Easy Gluten-Free Mexican Pasta Salad (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

Name: Easy Gluten-Free Mexican Pasta Salad (Vegan, Allergy-Free)
Prep time: 4 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 Box of Gluten-Free Pasta (about 10-12 oz)*; 1 Cup Sweet Yellow Corn; 1 15oz Can of Black Beans (drained and rinsed); 1 Cup Chopped Onion; 1 Cup Chopped Red Bell Pepper; 1 16oz Jar of Salsa**; 1 Tsp Minced Garlic; 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin (optional); Fresh Cilantro or Parsley (optional, to top)

Published: Jun 17, 2019 by Rebecca Pytell · This post may contain affiliate links.

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The easiest Gluten-Free Mexican Pasta Salad recipe ever! It's just 7 ingredients, vegan, allergy-free, and takes just 10 minutes! Whether you're feeding a crowd at a summer potluck, cookout, bbq, or you just need a super quick and healthy lunch or dinner, this Mexican macaroni salad is a must! Easy to meal prep and make-ahead!

What's easier than a 7 ingredient pasta salad? Nothing! A Mexican pasta salad that you literally can make in 10 minutes with your eyes closed (maybe). Gluten-free pasta, black beans, veggies, and a jar of salsa? It's practically a "dump and go" meal! It's a last-minute lifesaver for potlucks and cookout or an easy go-to for spicing up your meal prep game!

What's in a Mexican pasta salad?

You are about to be blown away (if you get excited about easy steller recipes like this!) You can take a few shortcuts with the ingredients too, by using canned or frozen veggies so you literally can make this in record time. The only ingredient you need to "cook" is the pasta and while it's cooking you can get everything else ready to go. There are 7 essential ingredients and a few extra throw-ins if you'd like, but totally optional!

Ingredients you need:

Gluten-Free Pasta
Corn
Black Beans
Onion
Bell Pepper
Salsa
Garlic
Cumin (optional)
Fresh Cilantro (optional)

I have a cumin obsession so I threw some ground cumin into the mix! I also wanted the pasta salad to look pretty so I topped the bowl off with a nice dose of bright green cilantro (you can use parsley too!)

Best gluten-free pasta for pasta salad

Technically, this is a Mexican macaroni salad! I used my favorite go-to gluten-free macaroni, however, a good rotini, fusilli, farfalle, even penne or shells would work. I personally just love macaroni for a pasta salad, regardless if it's not a traditional macaroni salad!

Properly cooking gluten-free pasta

A big mistake in making pasta salad is overcooking the pasta so it's mushy, fall-apart, sadness when you go to mix everything together. When you add the gluten-free factor in, you really need to be careful on your pasta cooking time. I've found Ronzoni's gluten-free noodles are the best for holding up, not getting mushy, and staying fresh and palatable the longest. Cooking the noodles for 5-6 minutes is perfect and their suggestion for an al dente, firm pasta outcome. Once you've boiled your pasta, drain it right away, and rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking process and cool it down so it's ready for the pasta salad right away.

How to make Mexican pasta salad

This recipe really is as easy as "one, two three"! What's also fun (I think its fun) here is that everything is measured as "one". 1 cup, 1 box, 1 jar, 1 teaspoon. SO easy!

Boil your gluten-free pasta of choice, drain, quick cold rinse, and add it to a large bowl.
Add the corn, black beans, chopped onion, bell pepper, jar of salsa, and garlic.
Mix it all together and...serve!

Time-Saving Tips:

You can use canned or frozen (and thawed) yellow corn!
Use 1 can of black beans, rinsed.
You can use 1 cup of frozen (and thawed) chopped onion (helps keep the tears from flowing too!)
You can use 1 cup of frozen chopped bell pepper (any color works) or fresh. I did you fresh here.
Grab a jar of your favorite salsa. It can be mild, medium, spicy, whatever floats your boat!
Use pre-minced garlic (always!)

Simple, quick, and easy, but also perfectly allergy-free! This gluten-free pasta salad is vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nut-free, and peanut-free. Depending on your salsa choice there's no added sugar, no oil; just fresh, light, delicious, family-friendly and food allergy safe fare for any summer cookout, bbq, or potluck. (This does feed a crowd!)

Storing and serving Mexican pasta salad

Make-ahead & meal prep storing:

Pasta salads are great for making in advance! That means it's a great dish, not just for a potluck, but for a quick "scoop-and-go" for weekday lunches or easy side dish for dinner! Since this vegan Mexican pasta salad isn't mayo-based, you can store it for a good 7 days in a closed container in the fridge! Pasta salads are always better the next day anyway! It always the flavors to meld together and really make a statement!

Serve it cold or warm:

When you add the word "salad" to pasta, it's meant to be eaten cold or chilled. However, my dear brother informed me that he heated this Mexican macaroni salad up in the microwave before eating it (and I was mad), until he told me that it was "pristine" this way and he preferred serving temperature! So if you're making this for a summer cookout, obviously it would be best cold, but if you're making it for an at-home side or light meal, you may just want to try popping it in the microwave for a minute or two!