Cowboy Pasta Salad – Easy Recipe to Feed a Crowd!

Take a trip down south with this Cowboy Pasta Salad Recipe.  Made with ground beef, bacon, black beans and corn, this hearty recipe could feed a whole army of Cowboys!

LOOKING FOR MORE GREAT RECIPES FOR A CROWD?  CHECK OUT:

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• SOUTHERN CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICH RECIPE
• JOHN WAYNE CASSEROLE
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• CROCKPOT GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Pasta salad is a great side dish for any number of occasions, from cookouts to picnics to parties.  It is easy to serve and easy to share and a batch of it usually feed a lot of guests.  For the longest time, I thought that there were only a couple of different kinds potato salads: the white kind and the yellow kind.  Oh yeah, and German Potato Salad……  It never occurred to me that you could put a ton of fun ingredients into your potato salad to liven things up a bit!

Pasta Salad With Meat?  Yes Please!

To begin with, I’ve never even considered making a potato salad with meat.  I’m not talking about those little pieces of pepperoni or some cubes of ham, I’m talking about ground beef!  Real meat! Oh yeah, and bacon!  Because, how can you put the word “cowboy” in a recipe without using bacon?  Add some corn, black beans and onions and you are well on your way to a Tex Mex twist on one of our favorite side dishes.

Great Side Dish For A Crowd

This recipe makes A LOT of food.  So it would be great to bring for office pitch-ins or any other gathering where there a lot of hungry mouths to feed.  While it could be a great side dish for many occasions, this Cowboy Pasta Salad Recipe could also stand alone just fine as a main dish!  I love recipes that can be used for different roles and this recipe for a Cowboy Pasta Salad is exactly that.

The recipe itself is pretty easy, just cook the pasta, ground beef and bacon how you normally would.  Make sure you run the pasta under cold water afterwards and make sure you get as much grease off the ground beef and bacon as possible.  I try to cook the bacon very crispy because I think it gives the pasta salad a really cool texture.  But you can cook yours however you like it.

You probably already have most of these ingredients in your kitchen!  I bet you didn’t realize that you could make such a fun dish that could feed so many people with ingredients you already have lying around!  Check out the ingredients below!

Cowboy Pasta Salad

Cowboy Pasta Salad Ingredients:

• 1 box, 16 oz, elbow macaroni pasta
• 1 lb ground beef, browned
• 12 bacon slices, cooked and chopped
• 1 can, 15 oz, corn, drained
• 1 can, 15 oz, black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 pint, grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 cup real mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce

Cowboy Pasta Salad Instructions:

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. Cook ground beef and drain.  Cook bacon extra crispy chop into small pieces.
3. Combine beef, bacon, corn, black beans, tomatoes, onions, and pasta in large mixing bowl and mix well.
4. Add cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix well.
5. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce and mix well until smooth.
6. Pour over pasta and mix well until evenly coated.
7. Stir in cilantro and cheese.
8. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight for flavors to mingle.
9. Mix well before serving.

This recipe serves 18-20 cowboys, so tell your guests not to be shy with how much they are loading on their plate.  I hope you enjoy this Cowboy Pasta Salad Recipe, it’s a fun twist on a classic dish!  Cheers!

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Cowboy Pasta Salad

Course Side Dish

Servings 18 people

Take a trip down south with this Cowboy Pasta Salad Recipe. This hearty recipe could feed a whole army of Cowboys!

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 4 hrs 20 mins

Ingredients

  

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Cowboy Pasta Salad Ingredients:

• 1 box 16 oz, elbow macaroni pasta
• 1 lb ground beef browned
• 12 bacon slices cooked and chopped
• 1 can 15 oz, corn, drained
• 1 can 15 oz, black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions sliced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 cup real mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce

Instructions

• Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
• Cook ground beef and drain. Cook bacon extra crispy chop into small pieces.
• Combine beef, bacon, corn, black beans, tomatoes, onions, and pasta in large mixing bowl and mix well.
• Add cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix well.
• In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce and mix well until smooth.
• Pour over pasta and mix well until evenly coated.
• Stir in cilantro and cheese.
• Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight for flavors to mingle.
• Mix well before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 251kcal

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