Corn Pasta Salad with Bacon and Creamy Pesto Dressing

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.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Total Time30

Servings people

Calories316kcal

AuthorJulia

Ingredients

Corn pasta salad

8 oz orecchiette pasta or other short pasta
1 cup corn kernels cooked
1red 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.
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).

Nutrition