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Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Pasta Salad. If you’re going to eat a salad today, it should probably be this salad. It’s the perfect quick fix salad that’s almost no cook and comes together in minutes. Grab your favorite pasta, fresh cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, basil, cheddar cheese, and an avocado…toss it all together, and done. It’s summery, healthy, and so good!
The saying around the Gerard household is that simple is the best, and the more recipes I create, the more I really realize this. Sure, I also love a recipe that takes more time to make, and you know I love spending time baking up my favorite layer cakes, but when it comes to everyday cooking, I’m all about simple.
I spent some time talking to my aunt and uncle this past weekend and they were telling me how they love good food…but simple food. High quality ingredients that just taste really good. As I was talking to them something kind of clicked in my head and it made me realize that as long as you have really good ingredients, you can make a simple, delicious recipe. A recipe doesn’t have to have a whole bunch of ingredients or be hard to make. It just needs fresh quality ingredients.
That’s kind of this salad. It’s probably one of the simpler recipes I have on HBH, and quite honestly, I should probably be saving it for Super Simple Thursday, but this pasta salad just felt like a fun way to kick the week off. Like I said above, if you’re going to eat salad today, why not make it of the pasta filled kind, you know?
With August here, the summer produce is at its peak. This makes cooking with fresh ingredients easier than any other time of year.
Enter in this fresh corn, tomato, and avocado salad. It’s summer in a bowl. It’s also so delicious, pretty healthy (try using brown rice or lentil pasta to make it even healthier), and highlights all of summer’s best in season produce.
OK. Details. Details.
To start, find your favorite short cut pasta. I used an organic variety from Costco that I love using for pasta salads, but use your personal favorite. To give this salad even more of a health boost, use brown rice pasta, whole grain, or even a lentil pasta. All would be really great in this salad!
As mentioned, this is a QUICK and almost no cook recipe. While the pasta is boiling (the only cooking you will do), prep all the remaining ingredients. For the fresh corn, you have a few options. I personally like to leave the corn raw and toss it up with the hot pasta. The heat from the pasta will warm the corn, but still leaves it with a nice bite, which I love. If you’re not a fan of raw corn, you can used grilled corn or toss the corn in with the boiling pasta water for a few minutes until it is cooked.
The rest of the salad is a mix of cherry tomatoes, herbs, avocado, and cheddar cheese. Good summer flavors.
Here’s the key to this pasta. As soon as you drain the pasta, toss it with the herbs and cheddar cheese while the pasta is still steaming. Hot pasta equals melty cheese, which equals extra delicious pasta. Trust me on this. I know this may not be the usual way to make a pasta salad, but guys, it’s good!
Once you’ve tossed the pasta, add the remaining ingredients and serve. You can eat this warm or at room temperature, but me being the hot food lover that I am, I like this best while it is still a little warm.
Also, this is great recipe for back to school lunches or bring to work lunches. The pasta holds up really well in the fridge and would be great to make on a Sunday for the week ahead. Just add the avocado the day of, so that it doesn’t get brown.
It’s kind of as quick and easy as that. What I love most about this pasta recipe is that it really does use some of summer’s best ingredients. So if you have a surplus of fresh corn, cherry tomatoes, and basil lying around, this is the recipe to make.
OH, and I have to mention, if you have any other herbs on hand besides the basil, say thyme and or oregano, throw them in too, they would be awesome in this. Use what you have or what you love! It’s always important to adapt recipes to your taste!
If you make this corn, tomato, and avocado pasta salad, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. Oh, and of course, if you do make this pasta, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Pasta Salad
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 752 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 pound short cut pasta
- 1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 1 cup cubed sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan, manchego, or pecorino cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
- 1 pinch crushed red peppers flakes
- 1 pinch (each) kosher salt and pepper
- 4 ears grilled or steamed corn, kernels removed from the cobb
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, diced
Instructions
- 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta to al dente, according to package directions. Drain.2. Meanwhile, add the basil, olive oil, cheddar, parmesan, lemon juice, chives, and a pinch each of crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to a large serving bowl. Add the hot pasta and toss vigorously to combine. 3. Add the corn, and tomatoes, tossing to combine. Top the pasta with avocado. Season with freshly cracked pepper and salt.
