Western Dressing Pasta Salad – An Easy Taco Pasta Salad Recipe

Western Dressing Pasta Salad is full of all your favorite taco toppings. Containing both ground beef and rotini pasta, this is hearty enough to make a full meal or can be eat as a side dish.  Prep it the night before, and share with your friends at your next potluck. I promise they’ll be begging for the recipe.

Western Dressing Pasta Salad Recipe

Western Dressing Pasta Salad goes by many names including Sombrero salad, western pasta salad, cowboy pasta salad, and taco pasta salad. No matter what you call it, it’s sure to be delicious.’

Think of your favorite taco recipe combined with your favorite pasta salad.  It’s the perfect summer recipe when it’s super hot outside but you have a hankering for tacos.

This taco pasta salad is served cold and can be made ahead.  Make it at night when it’s cooler and then serve it the next day.

Originally called Sombrero Salad in my Major Hospital cook book, I was immediately drawn to this easy taco pasta salad recipe.

What’s another name for rotini pasta?

At the grocery store, you may find fusilli or spirals instead of rotini in the pasta aisle.  All three are interchangeable. Looking for something unique? Try tri color rotini.

What makes tri color pasta or rotini?

In a box of tri color pasta, you’ll find green, orange and the regular yellow pasta.  To make green, spinach powder is used, and for the orange, tomato or beet powder is used to make the vibrant colored pasta.

What is Western dressing?

Western-style salad dressing is a vibrant orange color that comes from a tomato-base.  It’s seasoned with onion and garlic and is also noticeably thick in viscosity.

Are Western Dressing and Catalina the same?

While similar, these two dressings are not the same.  Western tends to be a darker orange color, and thicker in texture than Catalina. However, you can use them interchangeable in recipes if you only have access to one type of dressing.

Is French dressing and Catalina the same?

French dressing and Catalina dressing are not the same. French dressing typically has a tangy, sweet, and slightly spicy flavor with a reddish-orange color, while Catalina dressing has a sweeter taste and a deeper red color. They have different ingredients and flavor profiles, so they are not interchangeable in recipes.

Taco Pasta Salad Ingredients

Ground Beef

Onion, Diced

Dry Taco Seasoning Packet

Water

Rotini, tri-colored or regular

Bell Pepper

Tomato

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Western Dressing (or Catalina)

How to Make Sombrero Salad (taco pasta salad)

Step by Step Instructions

1. Cook spiral-shaped pasta according to package instructions in a large pot of water; drain well and let cool.
2. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onions; drain excess grease if needed.
3. Add water and taco seasoning to the ground beef mixture; simmer until thick.
4. Remove ground beef from heat and let cool.
5. In a large bowl, mix cooled pasta and ground beef mixture, diced green pepper and tomato, shredded cheese and Western salad dressing.
6. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour before serving.

For the full instructions and ingredient list for Western salad, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Recipe FAQs

• I used tri-colored rotini pasta but the regular version would work too.
• Be sure the pasta and ground beef mixture are both cooled before mixing together this western pasta salad.  This prevents the cheese from melting and the vegetables from losing their crunchy texture.
• Prepare this the night before to make for an easy dinner.
• If the taco pasta salad seems a bit dry after sitting in the refrigerator, add more dressing.
• Check out our Amazon Store for our favorite pantry and kitchen essentials! This is an affiliate link.

Recipe Variations

• Use cooked chicken or ground turkey instead of ground beef.
• Top with crunched up Doritos or crushed chips.
• Try subbing in any type of your favorite pasta shapes for rotini.
• Substitute Catalina dressing for Western dressing if desired.
• Add sliced black olives, if desired.
• Add black beans or kidney beans, if desired.
• Swap red, orange or yellow peppers for green.
• Love raw onion? Add it to the salad instead of cooking with the ground beef.
• Colby Jack, Taco-Blend Cheese or even Monterrey Jack cheese would all be great in this salad.

Taco Inspired Recipes

We have so many great taco-inspired recipes on the blog. Here are some of our favorites.

Taco Salad (with homemade dressing)

Authentic Beef Barbacoa

Cheesy Ground Beef Taco Dip

Mexican Crock Pot Pork Chops

Crack Mexi-Corn Dip

Linking up to Weekend Potluck.