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Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

Pesto pasta salad with chicken in bowl.
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5 from 1 review

Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad is the ultimate Summer salad with pesto coated pasta, sautéed marinated chicken, and fresh veggies all thrown into one bowl. It's super easy to make in under 40 minutes and will be a crowd favorite! 

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts, about 1 lb, patted dry and trimmed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • juice from 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 3 cups dried pasta, rotelle (wagon wheels), fusilli or small shells
  • 8 ounce mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, diced
  • 1/3 cup piquante peppers (peppadew), roughly chopped
  • 1 ounce baby spinach (a small handful)
  • 1/2 cup pesto sauce, homemade pesto or store-bought

Instructions

  1. If you're making my homemade pesto recipe, start with that first. Chop the mozzarella cheese into 1 inch cubes, dice up the roasted red peppers and give the piquante peppers a rough chop. Set aside.
  2. Slice each chicken breast down the center (through the width) to create two thinner chicken breasts, 4 total cutlets.
  3. Add the chicken into a medium sized bowl and pour in 1 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and basil. Toss to combine, then allow to marinate for 5 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Add in the pasta and cook until al dente, according to the package instructions.
  4. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet over medium heat on the stovetop, pour in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add in the chicken, making sure the chicken isn't overlapping. Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Transfer to a cutting board and tent with foil. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  5. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the excess water in a colander then rinse the pasta with cold water. Give the colander a good shake to remove all the excess water.
  6. Transfer the cooled pasta into a large bowl. Stir in the spinach, mozzarella cheese, roasted red peppers, piquante peppers and pesto sauce until combined. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
  7. Cut the chicken into thin strips.
  8. Pour the pasta salad into a serving bowl. Top with chicken and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Don't overcook the pasta. It always taste better al dente (firm when bitten into) in pasta salads.
  • Try and remove as much of the liquids as possible when assembling the pasta salad. Make sure the pasta water is mostly removed from the noodles and that the peppers don't have a ton of excess juices (you can sit them on paper towels to remove it).
  • Rinse the pasta to cool it off well before adding it to the bowl and assembling with the cheese. We don't want the cheese melting.
  • Allow the chicken to cool to room temperature before adding it into the pasta salad.

Find it online: https://simplymadeeats.com/19904/chicken-pesto-pasta-salad/