Combine two amazing dishes to make this Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad. Toss pasta, romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese and chicken in a simple caesar dressing to make the ultimate pasta salad.
Weeknight-easy
Beginner-friendly
You’ll Learn: How to make a creamy caesar dressing without anchovies or dairy
Worth It: It’s a satisfying, protein-forward option that actually keeps you full
Bonus: Easy to tailor to common diets
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Not your grandma’s pasta salad – I think pasta salad gets a bad reputation for being flavorless or mushy, but pasta salad can also be bright, fresh and loaded with flavor. This chicken caesar pasta salad combines the fresh flavors of a caesar salad with the comfort of a pasta salad.
- Perfect for a BBQ – This pasta salad is the best to bring to a backyard barbecue. It can either be served as a main dish or as a side in addition to other items.
- Easy crowd favorite – The best part is this is super easy to make! Make a simple homemade caesar dressing sauce and mix it with juicy cubed chicken breast, cooked pasta, crunchy romaine lettuce and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Serving Suggestions
Like I said before, this is a perfect side dish to bring to a barbecue or potluck. It is also great on its own as a meal. If you are making it for a barbecue, it would be great alongside grilled watermelon salad and Greek turkey burgers. For dessert, you could make this mixed berry cobbler!
You can even make this caesar pasta salad for meal prep. If you want to do it this way, I recommend mixing the pasta, chicken and parmesan cheese with the caesar sauce and keep the chopped romaine separate.
Then, pack it for lunch each day with the pasta salad on top of a bed of romaine lettuce for a twist on a classic chicken caesar salad.
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – boneless and skinless breasts are the protein for this pasta salad. You could also use chicken thighs
- Salt, garlic powder, black pepper – a simple spice blend is all you need since we will be adding the dressing
- Olive oil – I used extra virgin olive oil, but you can use any oil you prefer
- Pasta – I love rotini, but choose your favorite shape for pasta salad
- Romaine Lettuce – the crisp romaine lettuce brings that classic crunch you get in a caesar salad
- Shredded parmesan cheese – you can buy pre-shredded or grate your own
Caesar Salad Dressing Ingredients
- Mayonnaise – use your favorite mayo or make your own mayo
- Lemon juice – lemon adds the brightness to your dressing
- white vinegar – the vinegar along with the lemon give the dressing some acidity
- Dijon mustard – dijon helps bring that caesar flavor
- Worcestershire sauce – Worcestershire gives the umami flavor to your dressing
- Garlic powder, black pepper – you can add more seasoning to taste
Ingredient substitutions
You can use any noodle shape that you like for this pasta salad. I recommend using something that will hold on to the sauce like a fusilli, penne, rotini, elbow noodle or radiatorre.
This recipe can easily be made gluten free. Just substitute the regular pasta with a gluten-free pasta. My favorite one is a brown rice pasta.
To make this recipe dairy free just omit the shredded parmesan cheese. You can substitute it with a dairy free parmesan or just leave it out all together. It will still be great without it!
Classic caesar dressing is made with anchovies, I leave it out of the sauce for this dish because I do not like the taste. Feel free to mix a little anchovy paste in with the other dressing ingredients. In place of the mayo, you could also try greek yogurt.
A traditional caesar salad includes croutons, so if you would like, feel free to mix some crunchy croutons into this recipe. I like to make homemade sourdough breadcrumbs and mix them into the pasta salad for a little bit of crunch.
You could also add cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes to the pasta salad. For the chicken, you could use grilled chicken instead.
How to make chicken caesar Pasta Salad
Step 1: Boil Pasta and cook chicken
To begin, boil pasta in a large pot of water according to package directions. Cook until al dente, drain and pour into a large bowl. To avoid overcooking, you can rinse in cold water. Set aside for later.
Then, mix together salt, garlic powder and pepper. Season chicken breast on both sides with the mixture.
Pour oil in a heavy bottom pan like a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, place chicken in pan.
Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes on each side. Ensure that chicken is cooked through by checking for an internal temperature of 165F. To keep the chicken tender, remove at 165F before overcooking. Set aside to cool.
Step 2: chop romaine lettuce and make caesar dressing
Next, chop romaine lettuce into shreds. When chicken is slightly cooled, cut into small cubes.
Then, prepare dressing by whisking together mayonnaise, lemon juice, vinegar, dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper.
Step 3: Mix it all together
Add romaine lettuce, cubed chicken and parmesan cheese to the large mixing bowl with the cooked pasta.
Pour the dressing over top and toss to combine. Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator and serve chilled.
Tips and tricks
Skip a step to cut down prep time and buy a rotisserie chicken. Cut the breast meat away from the bone and either shred or cut into bite-size pieces.
Prepare this chicken caesar pasta salad recipe for meal prep. Store the lettuce separate from the pasta noodles, chicken and creamy caesar dressing.
This will allow the lettuce to keeps its crisp texture. Then, toss the lettuce with the pasta salad just before serving.
Storage
This pasta salad is best enjoyed the same day it is prepared. You can chill it in the fridge for a bit after preparing if you want to serve it chilled.
If you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, but the lettuce will become a bit wilted and soggy.
Can I make this ahead of time?
The best way to make this pasta salad with chicken ahead of time is to prepare the pasta, chicken and lettuce and place it in a mixing bowl.
Then, prep the caesar dressing and store it separately. Toss other ingredients with the dressing and parmesan cheese just before serving.
Check out these other pasta salad recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients:
- 8 oz pasta
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 oz romaine lettuce
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Dressing Ingredients:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Boil pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Drain and pour in a large mixing bowl. Set to the side.
- Mix together salt, garlic powder and pepper. Season chicken breast on both sides with the mixture.
- Pour oil in a heavy bottom pan like a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, place chicken in pan. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes on each side. Ensure that chicken is cooked through by checking for an internal temperature of 165F. Set aside to cool.
- Cut romaine lettuce into shreds and pour into a mixing bowl with the cooked pasta.
- When chicken is slightly cooled, cut into small cubes.
- Prepare dressing by whisking together mayonnaise, lemon juice, vinegar, dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Add romaine lettuce, cubed chicken and parmesan cheese to the large mixing bowl with the cooked pasta. Pour the dressing over top and toss to combine. Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator and serve chilled.
Recipe Notes
- You can use any kind of pasta, but I prefer fusilli or any noodle that will hold onto the caesar dressing
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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