🍅🥒🥕🍗 My Italian Chicken Pasta Salad is EASY, ready in 30 minutes, perfect for a hassle-free family meal, and makes a big batch so you can have planned leftovers! A super FLEXIBLE recipe based on what vegetables you have on hand! Great for quick lunches, casual dinners, picnics, and potlucks because everyone LOVES this pasta salad!
The Best Italian Pasta Salad
If you’re wondering what to make for your next picnic, potluck, summer barbecue, or for something you can make that the whole family will love (and that you’ll likely have plenty of leftovers for a few lunches for the week), look no further than this easy pasta salad recipe.
There’s tender chicken, al dente pasta, crisp-tender vegetables, all perfumed with Italian seasoning and Italian dressing for the perfect punch of flavor.
You can serve it warm, at room temp, or chilled, and since there’s no mayo, it’s great for those outdoor events!
Love pasta salads?
Add my Mediterranean pasta salad, BLT pasta salad, and Chinese chicken pasta salad to your must-make list!
What’s in Italian Chicken Pasta Salad?
To make this easy pasta salad that’s ready in 30 minutes, you’ll need:
- Rotini pasta – I used rotini because that’s what I had on hand but any small-shaped pasta will work great, including bow tie, ziti, penne, small elbow macaroni, or similar. I’d steer clear of spaghetti and long noodle-type pasta for this pasta salad
- Extra virgin olive oil – I do not recommend substituting any other type of oil, or the flavor won’t be the same
- Veggies – White or yellow onion, carrots, zucchini, red and yellow bell peppers, garlic
- Boneless skinless chicken breast – I prefer lean boneless, skinless chicken breast, finding it takes on the flavor of the dressing nicely. However, boneless, skinless chicken thighs also work
- Italian seasoning
- Italian salad dressing
- Italian flat-leaf parsley
- Salt and pepper – Because this is such a big batch of food with one pound of pasta and two pounds of chicken, plus the vegetables, my advice is not to be shy about adding salt and pepper so that this isn’t bland. I added much more than the 1 teaspoon called for with both salt and pepper, but as always, I recommend you season to your tastes
- Lemon juice
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Italian Chicken Pasta Salad
This is an incredibly easy pasta salad with Italian dressing and chicken. Follow these straightforward instructions:
- Boil the pasta until al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, get started sautéing the onion and chicken in olive oil. Cook the chicken in a skillet, seasoning simply with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Add the garlic and stir to incorporate it. Make sure to flip and stir the chicken and onions throughout the cooking process so they cook evenly.
- Combine the cooked pasta with the cooked chicken and onions in a very large bowl before adding the carrots, zucchini, and bell peppers and stir to combine.
- Pour the Italian salad dressing on top, add the parsley to the bowl, and toss well to combine everything.
A Note About Texture:
For me, the carryover heat from the warm pasta and chicken is sufficient to lightly soften the vegetables. I prefer my vegetables to have some crunch, and this is how to preserve them.
Note that the vegetables will soften even more as time passes if this sits as leftovers in your fridge, but if you absolutely want them more cooked, add all of them to the skillet when the chicken is about 50% cooked through.
Recipe Variations to Try
While I used the ingredients outlined above, feel free to mix and match based on what you have on hand and what you prefer. This is a very flexible recipe.
Some ideas and suggestions you can use to change up this pasta salad recipe with Italian dressing include:
- Tomatoes of any kind (Roma, heirloom, grape, cherry tomatoes)
- Cucumbers
- Lettuces or greens
- Broccoli
- Black olives
- Yellow squash
- Cucumbers (English or regular)
- Avocado
- Fresh herbs (omit the parsley and add fresh basil or oregano)
- Cheese (Parmesan cheese, fresh mozzarella, a shredded cheese medley, feta, goat, or your favorite)
How to Store Italian Chicken Pasta Salad
Perfect for meal prep, this Italian chicken pasta salad keeps in the fridge for up to five days if stored in an air-tight container or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Because it makes a big batch, it’s nice to be able to freeze the leftovers for rainy days in the future when you may need a grab-and-go lunch or dinner. The texture of the vegetables will be a bit softer after being frozen and then thawed, but they’re perfectly tasty.
Italian Chicken Pasta Salad
Equipment
- 1 Pot
Ingredients
- 1 pound rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions (another small-shaped pasta such as ziti, penne, small elbow, etc. may be substituted)
- 4 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
- 1 small white or yellow onion, diced small
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 to 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, or to taste
- 1 + teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 + teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 1 medium zucchini, diced into small half moon-shaped pieces
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced into small half moon-shaped pieces
- 1 medium/large red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- 1 medium/large yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- ¾ cup Italian salad dressing, or to taste
- ¼ to ⅓ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and place in a very large mixing bowl, and set aside. While pasta is cooking, being cooking the onion and chicken.
- To a large skillet, add the olive oil, onion, and cook over medium-high heat for about 4 to 5 minutes or until onion begins to slightly soften; stir frequently.
- Add the chicken and season with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste, and cook over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, flipping and stirring frequently so chicken and onions cook evenly. At any time, if the mixture looks like it needs more olive oil, add it.
- When chicken has cooked through, add the garlic, and cook for about 1 minute or until fragrant, stir nearly consistently.
- Add the cooked chicken and onion mixture, including all cooking juices, to the bowl with cooked pasta.
- Add the zucchini, carrots, bell peppers, and stir to combine. The carryover heat from the chicken and pasta will lightly soften the vegetables.
- Add the Italian dressing, parsley, lemon juice, and stir to combine. Taste and check for seasoning balance, making any necessary adjustments (more Italian seasoning, more salt or pepper which is very likely since this is a very large quantity of food and I recommend not being shy with the salt and pepper, a pinch of cayenne for heat, extra splash of lemon juice, olive oil, etc.) before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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