This Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad is colorful, hearty, and full of delicious good-for-you ingredients. It’s a versatile, protein-packed pasta salad that can be served as a side salad, starter, or entree salad. Perfect for light lunches, picnics, and summer BBQs as well as dinners on the back deck.
If you like pasta salads that are versatile, easy to make, and super delicious, you’re gonna love this Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad!
This is one of those dishes that I love to make because it’s so versatile. You can serve this warm or cold. It can be a side dish at summer BBQs or the main meal at picnics. It’s super packable and portable, making it a great option for lunchboxes and road trips.
Get ready, because this is the kind of recipe that will have your friends and family asking for the recipe. I know mine do, and that’s why I am so excited to share it with all of you here!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
Here’s a few reasons to love this pasta salad recipe:
- Easy to make – It’s as simple as cooking the pasta, mixing the dressing, and tossing everything together. Easy peasy!
- Simple – You just need a few wholesome ingredients that are easy to find in any local grocery store.
- Satisfying – This is a truly hearty and satisfying dish.
- Protein-packed – The chicken adds a good amount of protein, but so does the spinach. For extra protein, use your favorite protein pasta.
- Packable – Since this can be served cold, it’s easy to pack up for picnics, potlucks, and school lunches or work lunches.
- Delicious – The pesto base adds layers of flavor.
Ingredient notes
You’ll love how this recipe calls for simple, wholesome ingredients that you either already have on hand or can easily find in any local grocery store.
- Pasta – I find that corkscrew-shaped pastas like fusilli, rotini, cellentani are the best for this recipe. They hold in the pesto sauce well so that you get that burst of flavor in every bite.
- Chicken – This is a great recipe to use up rotisserie chicken. Or you can simply pan-fry or grill chicken breast or boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Vegetables – I personally love the brightness and freshness that both tomatoes and spinach add to this pasta salad. You can use other veggies, too!
- Pesto dressing – You can use store-bought pesto or use homemade pesto. Then simply mix with olive oil and lemon juice.
- To serve – I like to sprinkle thinly sliced basil leaves and dairy-free parmesan cheese on top of each serving. You can garnish with chopped parsley, and your own favorite parmesan cheese.
Step-by-step instructions
This chicken pesto pasta salad is SO easy to make! Here are some step-by-step photos to show you just how simple this delicious recipe is.
You’ll find the full list of ingredients along with measurements, and more detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Once it’s cooked, strain and then run under cold water to cool the pasta down.
- In a medium or large bowl, whisk together the pesto, olive oil, and lemon juice.
- In a large serving bowl, add the cooked and cooled pasta, pesto mixture, tomatoes, and spinach. Toss until everything is well dressed.
- Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with sliced basil leaves and shredded Parmesan cheese, as desired.
Marlynn’s Tip
Recipe Tip
This is a great pasta salad that you can add your favorite veggies to. Consider adding broccoli, sliced and cooked zucchini or yellow squash, red bell peppers, and peas.
Recipe FAQs
It can be served either warm or cold. I think it’s best served as a cold pasta dish, especially at BBQs and picnics.
If you don’t want to use chicken, you can use cooked and cooled shrimp or even extra-firm tofu cubes.
Like most food, you will not want to keep this chicken pesto pasta salad out at room temperature for more than two hours. After that, there is an increased risk of bacteria growth. Luckily, this dish is delicious served cold, so you can keep some in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve or add more to the serving bowl on the table.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days.
Serving suggestions
Serve this hot or cold, and as a starter, side dish, or main course. It’s so versatile!
If you’re serving this chicken pesto pasta salad as a starter or side salad, it goes well with main courses like chicken inasal, dairy-free marry me chicken, or chicken minestrone soup.
When serving this pasta salad as a main course, it’s great accompanied by side dishes like a simple cucumber tomato salad or pesto bread.
🍷 🥂 Wine pairings
A cool, crisp Sauvignon Blanc white wine pairs beautifully with the bright pesto flavors of this chicken pasta salad. It’s also hearty enough to pair with a lightly oaked Chardonnay.
More chicken recipes
Side Dishes
Caesar Pasta Salad
All Recipes
Arroz a la Valenciana
Soup Recipes
Chicken Cabbage Soup
All Recipes
Honey Lemon Pepper Wings
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
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Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces uncooked pasta, rotini, fusili, penne, or cellantoni
- 1 cup pesto
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- ¼ chiffonade basil, thinly sliced basil
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Once the pasta is fully cooked, rinse with cold water, drain, and cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pesto, olive oil, and lemon juice.
- Add the cooled pasta, cooked chicken, tomatoes, spinach with the pesto mix.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight before serving.
- Garnish with basil and parmesan, and season with black pepper just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
