back to the real world.

I did make a Mexican Tortellini Salad for our picnic and took a few photos so I could count it as work:) This salad is hands down one of our favorite pasta salad recipes. We make it all of the time, especially during the summer months. If you like our Greek Tortellini Salad recipe, I bet you will love this one too! Both are winners!

Pasta salads are a summer staple at our house during the hot summer months and this one is the best. It has all of my favorite things in one salad-cheese tortellini, black beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, avocado, and cotija cheese. The simple cilantro vinaigrette brings all of the flavors together and is the perfect finishing touch to the salad.

The pasta salad is hearty enough to be served as a main dish, we often eat it for dinner with watermelon and call it good. It is also a great dish to take to a potluck, BBQ, or picnic. It goes great with anything and everyone loves it! Plus, it can be made in advance. Just wait to add the avocado and cotija cheese until you are ready to serve. I also like to save a little of the cilantro vinaigrette so I can freshen up the salad right before serving. No one will know the salad was chilling in the fridge for hours. It is a great salad for entertaining!

Enjoy this Mexican Tortellini Salad all summer long! I am going to eat leftovers today and get back to work. Or maybe I will pack up our salad and go on another picnic, or to the pool, or on a hike. I might never get out of vacation mode:) I love summer!

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Vegetarian

Mexican Tortellini Salad

This easy pasta salad is great as a main dish or side dish. It can also be made in advance which makes it perfect for parties and potlucks!

4.20 from 10 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

For the Cilantro Vinaigrette:

• 1 teaspoon minced shallot
• 1 small clove garlic minced
• 1 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro leaves stems removed
• Juice of 1 large lime
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Salt and black pepper to taste

For the Tortellini Salad:

• 19 oz fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
• 1 ear fresh sweet corn charred and kernels removed from cob
• 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes halved
• 2 ripe avocados chopped
• 1/2 cup cotija cheese
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• First make the Cilantro Vinaigrette. Put the shallot, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice in a blender or food processor. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Set aside.
• Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Pour the tortellini into a large bowl. Drizzle with half of the Cilantro Vinaigrette to keep the tortellini from sticking. Add the corn, black beans, tomatoes, and avocado. Add the remaining vinaigrette and gently stir. Add the cotija cheese and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Serve.
• Note-you can use frozen corn if you don't have fresh sweet corn. I like the flavor charred sweet corn adds to the salad though. You can make this a day in advance, but don't add the avocado or cotija cheese until ready to serve and save a little of the vinaigrette to toss right before serving. This will freshen up the salad.

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