Sweet Corn Pasta Salad

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Sweet Corn Pasta Salad is a crunchy, tangy salad full of fresh veggies and plenty of savory, garlicky flavor. The kernels of sweet corn and pasta are coated with a scratch-made, tangy dressing brimming with fresh garlic, olive oil, lime juice and spices. If you love fresh veggie salads and tangy pasta salads, you're sure to enjoy this recipe, which combines the best of both worlds.

Sweet corn pasta salad in a bowl with a fresh ear of corn in the background.

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⭐Why You'll Love This Recipe
🥗Ingredients to Have on Hand
🌽Types of Corn to Use
⭐ How to Remove the Corn Kernels
💭Pasta Options
👩🏻‍🍳Pro Tip
🥗The Pasta Salad Dressing
📖Olive Oil Substitutions
💭Use Fresh Garlic
🥒Other Veggies to Include
🥘 What to Serve With Sweet Corn Pasta Salad
🥣Leftovers and Storage
💬Recipe FAQs
🍽 More Side Dish Ideas
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⭐Why You'll Love This Recipe

Serve it with Smoked Salmon from the Pellet Grill and a side of Mixed Bean Salad for an incredible menu!

Not your traditional pasta salad, this is a summery pasta dish that's good enough to serve all year long.

It goes great with anything from the BBQ grill and it's wonderful served with Cheeseburger Slides with Hawaiian Rolls, No Ketchup Meatloaf or Rotisserie Chicken and Stuffing Casserole anytime of year.

A spoon serving a portion of sweet corn pasta salad from a bowl with several ears of corn and a red pepper in the background.

Note: Some of the links in this recipe post are Amazon affiliate links, which means I make a small commission from Amazon if you link to and purchase the item. The affiliate process never affects your cost and I only link to products that I use and highly recommend.

Salad dressing ingredients including a box of pasta, spices and olive oil and vinegar for sweet corn pasta salad.

🥗Ingredients to Have on Hand

Many of the ingredients for Sweet Corn Pasta Salad might be in your pantry today, the rest are easily available on a quick grocery store run.

Even better, if you are lucky enough to have a garden spot with fresh veggies, this is a great recipe to help enjoy the harvest.

(Affiliate link) Orzo pasta
Sweet corn, 5 - 6 fresh ears or two 15-ounce cans
Cucumber
Green onions
Green pepper
Red pepper
Celery
Fresh parsley
Garlic
Light olive oil
(Affiliate link) Rice vinegar, seasoned
Limes
Dried oregano
Cumin

Scroll to the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

A side shot of green onions, celery and a clove of garlic alongside red and green peppers.

🌽Types of Corn to Use

This is a great recipe for summer sweet corn. But any type of corn purchased any time of year - even canned corn or frozen corn - will work beautifully in this pasta salad recipe.

There's no need to oven-roast the fresh corn before blending these salad ingredients. After removing the kernels from the corn cob, a quick steam in the microwave with a few tablespoons of water is all you need to soften fresh corn from the cob.

If you are using canned corn, which is a super-easy alternative - open two 15-ounce cans of sweet corn, drain the liquid, and you're good to go.

You can also use frozen corn for this recipe, but the corn should be cooked according to the package instructions, then chilled.

⭐ How to Remove the Corn Kernels

If you have fresh corn on the cob, allow a few extra minutes of preparation time to remove the cobs from the husks, then the kernels from each cob. It's a very easy process.

All you need is a sharp knife and a shallow bowl.

A cob of corn and a sharp knife on a plate with fresh corn.

I hold the ear of corn upright with my left hand on a plate, pie plate or very shallow bowl.
Using a sharp knife with my right hand, I simply slice the kernels off the cob.
The fresh kernels will fall from the cob and onto the plate.

💭Pasta Options

Any type of very small pasta will work well in this recipe. The smaller the shape, the better, which is why I highly recommend (Affiliate link) Orzo pasta.

Orzo pasta in a strainer in a sink being rinsed with cool water from a faucet.

Using a larger variety of pasta will impact the texture of the finished salad. If you can't find Orzo pasta, look for the smallest shape possible of another variety.

Just be sure to cook the pasta to the al dente stage, or just slightly past al dente. Follow the pasta package directions for details.