This post was originally published on August 6, 2018
Great pasta salad! I added some romaine and it was a wonderful salad to take to a Backyard BBQ-themed dinner. Thanks for the recipe!
I am so glad you loved this! Thank you Diane! I hope you had an amazing backyard BBQ themed dinner.. sounds so fun!!
I made this last night and it was so good!! I used feta instead of cheddar simply bc that’s what I had, but everyone gobbled this up! I was able to use some leftover grilled corn and added a few kalamata olives to my daughter and my dish. This will be going into my summer recipe collection! Simple and delicious! Thanks for the yummy recipes!!
Thank you so much Amanda! I am so glad you loved this recipe!
I have made this pasta twice already, it went over so well with my big family that they requested it again the very next day when someone was poking around the fridge for leftovers and there weren’t any. It was easy to make, and included simple ingredients that everyone likes but in a great flavor combination. We’re in New Jersey and we have great corn and tomatoes this time of year, and we have some basil growing in the backyard, so it felt like I was making such a fresh and local farm-to-table type of dinner. I will definitely make this again and again as it’s a great dish for a group. I followed the recipe exactly, although my photo wasn’t as beautiful. In general I love getting your email recipes and always look forward to trying some new things from HalfBakeHarvest as I’m not a great cook but everything I’ve made is always good. Thank you!
I am so happy to hear that you and your family loved this recipe Erin! Also, love how you were able to use local ingredients! Thank you!
I made this last and it was delicious! So fresh, seasonal, and easy to pull together on a week night. I have taken it to work for lunch along with half an avocado to mix in. I ate it warm for dinner but enjoyed it cold for lunch. The only change I made was to top with extra Parmesan because you can never have too much cheese ?. I appreciate a recipe that’s both simple and delicious, so thank you!
Thank you so much Josie! I am so glad you loved this recipe!
YUM. My only issue with this recipe is that I can’t stop eating it! I used pepper jack cheese since I had it on hand, this was incredible. The avocado made the best sauce with the olive oil and the cheeses. And it was so easy!!
Haha that is so amazing! Thank you so much Libby! I am so glad you love this!
My husband and I made this tonight for dinner. Great, easy, fresh weekend meal. We will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing!!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much Rebecca!
This pasta salad is one of the best things I’ve made in a long time, and I cook a lot! It was warm, perfect, flavorful, and a texture sensation. Perfection. Thank you Tiegen, you have a real gift for recipe development for healthy simple everyday food.
Thank you so much Shari! I am so glad you loved this recipe and it turned out amazing for you!
I just wanted to say that this recipe is so incredible and easy!! While working weird hours on a daily basis, it is really nice to come home and try a new recipe without it taking more than 45 mins to make. Tieghan you are amazing and keep making these fantastic recipes for us please!!!
Thank you so much Mary Kate! I am so glad you loved this recipe and hope you continue to love them!!
This looks yummy. Tomorrow for dinner
I hope you love it! Thank you Connie!
This was delicious! I especially liked eating it freshly made as the cheeses melded perfectly with the other flavors. Added some crusty Italian bread and we were set. Used cavatappi as I couldn’t find anything else short. We’re having it cold for dinner tonight as well. Love leftovers! It did take me a little longer than the 25 minutes. Probably more like 45. Lots of chopping, etc. But worth the wait:)
I am so glad you loved this Eliza! Thank you so much!
Delicious!
Thank you!
This was delicious, but the leftovers got a bit dry. Is there any way I can rehydrate it a bit?
HI! I like to add an extra drizzle of olive oil and a splash of lemon juice to give it a little zing! Please let me know if you have any other questions. So glad you love this recipe. Thanks so much! x Tieghan
The vegetable salad looks delicious and very attractive, I love to eat
Thank you!
The vegetable salad looks delicious and very attractive, I love to eat
Thank you!
Hi Tieghan,
I tried hitting ‘reply’ to respond to your earlier message, but for some reason, it didn’t work. Thank you for your very kind and thoughtful response. I appreciate your concern.
We made this pasta salad for supper tonight and it was delish! We used marinated artichoke hearts rather than corn and added some grilled chicken breasts we had on hand to make it a little more filling. We enjoyed a very tasty supper with a glass of rosé. Perfect for a very hot summer day. Thanks!
I am so glad you loved this Carolynn! Thank you so much!