Zesty Chicken Enchilada Pasta Salad

The perfect summer pasta recipe! This Zesty Chicken Enchilada Pasta Salad is perfect fo lunch or dinner and your entire family will be begging for more! 

Easy Dinner Recipe Chicken Enchilada Pasta Salad

I have always loved pasta salad.  My mother used to make me the most delicious pasta salad when I was a kid and she would package up the leftovers in my lunch.  I was not a cool kid, but all the cool kids would beg me for a bite of this pasta salad in the cafeteria!  I still make that pasta salad all the time (because it only takes 5 ingredients) and even my husband is in love with it now!  This Zesty Chicken Enchilada Pasta Salad takes everything I love about enchiladas and put it into a pasta salad perfect for any potluck or party!

Pasta Salad the Kids will Love

Kids can be picky. So take a meal they like, like Mexican food, and turn it into another meal! You can leave out the jalapeños if your kids are younger or don’t like spice and make this with their favorite noodle!  Once the pasta has been made and cooled, let them help you in the kitchen!  They can add the ingredients to the bowl, stir the sauce and then mix it all together.  If they help you make it they will be more inclined to eat it at dinner time.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Salad Recipe

We love to use the enchilada sauce from Trader Joe’s!  We use it on our chicken enchiladas, all our Mexican dishes and this pasta salad!  If you have a Trader Joe’s near by, make sure you give it a shot next time you’re there!  If you want to kick the spice level up in this Chicken Enchilada Pasta Salad you can always add another jalepeño or even hot sauce!

We topped the pasta salad with larger pieces of jalapeño and lime slices to give it a prettier look. But this can be nice as well because people who love jalapeños can get those and people who love extract lime juice (like me) can scoop those up in their serving!

5 from 2 votes

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Zesty Chicken Enchilada Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2/3 cup enchilada sauce
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 lime juiced
• 1 16 oz package pasta cooked
• 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can yellow corn drained
• 1/2 cup red onion diced
• 1 jalapeno finely chopped
• 1 can chopped olives optional
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro to garnish

Instructions

1. Remove chicken from packaging, pat dry, and coat with taco seasoning.

2. In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering add the chicken and cook for 5-7 on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. 

3. Remove the chicken from the pan, let cool for 10 minutes, then chop into 1/2 inch cubes.

4. In a large bowl add the enchilada sauce, sour cream and lime juice. Whisk together until smooth.

5. Add the chicken, pasta, beans, corn, red onion, jalapeno, and olives (optional) to the bowl with the sauce and stir until the pasta is evenly coated.

6. Top with cilantro, refrigerate for an hour until the pasta is cold. Serve.