Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is a family favorite! A pasta salad filled with juicy chicken, pasta, lettuce, and bacon topped with a sensational dressing! This is a great lunch, dinner, or even a side dish to serve up this spring, and summer. Refreshing, light, and bursting with flavor.

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If you enjoy chicken Caesar salad, try this Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad Recipe that is sure to leave you impressed. Prepare the salad with chicken, lettuce, pasta, and a homemade dressing that is incredibly tasty.

Try these other salad recipes for more meal ideas. Try out this BLT pasta salad, Big Mac salad, or this Christmas salad.

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What Is Pasta Salad?

Pasta salad is a cold dish that can be served up for lunch, dinner, or even a side dish. They typically have pasta, meats, cheese, and vegetables mixed.

This specific recipe has lettuce, pasta, chicken, bacon, and more all in one dish. This is a great dish to serve at a potluck, summer cookout, family gathering, or weeknight dinner idea.

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Why We Love This Recipe

• Easy prep for making this pasta chicken salad. You can use pre-cooked chicken for even a speedier prep.
• A flavorful combination of two popular dishes combined into one flavorful dish. A pasta salad and a green salad collide.
• Serve as a meal or as a side dish. This recipe is so versatile.
• Customize with different ingredients to create a dish that fits your flavor profile preferences.

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Ingredients

• Chicken Breasts: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You will need to cook them before combining them with other ingredients.
• Pasta: Get any brand of penne pasta for this recipe. You will need to boil the pasta and drain it. I used Farfalle pasta, but any shape works.
• Romaine Lettuce: Chop the romaine lettuce into small pieces.
• Parmesan Cheese: The parmesan cheese adds the perfect touch to the salad.
• Tomatoes: You can use cherry tomatoes for this recipe. You will want to slice them in half.
• Peppers: Bell peppers are going to add more flavor to the dish. I used orange or yellow for this recipe.
• Croutons: Add some croutons to this recipe for a nice crunch to create the classic Caesar salad.
• Caesar Dressing: You can make homemade Caesar dressing or buy your favorite brand.

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Storing Caesar Pasta Salad

Refrigerate

Pour the Caesar Pasta Salad into a large plastic food container with an airtight lid attached to it. Once you put the lid on the pasta salad, place it in the refrigerator. It is important to keep it cool in the fridge because if you do not, the salad will quickly go bad. If you store the salad in the fridge, it should stay good for up to four days before you would need to eat it or make a fresh batch.

Freezing

Yes, you can freeze the Caesar Pasta Salad. If you are going to freeze it, be sure to put it in the proper food container. Leave it in the freezer for a maximum of three months. You can defrost the pasta salad in your refrigerator the night before serving it. Because you can freeze it, feel free to make this salad in advance before an important gathering.

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What to Serve With the Caesar Pasta Salad

You can eat the Caesar Pasta Salad on its own for lunch or dinner. However, it is also a great side dish to serve with various entrees, such as baked chicken, broiled pork chops, or a sandwich. Save on the carbs – remove the pasta! 

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Variations To Recipe

Feel free to play around with the ingredients and mix and match whatever you want with this recipe.

• Shredded Carrots
• Diced cucumbers
• Green Onions
• Spinach Leaves
• Kale
• Red Onions
• Etc.

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Tips For Making Recipe

Rinse Pasta in Cold Water

Rinse your pasta in cold water once it is done to stop the cooking process. If you allow the pasta to cool slowly and don’t cool it off, it can make the pasta become mushy in texture.

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Pre-Cooked Chicken

You are more than welcome to pre-grill, broil, or bake the chicken. Or speed up the prep and use a rotisserie chicken. You just want to ensure the chicken is fully cooked before you mix with the other ingredients.

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Toss Well

Toss the ingredients well once it is all added to a bowl. Then if you place the leftovers in the fridge, toss well before you scoop and eat, as the dressing settles to the bottom.

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Bite Size Vegetables

For the lettuce and tomatoes make sure to wash and chop the veggies into bite-size pieces. That way you can pair each bite with a variety of ingredients.

FAQs

Can I Use Chicken Thighs?

It is best to use chicken breasts for the Caesar Pasta Salad with Chicken. However, if you do not have it, you can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

You can also use canned chicken if you would like to make preparing this salad even easier. Make sure to season the chicken the same way that you would season your chicken breasts. If you have rotisserie chicken leftovers, feel free to season them and use them in this salad recipe.

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Which Type of Pasta is Best to Use?

The Caesar Pasta Salad Recipe calls for penne pasta. The penne pasta holds up well with the dressing, chicken, and all the other ingredients used to make this salad.

However, if you do not have penne pasta, you can always use small or medium shells or macaroni pasta as a substitute. Your salad will still have the same great taste, regardless of which pasta you choose.

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Can I Use Bacon Bits Instead of Smoked Bacon?

If you do not feel like preparing fresh bacon and crumbling it into pieces to put into this salad, you can buy and use bacon bits. The bacon bits will add a smoky flavor to the pasta that goes great with the other ingredients, especially the chicken and the parmesan cheese.

Craving Chicken Recipes

• Slow Cooker Firecracker Chicken
• Parmesan Crusted Chicken
• Marry Me Chicken