Cowboy pasta salad is a favorite family dinner in our house! Whenever I tell my husband we are having salad for dinner, I get a look, until I say it is the best pasta salad recipe ever, and he knows which one I’m talking about.
Pasta salad is a perfect summer dinner option. You can whip it up when you have time, and pull it out when you are ready to eat. A great no-stress dinner meal.
You can also sneak all the veggies in the recipe you need to hide from your kids. Or maybe even your spouse. Haha. Either way, you can make it healthier if you want to!
Try adding some of our Easy Homemade French Bread Recipe or our Easy Homemade Cornbread, and some Oven Roasted Vegetables for a very filling meal!
Ingredients Needed For Our Cowboy Pasta Salad:
- Ground Beef (cooked)
- Bacon (cooked and crumbled)
- Macaroni noodles (cooked)
- Corn
- Monterey Jack cheese
- Cherry tomatoes
- Green onions
- Barbecue sauce
- Mayonnaise
- Worcestershire sauce
- Spicy brown mustard
- Plain greek yogurt
- Garlic salt
- Salt
- Pepper
How To Make Our Cowboy Pasta Salad:
To make this recipe begin by cooking the ground beef in a pan until it is completely browned.
Then in a separate pan, cook the bacon until it is nice and crisp.
Then let the bacon cool, pat the extra grease off the bacon and crumble it.
For the noodles for this recipe, cook them according to the directions on the packages to al dante.
Once the noodles are done, drain the pasta and set it aside.
Now, in a large bowl, combine the cooked noodles, browned meat, crumbled bacon, corn, Monterey Jack cheese, diced tomatoes, and chopped green onions.
Then mix it all together well.
In a small bowl, combine the barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, spricy brown mustard, plain greek yogurt, garlic salt, and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix all of the ingredients together to form the creamy sauce for the pasta salad.
Now, pour the creamy sauce into the bowl with the noodles and carefully stir it all together until everything is coated in the sauce.
Then store the pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.
To Make This Cold Pasta Salad Recipe You Will Need:
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
- Medium sized skillet (2)
- Large pot
- Wooden spatula
Make Your Own Barbecue Sauce:
I love knowing I can make my own BBQ sauce when I am in a pinch. It is actually quite simple.
If you want to make your own barbecue sauce, take a look at Add A Pinch’s homemade BBQ sauce recipe. It is super simple, and delicious!
Want More Easy Dinner Ideas?
Join our email list today and we will send you a FREE ebook of our favorite dinner recipes – plus we will send you recipes each week to help make your dinner planning easier!
Join today by CLICKING HERE.
Have you checked out our YouTube channel? We show you how to make our favorite recipes right in our own kitchens!
Our most popular cookbook – Dinner Made Easy – is all about quick, easy, and delicious family dinner entrees. We did all the organization, all the taste-testing with picky kids, and all the hacks to cut the prep time so that you can focus on spending more time with your family.
The complete family meal game plan in this cookbook is arranged in seven popular categories:
- 30 Minutes or Less
- 5 Ingredients or Less
- Pantry Essentials
- Slow Cooker
- Freezer Meals
- One Pan, One Pot
- Casseroles
We are so excited to share these recipes with you. Order your copy today!
DINNER MADE EASY with Six Sisters’ Stuff <—– Click here to order!
Enjoy Some of Our Extrememly Delicious Pasta Salad Recipes:
- Grilled Chicken Bow Tie Pasta Salad Recipe
- The Best Creamy Pasta Salad Recipe
- Copycat Hug-Hes Chicken Pasta Salad
- Cheesy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
- Pizza Pasta Salad Recipe
- Ranch Pasta Salad
- Traditional American Macaroni Salad
- Spaghetti Salad
- Roasted Veggie Pasta Salad
Love cooking as much as we do? Join our FREE private Facebook Group: Six Sisters’ Dinner Club!
Cowboy Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef cooked
- 8 bacon slices cooked and crumbled
- 4 cups macaroni noodles cooked
- 8.5 ounces corn 1 can, drained
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes diced
- 8 green onions diced
- ½ cup barbecue sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook your ground beef until there is no pink.
- In a separate pan, cook and crumble your bacon.
- Cook your noodles as directed on the package, and drain them.
- In a large bowl, combine your noodles, ground beef, crumbled bacon, corn, cheese, tomatoes, and green onions.
- In a smaller bowl, combine your barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, spicy brown mustard, plain Greek yogurt, garlic salt, and salt and pepper.
- Pour the sauce mixture over the pasta salad mixture, and mix until well combined, and the pasta is evenly coated.
- Store in fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
- green bell pepper
- red bell pepper
- red onion
- cucumber
- carrot shreds
- zucchini
- radishes
- broccoli
- cauliflower
Nutrition
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Small Mixing Bowl
- Medium Size Skillet (2)
- large pot
- Wooden Spatula
Recipe Details
Let’s be honest, sometimes your average macaroni salad gets a little, well, average. But our loaded cowboy pasta salad is a little on the extra side. It’s a great side dish that could easily pass for a main course. Most people regard it as a full meal. Whichever way you look at it, one thing’s for sure, it is one hearty pasta salad. Perfect for hot summer days, potlucks, or a quick and easy dinner for the whole family.
The key to this salad’s success lies in its simple ingredients. Don’t be intimidated by the slightly longer ingredient list; most of it is pantry staples, and the payoff is worth every scoop. The lean ground beef gets a delicious kick from the spicy brown mustard, the barbecue sauce is tangy and just the right amount of sweet, and the combination of sweet corn, macaroni noodles, cherry tomatoes, and shredded cheese adds pops of freshness and texture. Talk about salad ingredients that actually play nice. For a fun twist on this classic pasta salad, drizzle some hot sauce on top of the salad ingredients until you achieve the perfect amount of kick.
So, next time you’re craving something different, hearty, and downright delicious, give this Cowboy Pasta Salad a try. We guarantee it’ll become your favorite pasta salad. It’s a crowd-pleasing side dish that will elevate your summer parties, potlucks, and game nights.
Loved our take on this wildly popular cowboy salad? Explore our blog for more great recipes and bookmark your favorites for future reference.
Be sure to not miss another recipe! Follow Six Sisters’ Stuff on Instagram|Facebook|Pinterest|YouTube
If you made our recipe be sure to tag us on Instagram so we can see your hard work using #sixsistersstuff.
Questions & Reviews