Dairy-free Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
This Dairy-free Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad recipe is a satisfying vegetarian creamy pasta salad full of grilled corn, red pepper, avocado and cilantro. It’s tossed in a mayonnaise, lime and nutritional yeast sauce that is dairy-free and just satisfying!
This dairy free pasta salad is basically our favorite of the street corn and pasta salad worlds because they combine together to make the most satisfying and flavorful summer salad. Grilled corn, ripe avocado, fresh red pepper, and cilantro are added to boiled bow tie pasta, and mixed together with the BEST mayonnaise lime sauce.
This recipe was inspired by our dairy-free Mexican street corn recipe, which is just a favorite in our home.
Why this recipe works
- It is simple to put together. You boil the pasta, make the sauce, and prep the veggies, then put it all together.
- It is naturally dairy free and vegetarian.
- It is great for those with a dairy allergy or intolerance.
- It is a fun unique salad to make for a BBQ or party.
Recipe Ingredients
- Ears of corn– these will be roasted for fresh roasted corn flavor.
- Mayonnaise– use whatever mayonnaise fits your nutritional or dietary needs.
- Lime juice– this seasons the sauce in this recipe.
- Nutritional yeast– this really makes the flavor of this recipe! Make sure to use a brand that you like the flavor of because it makes a difference. Our personal favorite is from the Anthony’s brand.
- Chili powder– this adds a hint of spice to the dish.
- Onion powder or a fresh red onion– fresh onions give our husband migraines so we use onion powder a lot.
- Bow tie pasta– you’ll be cooking this pasta in advance.
- Red pepper– this adds great flavor and texture to the salad.
- Avocado– make sure it is ripe.
- fresh cilantro– the final step in flavor for this recipe.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Additions/ Substitutions
- Instead of ears of corn, you can use frozen roasted corn as well.
- Instead of bow tie pasta, use your favorite pasta shape.
- Instead of red pepper, you can use yellow or orange bell pepper.
- Instead of cilantro, you can use parsley.
Step by step instructions
Step 1
Step 1: Grill the corn. You can do this in the oven or on your grill!
We don’t like to fire up the grill just for this recipe, so we just cover our corn in olive oil and then cook it for 35 minutes and then broil it for a few minutes.
Step 2
Step 2: While the corn is grilling, boil your pasta and make your sauce.
To make the sauce mix the mayo, nutritional yeast, lime juice, salt, pepper, chili powder and onion powder together.
Step 3
Step 3: Mix the sauce into the pasta.
Step 4
Step 4: Add the corn, red pepper, cilantro and avocado to the salad.
Step 5
Step 5: Mix everything into the salad well.
Expert tips
- For the sauce, We recommend using 3 teaspoons of lime juice, tasting the sauce and then deciding if you want to add another. We like using 4 teaspoons of lime juice here.
- The same goes for the nutritional yeast, try the sauce with 3 teaspoons of nutritional yeast. We personally like this recipe with 3 teaspoon of nutritional yeast but you may want to add another based on your personal tastes.
- To make this in advance, make the recipe the same way, except do not add the avocado. Add the avocado at the end so it doesn’t get mushy and brown.
Recipe FAQs
Do you have to grill your corn in this recipe?You can bake the corn in the oven, grill it on your grill or buy frozen roasted corn.
Do you have to use nutritional yeast?We think so, yes! It adds a nice cheesy and creamy flavor to this dairy-free dish.
Just make sure you like the taste of your nutritional yeast because it flavors the whole dish. Our personal favorite is from the Anthony’s brand.
Only if you use a Vegan mayonnaise.
Can you make this recipe gluten-free?Yes! Make sure to use gluten-free pasta.
Prep 20 minutesCook 10 minutesTotal 30 minutesMakes 6
Ingredients
- 2 ears of corn, husks and silk removed
- olive oil, ( we used an olive oil spray)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3-4 tsp lime juice, (we like 4, but start with 3 and see how you like the taste)
- 3 tsp nutritional yeast, ( and a little more to sprinkle on top of the salad)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 1/8 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder, ( or 1/4 cup diced red onion)
- 8 ounces bow tie pasta, (use Gluten-free pasta to make dish Gluten-free)
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 2 Tbs minced cilantro
Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. ( Or get your grill ready). Cover a cookie sheet in aluminum foil.
- Lightly coat corn with a bit of oil. We used an olive oil spray and quickly sprayed each corn on all sides.
- Bake the corn for 30-35 minutes, flipping them half way through. Then broil the corn for a few minutes (3 minutes was plenty with our oven). [Or grill the corn on your grill for 10 minutes]
- While the corn is cooking, boil the pasta, drain and then put into a large bowl.
- Then, make the sauce. In a medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lime juice, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, chili powder, and onion powder together.
- Mix the sauce into the pasta.
- Once the corn is done, let it cool for a few minutes and cut the corn off the cobb and put the corn pieces into the bowl with the pasta.
- Add the red pepper, avocado, and cilantro to the bowl and mix.
- Sprinkle a little nutritional yeast on top of the salad, along with salt and pepper and a little more cilantro and serve.
Notes
- Instead of ears of corn, you can use frozen roasted corn as well.
- Instead of bow tie pasta, use your favorite pasta shape.
- Instead of red pepper, you can use yellow or orange bell pepper.
- Instead of cilantro, you can use parsley.
