Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad

 A simple chicken pasta salad with a delicious lemon herb dressing!

Hi everyone! Chelsea back from Chelsea’s Messy Apron and today I’m sharing one of my all time FAVORITE pasta salad recipes!

Several weeks ago, on a girl’s Bunco night, we were served a delicious pasta salad and ever since then I have not been able to stop thinking about it! So many of my favorite ingredients – sundried tomatoes, pasta, kalamata olives, parsley, and arugula…

And since I can’t get it out of my mind, I had to create my own take/twist on that recipe!

A few notes on this pasta salad:

1. Grab a pasta that has a lot of ridges: I like using a pasta that has a lot of ridges and texture as it allows for the dressing to coat it better and get into all the nooks and crannies leaving you with a more flavorful pasta salad!
2. Add your favorites! This pasta salad is LOADED with lots of ingredients. If you aren’t a fan of some (or even a few) of the ingredients, leave them out and simply increase the quantities of the other salad additions. This salad is very easily customizable and you can make it exactly how you’ll love it!
3. This salad has some chopped rotisserie chicken in it, but you can easily leave it out to make this salad vegetarian. Alternatively, you can cook your own chicken or use some chopped leftover grilled chicken to add some extra protein to the salad.
4. Use good quality jarred ingredients. The jarred artichokes, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes can be meh or really great depending on the brands you buy. I highly recommend DeLallo’s (not sponsored, I just love their products) sun-dried tomatoes and oil packed artichokes for this salad. You also want to make sure you get the sun-dried tomatoes that are packed in oil and not the sun-dried tomatoes in a packet.

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Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad

By: Chelsea Lords

A simple chicken pasta salad with a delicious lemon herb dressing!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients 

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Salad

• ▢ 8 ounces cooked pasta such as farfalle, rotini, fusilli, or penne
• ▢ 1 cup chopped cooked chicken
• ▢ ½ cup drained and chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• ▢ ½ cup drained and coarsely chopped jarred marinated artichoke hearts
• ▢ 1 cup diced English cucumber
• ▢ ⅓ cup coarsely chopped kalamata olives
• ▢ 2 cups lightly packed fresh arugula
• ▢ ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• ▢ 1 cup pitted and chopped avocado
• ▢ ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing

• ▢ ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoons dijon mustard
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoons honey
• ▢ ½ cup olive oil
• ▢ 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ▢ salt to taste
• ▢ ground black pepper to taste

Instructions 

• Add 8 ounces cooked pasta, 1 cup chopped cooked chicken, ½ cup drained and chopped sun-dried tomatoes, ½ cup drained and coarsely chopped jarred marinated artichoke hearts, 1 cup diced English cucumber, ⅓ cup coarsely chopped kalamata olives, 2 cups lightly packed fresh arugula, ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley, 1 cup pitted and chopped avocado, and ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese to a large bowl and toss until combined. Reserve the avocado and feta cheese on the side if you will not be serving the salad right away.
• Make the dressing by adding ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 1 ½ tablespoons dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1-2 teaspoons honey, ½ cup olive oil, and 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Alternatively, you may add this all to a jar, close the lid, and shake it until combined.
• Season the dressing with salt and ground black pepper to taste.
• Before serving toss the salad with the dressing, reserving as much as you would like on the side. If you reserved the avocado and feta cheese on the side, add those when adding the dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 583kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 18gFat: 43gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 527mgPotassium: 914mgFiber: 7gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 1124IUVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 143mgIron: 4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinner, entree, lunch, Main Course, main dish

Cuisine: American

Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!