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Mexican Tortellini Salad
4.2 from 30 votes

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!

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
25 mins
Course: Side Dish, Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: American, International, Vegetarian

Ingredients

For the Cilantro Vinaigrette:
  • 1 teaspoon shallot minced
  • 1 garlic minced, small clove
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves stems removed, tightly packed, fresh
  • lime juice of 1 large
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • black pepper to taste
  • salt to taste
For the Tortellini Salad:
  • 19 oz cheese tortellini fresh or frozen
  • 1 sweet corn charred and kernels removed from cob, ear, fresh
  • 1 black beans 15 oz can, rinsed and drained
  • 1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes halved
  • 2 avocado chopped, ripe
  • 1/2 cup cotija cheese
  • black pepper to taste
  • salt to taste

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.