👩🏻‍🍳Pro Tip

After cooking, drain the pasta and rinse it lightly with cool water to stop the cooking process. You'll want the pasta to be warm, not hot, and not completely chilled by the cold water.

🥗The Pasta Salad Dressing

The dressing in this recipe is made from scratch and brimming with olive oil, seasoned rice wine vinegar, spices and oh yes, plenty of fresh garlic!

A 4-cup glass measuring cup with a lime cut in half and a whisk on the side.

There's no sour cream or mayonnaise in this corn and pasta dressing, which is one of the many things that sets it apart from a lot of other summer corn salad recipes that combine corn, veggies and pasta.

Instead of a heavy, creamy dressing, this pasta salad has a spicy, savory dressing that's bursting with tangy, fresh flavor.

I highly recommend light olive oil in this dressing recipe. It has a light, neutral taste that helps to enhance all the spices from the other dressing ingredients.

Salad dressing in a measuring cup about to be poured over the vegetables for the pasta salad.

📖Olive Oil Substitutions

Light olive oil is just that, very light in taste. Other possible substitutions include any other oil that is similarly neutral in flavor: canola, safflower, and sunflower oils are all good options to consider.

💭Use Fresh Garlic

Fresh garlic adds a big boost and a distinctive garlic presence to the pasta salad. There are roughly six cloves of garlic in this recipe.

If fresh garlic isn't available, garlic powder can be substituted. Use about ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder for each clove of garlic.

If garlic isn't your favorite flavor, adjust the amount of garlic in this recipe to suit your family's taste.

🥒Other Veggies to Include

There are many veggie options with Sweet Corn Pasta Salad. If you are lucky enough to have a garden full of fresh produce, by all means, use whichever vegetables are available or mix and match depending on what veggies look good at the farmer's market or grocery store.

Cucumber is especially refreshing in this recipe and either an English cucumber or a regular garden variety of cucumber will work great.

Veggies including celery, green onion, cucumber and parsley on a piece of wood.

🥘 What to Serve With Sweet Corn Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is equally impressive to make and share any time of year and as a perfect side dish for everything from a pot roast or bratwurst to rotisserie chicken, Dutch Oven Chicken, or Tamale Casserole to name a few. It's also delicious served with a basket of tortilla chips and a bowl of homemade Pickle de Gallo!

🥣Leftovers and Storage

Store this pasta salad covered in a large bowl in the refrigerator and serve it chilled or at room temperature - it's fine for this to set out on a buffet line for a few hours.

The flavor improves after 24 hours in the refrigerator.

For the best flavor, give the salad that extra day to chill before serving, if possible. Although you can serve it right away as well.

A close shot of a serving of pasta salad on a plate with a spoon on the side.

For best taste and freshness, enjoy Sweet Corn Pasta Salad within five days. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

💬Recipe FAQs

How many ears of corn equal three cups?

It depends on how large the ear of corn is, but an average-sized ear of fresh corn will equal about ½ cup of corn.

This recipe calls for 3 cups of corn, so you'll need 5 - 6 ears of fresh corn.

Can I use less garlic?

Sure! Either leave the fresh garlic out when you combine the corn and fresh veggies or leave the garlic out of the salad dressing ingredients. That way you cut the garlic in half but still get plenty of that distinctive garlicky taste.

Will cilantro work in place of parsley?

Yes. Cilantro is in the same herb family as parsley and adds a unique flavor that blends very well with the ground cumin in this recipe.

I have plain rice vinegar on hand, will that work?

(Affiliate link) Seasoned rice vinegar has added sugar and salt.

It’s often used in recipes like this one, where the flavoring is added after cooking, such as after we cook the Orzo pasta. (Affiliate link) Seasoned rice vinegar does a great job of boosting the flavor in this scratch-made dressing since it includes a touch of sugar and salt.

Although seasoned rice vinegar and rice vinegar are usually found next to each other on the grocery store shelf, and they have similar names, they are different.

🍽 More Side Dish Ideas

Here are a few more side dish recipes I think you and your family will love. Crunchy Cole Slaw is a favorite side dish for hamburgers or pulled pork sandwiches. Classic Potato Salad is made with red potatoes, and here's the best part: you don't have to peel the potatoes.

If you tried this Sweet Corn Pasta Salad or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below.

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5 from 276 votes (251 ratings without comment)