Chicken Pasta Salad

This easy Chicken Pasta Salad combines grilled chicken, rotini pasta, fresh vegetables, and creamy chèvre cheese for a colorful dish that's perfect as a main course or side.

Course Main Course, Poultry, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword chicken-pasta-salad, chicken-rotini-pasta-salad

Prep Time 25

Chill time 4

Total Time 4 25

Servings servings

Calories 407kcal

Ingredients

1 lb box rotini pasta
2 8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt divided
1/4 tsp black pepper adjust to taste.
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
1 7 oz jar whole pitted black olives drained
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1 small red onion thinly sliced
4 `medium green onion thinly sliced
2-3 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley
1 tsp red pepper flakes
6 oz chevre goat cheese broken into chunks
2 tsp prepared basil pesto
1 16 oz bottled Italian dressing (i.e. Ken's Marzetti's or Marie's) (See Cook's note for homemade dressing)
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook rotini pasta in salted water per the package instructions until al dente. Drain well.
Meanwhile, season chicken pieces with 1/2 tsp garlic salt and pepper. In a grill pan over medium high heat, cook chicken in olive oil until juices run clear, about 6-8 minutes on each side. Adjust depending on thickness. Rest for 5 minutes, then cut into bite-sized pieces. (Likewise, to grill outside, oil grill grates then grill chicken over medium heat for 8 minutes per side)
In a large bowl, place pasta, chicken, cherry tomatoes, olives, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, red onion, green onion, 2 Tbsp parsley, red pepper flakes and reserved 1 tsp garlic salt. Add dressing and basil pesto. Toss until well coated.
Add chevre cheese in chunks. Gently mix through, the pasta.
Place into an airtight container and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Serve garnished with additional 1 Tbsp parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Homemade Italian Dressing: (Easily doubles. If using homemade dressing, you can adjust the amount of salt in recipe to your taste).

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white or red wine vinegar
1-2 tsp granulated sugar or honey
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dry Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Place all ingredients into a mason jar or combine in a stand blender. Shake or pulse until well blended.

Chicken - The grilled chicken for this salad is prepared per the recipe. For a shortcut you could use rotisserie chicken or roasted chicken. You could even use leftover thanksgiving turkey for a round two meal.
Mix-Ins - You can also adapt using chopped artichokes, crunchy celery, carrots, avocado or pepperoncini peppers.
Bacon - You could add crispy bacon for a smoky flavor.
Cheese - You could use small cubes of mozzarella cheese in place of chevre.
Pasta - You could make this recipe using other pasta with ridges, like penne rigate, jumbo macaroni, ziti or any short pasta. I prefer rotini as it really clings to the zesty Italian dressing.
What is Chevre? Chevre is goat cheese in French and is often used when referring to fresh goat cheeses in particular. Fresh goat cheese, or chevre, features a bright, tart, tangy, and delicious flavor profile. It adds to the flavor of this salad lending a creaminess to the dressing.
Goat Cheese - Goat cheese comes in all shapes, sizes, some have been seasoned with garlic and herbs or unseasoned. You can use any of your favorite varieties of goat cheese such as a simple crumbled feta for this salad, if you prefer.
Lighter Version - To lighten this rotini pasta salad, you can use a lighter Italian salad dressing.
Homemade Italian Dressing - For ease of preparation, it's perfectly fine to use a quality bottled Italian dressing for this salad. For your convenience, I've added a homemade version in the Cook's notes. I've done it both ways and either way it's a winner.

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