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A bowl of chicken pesto pasta, with extra parmesan cheese in the top right corner.

Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

Robyn
Have dinner on the table in 20 minutes with this easy chicken pasta salad with pesto, spinach and sun dried tomatoes, all tossed in a delicious pesto vinaigrette.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course dinner, Lunch
Cuisine International
Servings 4 people
Calories 597 kcal

Equipment

  • Large pot / saucepan
  • Large mixing bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 340 g dried pasta penne, pasta bows or rotini
  • 300 g cooked chicken roughly chopped
  • 150 g cherry tomatoes around 12 tomatoes
  • 100 g sun dried tomatoes in oil
  • Handful fresh basil approx 24 leaves, roughly chopped
  • 60 g baby spinach
  • 20 g parmesan cheese grated, plus extra to serve

Pesto Vinaigrette:

  • 75 g basil pesto
  • 1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2½ tablespoons oil from sun dried tomatoes or olive oil
  • black pepper
  • salt

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of water to the boil for the pasta. Add a generous pinch of salt then, once boiling, add the pasta. Cook the pasta until according to packet instructions for al dente pasta PLUS a minute.
  • Drain the pasta then rinse briefly under cold water. Leave to cool.
  • Whilst the pasta is cooking, prepare the pesto vinaigrette: In a large bowl add the pesto, red wine vinegar, sun dried tomato oil, black pepper and a pinch of salt and whisk to combine. Place to one side.
  • Chop the cherry tomatoes into quarters, slice the sun dried tomatoes into strips and roughly chop the basil.
  • Add the cooled pasta to the dressing and gently toss until all the pieces of pasta are coated in the dressing.
  • Add the cooked shredded chicken, chopped tomatoes, chopped sun dried tomatoes, basil, baby spinach and grated parmesan cheese and gently stir to combine.
  • Taste for seasoning, adding a pinch of salt and black pepper if needed.
  • This salad is best served straight away at room temperature.

Notes

MAKE AHEAD / STORAGE
Fridge: The salad will keep in the fridge up to 2-3 days, depending on when you cooked the chicken. The pasta can soak up the dressing as it sits, so you may need to stir in a little extra pesto before serving.
Freezer: I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
    • Pasta - use a short cut pasta such as penne, rigatoni, rotini, or bowtie pasta.
    • Chicken - you can use leftover rotisserie chicken, leftover roast chicken or grilled chicken.
    • Pesto - either bought basil pesto or homemade pesto. Want to keep the cost down? Use this cashew pesto which replaces expensive pine nuts with cashew nuts.
    • Sun dried tomatoes - use sun dried tomatoes that are packed in oil.
    • Sun-dried tomato oil - this adds extra flavour to the vinaigrette, however if you don’t want to use the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, use olive oil instead.
    • Cherry tomatoes - ripe tomatoes have the best flavour. Either cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes cut in half or quartered depending on their size, or use medium sized ripe tomatoes and roughly chop.
  • Baby spinach - or sub with peppery rocket / arugula.

Nutrition

Calories: 597kcalCarbohydrates: 73gProtein: 35gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 400mgPotassium: 925mgFiber: 5gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 2359IUVitamin C: 38mgCalcium: 147mgIron: 4mg
Keyword chicken and pesto pasta, chicken pesto pasta, pesto pasta salad

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