Creamy Sweetcorn Pasta Salad with Chorizo
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This sweetcorn pasta salad has had millions of views, and once you make it, you’ll understand the hype (I hope). It’s one of those recipes that is almost too simple, but what comes together is a hearty, fresh, veggie-packed lunch, with ready-made tzatziki pulling all the flavours together. If you love an easy, fuss-free lunch where you prep once and have 5 meals, this one belongs in your rotation alongside my green goddess chicken salad.
Recipe Summary: sweetcorn pasta salad / Sweetcorn Pasta Salad
- ✅ Recipe Name: Sweetcorn Pasta Salad
- 🕦 Ready in: 35 minutes
- 🤝 Serves: 5
- 🍴 Calories: 607 kcal
- 🧑🍳 Main ingredients: frozen sweetcorn, pasta, chorizo, tzatziki
- ✨ Summary: This creamy sweetcorn pasta salad with chorizo costs just £1 a serving. Fresh & satisfying, and meal-prep ready in 35 minutes.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- £1 a portion. You may be here from my 5 lunches for a £5 series – this sweetcorn pasta salad is incredible value thanks to the frozen sweetcorn and ready made dressing.
- Dressing shortcut. Forget making a dressing from scratch. A pot of shop-bought tzatziki does the job in seconds and adds a comforting yet bright and fresh vibe to the whole pasta salad.
- Roasting makes all the difference. Throwing the sweetcorn and chorizo in the oven together creates this smoky, slightly caramelised depth of flavour – the corn roasts in the salty paprika-y fat that’s released from the chorizo, for a heavenly end result. If this salty/sweet combo is up your street, you’ll also love my Mexican Chicken Salad, it also uses the same roasting method.
- Minimal washing up. One baking tray, one pot for the pasta, one bowl to mix everything. And you don’t have to clean for the rest of the week! 5 meals whipped up in 35 minutes.
Table of Contents
Ingredients For Sweetcorn Pasta Salad
Here’s what makes this recipe a winner:
- Frozen sweetcorn: Roasting it straight from frozen transforms it completely. It caramelises at the edges and soaks up all the smoky chorizo fat as it cooks. YUM.
- Chorizo: Salty little flavour hits throughout the whole dish, plus the fat it releases in the oven flavours the sweetcorn.
- Tzatziki: The shortcut which makes this recipe incredibly easy- simply throw onto your cooled pasta, sweetcorn and chorizo.
See the recipe card for full information on all ingredients and quantities.
Variations/ Adaptations
- Make it vegetarian. Swap the chorizo for smoked paprika roasted chickpeas or cubes of halloumi. You’ll lose a little of that smoky fat so be sure to add a tbsp or two to the tray, along with a good pinch of salt as chorizo also adds seasoning to the dish.
- Add more veg. Cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers, or cucumber all work really well stirred through at the end. If you fancy a more noodle-based vibe, my rainbow noodles use a similar mix-and-match which is great when you want to whip up a fridge raid lunch.
- Change up the pasta shape. Fusilli, farfalle, or rigatoni all work here. Just make sure whatever you use is rinsed in cold water after cooking so it stops the pasta sticking and keeps things properly cold for meal prep.
How to make Sweetcorn Pasta Salad
Step 1: To a baking tray, add the chorizo, sweetcorn, olive oil, garlic granules and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Step 2: Combine cooked and cooled pasta, tzatziki and spring onion.
Step 3: Once the sweetcorn and bacon have cooled, place in the bowl and stir to combibe .
Step 4: Divide into meal prep containers and top with the reserved corn & chorizo. Add an extra sprinkle of spring onions.
Tips for the best result
- Let the tray cool properly before mixing. If you’re in a hurry, transfer the contents of the tray onto a large plate to cool. Try to wait a minimum of 5-10 minutes.
- Rinse the pasta in cold water until cool, this prevents the pasta from clumping together and also prevents the cucumber in the tzatziki from going bad.
- Loosen with cold water, not more tzatziki. A few tablespoons of cold water is all it takes to get the right consistency. Adding extra tzatziki can make it too thick and a bit heavy.
- Don’t skip the black pepper. It cuts through the richness of the chorizo and tzatziki beautifully.
Serving Suggestions
This sweetcorn pasta salad is a brilliant standalone lunch, but it works just as well as a side at a barbecue or picnic spread. Serve it alongside one of your fave proteins – my baked chicken drumsticks or baked chicken wings are both meaty sides that go so well with the summery vibes of this dish.
If you’re building out a full spread, the broccoli stalk pasta is another crowd-pleaser that uses the same oven-roasted veg/meat, cold pasta combo, so you could throw both in the oven at the same time. It’s a bit lighter too, so that would be a great alternative for those who want something that’s not rich and creamy.
Leftover Storage and Reheat Instructions
Refrigerator: Store in airtight meal prep containers for up to 4 days. Keep it cold and give it a stir before eating. So eat one serving as soon as you’ve made it, then store the rest in the fridge.
Freezer: Not suitable for freezing, the tzatziki and pasta don’t hold up well once defrosted- soz!
Reheat: This sweetcorn pasta salad is best eaten cold straight from the fridge. No reheating required, which makes it ideal for grab-and-go lunches.
Sweetcorn Pasta Salad FAQs
Yes, absolutely! I made this recipe as a lunch meal prep recipe. Make the full batch, divide into 5 containers and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
You can, but drain and dry it really well first. Tinned sweetcorn holds a lot of moisture, which can make the tray a bit steamy rather than caramelised. Frozen sweetcorn roasts up with much better colour and texture.
Cold. Once everything is roasted and cooled, it gets tossed with cold pasta and chilled tzatziki, so it’s a proper cold pasta salad. It travels brilliantly in a lunchbox.
If you can’t find tzatziki, a mix of natural yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon, a crushed garlic clove, and a pinch of salt gets you pretty close. Sour cream with a little garlic also works as a quicker alternative.
Yes! Smoked paprika roasted chickpeas are a great swap and keep the smoky, slightly spicy flavour going. Diced bacon lardons, cooking bacon or pancetta work brilliantly too if you want to keep it meaty but spend a little less.
If you tried this Sweetcorn Pasta Salad, it would mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Creamy Chorizo & Sweetcorn Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 kg frozen sweetcorn
- 210 g chorizo sausage ,sliced into chunks
- 1 pot tzatziki
- 50 g spring onions ,thinly sliced
- 250 g penne
Cupboard Essentials
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- chilli flakes optional
- salt and pepper
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Add chorizo, sweetcorn, olive oil, garlic granules and a pinch of salt and pepper to a baking tray.
- Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
- Cook pasta according to packet instructions, then rinse in cold water until completely cooled.
- Pour pasta into the bowl with the tzatziki and half the spring onion. Stir to combine, add a few tbsp of cold water if needed to loosen. Season with salt and pepper.
- Divide into meal prep containers and top with remaining spring onion, optional chilli flakes and black pepper.
Nutrition
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