Mouthwatering Bacon Pasta Salad Recipe
Hey foodies, craving a delicious pasta salad for your next barbecue or picnic? You gotta try our bacon pasta salad recipe with sweetcorn and a creamy smoky dressing! This flavorful dish is a crowd pleaser that'll have everyone asking for seconds (or thirds!)
Now if there's one thing that my family LOVE it's a bacon pasta salad. Smoky crispy bacon bits, tossed with freshly cooked pasta and sweetcorn, crunchy veggies and all smothered in a crazy delicious creamy, smoky mayonnaise dressing. (Sometimes I add Cheddar cheese too....)
It's perfect for serving alongside BBQ food like burgers and chicken kebabs, throw some in lunchboxes for the kids packed lunch or make up a big bowl for your next potluck, party or gathering. It's super easy and oh so tasty!
Making A Big Bowl Of Bacon Pasta Salad Recipe Is A Good Thing, Here’s Why!
It's delicious – who doesn't love bacon and sweetcorn tossed with fresh pasta in a creamy, smoky dressing? Every single bite is packed with flavour!
It's customisable - making a homemade pasta salad means that you're in charge of what goes in. You can add in or take out anything you fancy.
Super easy - pasta salad is really simple to make, doesn't take long and is just great for an easy summer lunch idea.
Cold Bacon Pasta Salad Recipe
Serves – 4 people
Prep Time – 10 minutes
Time to cook - 10 minutes
Total time - 20 minutes
Our most popular alternative – Ranch Pasta Salad
Equipment Needed
- Chopping board
- Large bowl
- Saucepan
- Colander
- Vegetable knife
- Kitchen scissors
- Frying pan
- Small bowl
- Tablespoon
- Teaspoon
Bacon Pasta Salad Ingredients
You’ll just need a handful of tasty ingredients to make this creamy, flavor packed pasta salad.
- 8 slices of bacon
- 350g pasta - we use fusilli but penne or bowties also works great in this recipe
- 2 sticks celery - sliced
- 1 cup frozen sweetcorn
- 1 red onion - diced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch onion powder
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise - you can swap this for sour cream or a mix of the two if you prefer
Love pasta salad? Get loads more delicious tasty pasta salad recipes here
How To Make The BEST Bacon Pasta Salad
Our homemade cold bacon pasta salad recipe is super easy, and you can have a bowl of this ready to eat in just 20 minutes. It's the perfect side dish for summer meals.
Step One – cook the bacon
- Put the bacon under the grill and cook until crisp. Once cooked put to one side on some kitchen paper to cool. Whilst the bacon is cooking, cook the pasta and sweetcorn and prep the vegetables.
Step Two – cook the pasta and sweetcorn
- Add the pasta and sweetcorn to a pan of boiling water with a pinch of salt and bring back to the boil. The simmer for around 10 minutes or until cooked al dente style. (if you're trying to reduce sodium intake, skip the salt here)
- Drain the pasta using the colander, then hold the colander with the pasta and corn just under the tap running cold water over it, to cool the pasta and corn down quickly. Just toss the colander contents around under the water until everything is cool. Then leave to drain.
Step Three– prepare the vegetables
- Peel and dice the onion.
- Scrub and slice the celery
- Toss them both into a large bowl.
Step Four – chop the bacon
- Use kitchen scissors to snip the bacon into bitesized pieces and toss it into the bowl with the onion and celery.
Try Our Easy No Sandwich LunchBox Ideas Here
Step Five – make the pasta salad dressing
- Add the mayonnaise, smoked paprika, dried parsley, garlic powder and onion powder to a small bowl, mix together into a creamy, smoky dressing.
Step Six - make the bacon pasta salad
- Add the pasta and sweetcorn to the bowl with the bacon, celery and red onions and salad dressing
- Give everything a gentle mix together to toss all the ingredients in the flavor packed dressing.
- Then tip into a serving bowl, and serve up.
Need some new packed lunch ideas? We’ve lots of delicious recipes here!
Tasty Tips From Our Kitchen To Make Your Bacon Pasta Salad Even Better!
This is such an easy pasta salad recipe to make, but there's room to add your own twist and style
Want it a little fancier? Try adding in some fresh herbs, either stir them through the pasta salad or garnish the dish with them. It's also great with a sprinkling of croutons or garlicky fried breadcrumbs.
Add some extras! This smoky pasta salad works great with some added extras, try throwing in a couple of handfuls of shredded Cheddar cheese, go for a BLT pasta salad vibe and add in some diced tomato.
Or opt for an Italian vibe and tip in some black olives, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and fresh basil. It's also nice topped with diced bell pepper.
Want to make it lighter? Switch out the mayonnaise for a low fat Greek yogurt dressing.
Fancy a different dressing? Try using a creamy ranch dressing, just grab a store-bought bottle and create a bowl of bacon ranch pasta salad.
Need it gluten free? Swap out the wheat pasta for a gluten free version and double check the other ingredients are gluten free too.
Storing bacon pasta salad in the fridge - if you want to make this ahead of time, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours before you want to eat. Always cool the pasta properly before storing.
Love bacon? Get more delicious bacon recipes right here
Get loads more delicious easy pasta dishes here
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Bacon Pasta Salad
As super tasty bacon pasta salad recipe with a flavour packed rich, creamy, smoky dressing. So GOOD!
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon
- 350g pasta
- 2 sticks celery - sliced
- 1 cup frozen sweetcorn
- 1 red onion - diced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
Instructions
- Put the bacon under the grill and cook until crisp. Once cooked put to one side on some kitchen paper to cool. Whilst the bacon is cooking, cook the pasta and sweetcorn and prep the vegetables.
- Add the pasta and sweetcorn to a pan of boiling water with a pinch of salt and bring back to the boil. The simmer for around 10 minutes or until cooked al dente style.
- Drain the pasta using the colander, then hold the colander with the pasta and corn just under the tap running cold water over it, to cool the pasta and corn down quickly. Just toss the colander contents around under the water until everything is cool. Then leave to drain.
- Peel and dice the onion.
- Scrub and slice the celery.
- Toss them both into a large bowl.
- Use kitchen scissors to snip the bacon into bitesized pieces and toss it into the bowl with the onion and celery.
- Add the mayonnaise, smoked paprika, dried parsley, garlic powder and onion powder to a small bowl, mix together into a creamy, smoky dressing.
- Add the pasta and sweetcorn to the bowl with the bacon, celery and red onions and salad dressing
- Give everything a gentle mix together to toss all the ingredients in the flavor packed dressing.
- Then tip into a serving bowl, and serve up.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 346Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 451mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 15g
Nutritional content will vary depending on the exact ingredients you use and how careful you are with measuring - this nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate - you should always calculate your own nutritional information especially if you have specific dietary requirements.
Get more delicious meal ideas and easy recipes here
More Easy Pasta Salad Recipes To Try
Wendy is the creator of Daisies & Pie, a UK food blog sharing easy meals and home lifestyle tips since 2012
