Easy Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
This chicken pesto pasta salad is light, healthy, and summery! It combines tender pasta with homemade pesto, juicy grilled chicken, and fresh mix-ins for a satisfying meal any time of the day.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 312kcal
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pasta cooked
- 1 cup pesto sauce homemade or store-bought
- 2 cups spinach fresh, packed
- 1 pound grilled chicken diced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 8 ounces mozzarella balls halved
- ¼ cup basil leaves torn
Instructions
- Cook your pasta according to package directions. Make sure you heavily salt the water and cook the pasta for about 1 minute less than the listed time for perfect al dente pasta!
- Drain the pasta and immediately add to the bowl of sauce. (Do NOT rinse the pasta, as the starch will help the sauce cling to the noodles and the residual heat.) Gently toss the pasta in the sauce until all the noodles are fully coated.
- Mix in the spinach and stir a few times until it wilts slightly from the heat of the pasta.
- Add the diced grilled chicken, tomatoes, mozzarella balls and basil leaves. Gently stir together.
- Serve immediately while warm, or let chill in the fridge and serve cold!
Notes
This chicken pesto pasta salad will keep in the fridge for 3 days, but the noodles with soak up the sauce the longer it sits. So after 2-3 days, you might want to add in a little extra pesto!
Fresh homemade pesto is best but you can use your favorite fresh store-bought pesto instead! I love using either my homemade basil pesto or my 5-Minute Arugula Basil Pesto!
Nutrition
Calories: 312kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 634mg | Potassium: 471mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1926IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 2mg