Summertime Grilled Corn and Crab Pasta Salad.
This grilled corn and crab pasta salad recipe is summer in a dish! Crisp, refreshing and perfect for the warm summer weather. It can be a BBQ party dish, a part of your dinner tonight or even lunch today! Delish!
I’m dubbing this the year of pasta salad!
Today we’re making this incredible, summery, full-of-sunshine lump crab and corn pasta salad that is so fantastic, you won’t even be able to stand it. It can be your next BBQ side dish, a bowl you take to a party or even part of your dinner tonight!
Gosh I LOVE SUMMER FOOD.
I mean, why is this tangy delish bowl of noodles so wonderful?! This is the epitome of the season right here.
So, crab pasta salad!
I have lots of delicious recipes for it on the blog, but the stand outs this year have been the spring asparagus pasta salad and the grilled chicken caprese pasta salad! Both so amazing and wonderful as a side dish, party dish or heck, even dinner.
And that’s where we’re going with this one too. I LOVE how versatile a pasta salad is and this is no different. It’s super flavorful and satisfying, you can make it ahead of time and it keeps great in the fridge. In fact, half the time it may even taste better the next day. Because FLAVOR.
This dish is just so, so refreshing. It’s SO summery. It has some texture and crisp which is key for me. It tastes amazing with an icy glass of white wine too!
I like to use the best high-quality lump crab that I can find. It’s so buttery and has tons of flavor. It also flakes nicely and really disperses through the pasta salad well, so you get the flavor in each bite!
P.S. if you’re not into crab, you could throw in some shrimp. If you’re really feeling fancy, you could even do lobster! The question is how extra do you want to be today…
The other key components to this pasta salad?
Grilled corn on the cob of course. We basically eat it every single day in the summer once it comes into season here. We only get it good for, like, five weeks or so.
Sliced red pepper strips are also part of this – they are crisp and crunchy and give the bite that everyone loves.
Then of course we have scallions, fresh herbs and the most delish vinaigrette!
The dressing has lots of lemon flavor which complements the crab so well. It also has white wine vinegar and honey and herbs too. You’ll want to drizzle it on everything, I swear.
A sprinkle of crushed red pepper to add this little hint of spice finishes everything off.
Then you have a perfect, satisfying pasta salad for all your summer dinners!
Grilled Corn and Crab Pasta Salad
Grilled Corn and Crab Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 3 ears corn on the cob, shucked
- 1 pound pasta, cooked
- 1 pound lump crab meat
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced or chopped
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- kosher salt and pepper
- pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (I like prosecco or champagne)
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- kosher salt and pepper
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta according to the directions. You can always do this ahead of time!
- Preheat your grill to the highest setting. I don’t use olive oil or anything here - I find that it browns nicely on the grill and there is enough flavor with everything else! If you’d like, you can brush or spray it with olive oil.
- Place the corn on the grill grates and cook until charred and golden, rotating every few minutes. My corn takes 10 to 15 minutes total, maybe a bit less for smaller ears. You may need to remove smaller ears sooner. Once the corn is finished, slice the kernels off the cob.
- In a large bowl, combine the pasta, lump crab meat, corn, red pepper, green onions and herbs. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss well. Taste and season with a few pinches of salt and pepper if needed. Stir in a pinch of red pepper flakes. Serve!
- You can make this ahead of time (even the night before) and leftovers are great too! Store it in the fridge.
vinaigrette
- Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, honey, garlic and chives with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil until the mixture is emulsified. Any extras stay great in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
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Those little springs!
4 Comments on “Summertime Grilled Corn and Crab Pasta Salad.”
Great recipe. When serving I dress the plate with some greens and the basic pasta salad on top. Also i leave the crab and also the marinated baby shrimp separate to be added to the plate at table and a few extras like grilled baby corn I added cherry tomatoes pickled beet feta and chickpeas. A good olive oil dressing and grilled bread
Very good
So where do you get your good quality crab? I think it will make or break this salad!
This was excellent. I added some very thinly sliced fennel, cherry tomatoes and used chickpea pasta. Made a focaccia and paired it with a Gruner Veltliner from a southeastern PA winery. 10/10 would make again (and again).
So when I made the dressing I thought it didn’t look like enough, so I made another batch of dressing. I let it refrigerate over night and checked it in the morning. It was really dry so I added the second batch of dressing and it was yummy.