This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad comes together in just 25 minutes using budget-friendly ingredients that are easy to find. It’s a great recipe choice for meal prepping for work lunches, a quick dinner, or bringing along as a dish to pass at potluck events.
You’ll love this salad if you like this Tuna Macaroni Salad, Jalapeño Popper Chicken Salad, and Creamy Dill Cucumber Onion Salad.
This recipe is always a great pick because it’s so easy to put together. You skip the cooking with pre-cooked chicken and store-bought Caesar dressing, cutting down the time you spend in the kitchen.
Since it can be made in advance, it’s perfect for busy days, so you don’t have to use up too much of your valuable evening time making it. Plus, the ingredients are budget-friendly, and you may already have some of them in your kitchen.
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💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Minimal effort on your part to prepare.
- Ready in 30 minutes.
- Made with budget-friendly ingredients you may already have in your kitchen.
- Easy to customize with your favorite additions or substitutions.
- Can be meal prepped in advance and refrigerated for a ready-to-go meal.
➡️ Ingredients
⏲ How to make this chicken Caesar pasta salad recipe
This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cook Pasta: Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked, transfer to a colander to drain, then rinse under cold water to cool it down quickly and stop the cooking process.
- Prep Ingredients: While pasta is cooking, shred or chop cooked chicken. Then, chop the romaine lettuce, halve the cherry tomatoes, and grate the Parmesan cheese.
- Mix Salad: In a large bowl, combine the cooled pasta, shredded chicken, chopped romaine, halved cherry tomatoes, grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Toss everything together to mix.
- Dress Salad: Pour Caesar salad dressing over the salad mixture and toss until everything is evenly coated. Add more dressing, as desired.
- Finish and Serve: Add croutons just before serving to maintain their crunch, then give the salad a final toss. Garnish salad with freshly-cracked pepper, then serve.
✨ Variations
- Mediterranean: Add olives, feta cheese, and cucumber, and use a Greek vinaigrette instead of traditional Caesar dressing.
- Spicy: Add sliced jalapeños, a dash of hot sauce in the dressing, or sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
- BBQ: Use BBQ sauce mixed with a little Caesar dressing to coat the chicken. Add corn and black beans.
〰️ How to serve
- Vegetables — Baked sliced zucchini, baked jicama fries, or steamed asparagus.
- Bread — Garlic bread or ciabatta.
- Soup — Chicken tortellini soup, wild rice mushroom soup, or white bean soup.
💬 FAQs
How can I prep this advance to serve later?
Combine the cooked pasta, cooked chicken, cherry tomatoes, and grated Parmesan cheese in a large mixing bowl. Store this mixture in an airtight container in the fridge. Keep the Caesar dressing in a separate container to avoid the salad getting soggy. For the romaine lettuce, chop it and store it in another container lined with paper towels to keep it crisp. Add the lettuce and croutons to the salad just before serving.
How do you store leftovers?
Store any leftover salad in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
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Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta, rotini, penne, or fusilli noodles
- 2 cups cooked chicken, chicken thighs, chicken breasts, or rotisserie chicken, shredded or chopped
- 2-3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped (~chopped lettuce from 1 romaine head)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup Caesar dressing, plus more based on preferences
- ¾ cup croutons
Optional Garnish:
- Freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Cook Pasta: Cook pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked, transfer to colander to drain, then rinse under cold water to cool it down quickly and stop the cooking process.
- Prep Ingredients: While pasta is cooking, shred or chop cooked chicken. Then, chop romaine lettuce, halve cherry tomatoes, and grate Parmesan cheese.
- Mix Salad: In a large bowl, combine cooled pasta, shredded chicken, chopped romaine, halved cherry tomatoes, grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Toss everything together to mix.
- Dress Salad: Pour Caesar dressing over salad mixture and toss until everything is evenly coated. Add more dressing, as desired.
- Finish and Serve: Add croutons just before serving to maintain their crunch, then give salad a final toss. Garnish salad with freshly-cracked pepper, then serve.
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