Make this incredible Italian Chicken Pasta Salad for your next meal prep. This chicken Italian salad is hearty, filling and bursting with flavor.
Make-ahead
Beginner-friendly
You’ll Learn: The pan-searing technique for juicy chicken with golden edges
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
- Great for any occasion – This chicken Italian salad is simply perfect for meal prep or any potluck, picnic or barbecue that you plan to attend! It is bursting with fresh flavor and is hearty and filling enough to be a full meal.
- Dressing and marinade in one – The coolest thing about this recipe is that you are going to make a homemade dressing and use it twice. First to marinate the Italian dressing chicken AND then for the pasta salad.
- Meal prep lunch – I think that this bow tie pasta salad would be the perfect addition to a weekly meal prep. You can prep it once and enjoy many times as a quick lunch or side dish.
Serving Suggestions
When I meal prep for the week, I like to add a little variety without adding too much work. Roasted Vegetable Salad, Kale Cranberry Quinoa Salad, or a BLT Chicken Salad would be great options to add to your meal prep!
If you make this Italian chicken salad with pasta for a barbecue, I love serving it with some grilled chicken to mix it up. While you are using the grill, you could also make this grilled watermelon salad or grilled sweet potatoes for more options.
For another great easy lunch option, make this tuna and egg salad next.
Italian Dressing Ingredients
- Garlic cloves – I grate the garlic on a zester to make the flavor gentler in the dressing
- Red wine vinegar – if you don’t have red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar could also work
- Lemon – the citrus brightens up the dressing and gives it that classic flavor
- Sugar – a little sugar really helps sweeten the dressing and avoid too much bitterness
- Salt – the salt makes all the other flavors even more enhanced
- Oregano – oregano is all you need, but you could also use an Italian seasoning blend
- Crushed red pepper – you can add more or less crushed red pepper depending on what you like
- Extra virgin olive oil – extra virgin olive oil adds a bit of flavor, but you can also use a neutral oil instead
pasta Salad Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – I find boneless skinless breasts easiest to use for this recipe
- Bowtie pasta – bowtie is my favorite shape for this italian chicken salad with pasta
- Bell pepper – the fresh crunch of bell peppers is delicious with the chicken and pasta
- Cherry tomatoes – you can use any tomatoes you would like in this recipe
- Low moisture mozzarella cheese – I use low moisture to avoid making the pasta salad too soggy, but fresh mozzarella would be delicious
- Sliced black olives – I love the addition of a briny olive to a pasta salad. My favorite to use are kalamata
- Fresh parsley – I love a bit of fresh herbs to garnish the salad. You can add more or less to taste
Ingredient substitutions
This recipe makes for a perfect bow tie pasta salad. BUT if you aren’t a fan of bow tie pasta, you can use any pasta shape. You could even use pearl couscous or orzo.
You can use fresh, full fat mozzarella in place of the low moisture mozzarella. If you aren’t a fan of black olives, you can use a different or kind or omit them completely.
You can mix up the veggies in this salad with so many different options. Grape tomatoes, chopped spinach, celery, or red onions. For a little more protein, I like adding slices of salami. I also love adding some salad greens, like shredded romaine lettuce.
I love this using simple homemade Italian dressing for this chicken pasta salad. I like to keep it easy, but you can also whisk in some other bursts of flavor like dijon mustard, or black pepper. If you don’t want to spend the time to make one, you can instead use about 2 cups of a store bought dressing.
If you like croutons, you could add small croutons for a little crunch in the salad.
You can use fresh basil in place of or in addition to the fresh parsley. You can also add a shake of parmesan cheese to the pasta salad if you would like!
How to make
Step 1: Prepare italian dressing chicken
To begin, prepare homemade Italian dressing by grating garlic cloves into a blender. Then, pour all ingredients except olive oil into the blender and blend.
With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream so the dressing will emulsify.
Next, cut chicken breasts in half longways so you have two thinner filets. Pour about half of the Italian vinaigrette over the chicken, toss to coat, cover and place in the fridge for a total time of at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours.
Step 2: Cook pasta and chicken
When you are ready to cook, boil a large pot of salted water and remove marinated chicken from the fridge. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water.
Then, heat a pan over medium heat. Add chicken to the warm pan and cook for 8-10 minutes flipping every 2 minutes. The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165F.
Step 3: Prep other ingredients and toss it all together
While the chicken cools, dice bell pepper, cut cherry tomatoes in half or quarters, cube mozzarella cheese, drain black olives, and chop parsley.
Cube the chicken once it is cooled. Place in a large bowl with the pasta and all other ingredients.
Finally, drizzle remaining dressing over the ingredients and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature or chilled!
Storage
Once prepared, transfer pasta salad to an airtight container in the fridge. Store in fridge for up to 4 days.
Serve salad chilled or at room temperature.
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
Italian Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Italian Dressing Ingredients
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ¾ cup red wine vinegar
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salad Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 8 oz 1/2lb bowtie pasta
- 1 bell pepper
- 10 oz cherry tomatoes
- 8 oz low moisture mozzarella cheese
- 4 oz sliced black olives
- ¼ cup packed fresh parsley
Instructions
- Prepare homemade Italian dressing by grating garlic cloves into a blender. Pour all ingredients except olive oil into the blender and blend. With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream so the dressing will emulsify. ** You can also use about 2 cups of a store bought Italian salad dressing**
- Cut chicken breasts in half longways so you have two thinner filets. Pour about half of the Italian dressing over the chicken, toss to coat, cover and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours.
- When you are ready to cook, boil a large pot of salted water and remove marinated chicken from the fridge. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water.
- Heat a pan over medium heat. Add chicken to the warm pan and cook for 8-10 minutes flipping every 2 minutes. The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165F.
- While the chicken cools, dice bell pepper, cut cherry tomatoes in half or quarters, cube mozzarella cheese, drain black olives, and chop parsley.
- Cube the chicken once it is cooled. Place in a large mixing bowl with the pasta and all other ingredients. Pour remaining dressing (depending on your preference you may not want to use all of the leftover dressing) over the ingredients and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature or chilled!
Recipe Notes
- Bowtie pasta is my preference for this salad, but you can use any kind of pasta that you like.
- If you don’t want to make your own Italian dressing, you can use about 2 cups of store bought Italian 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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