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

Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad - US Cups

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
  

  • 12 oz dried pasta penne, pasta bows or rotini
  • 2 c cooked chicken roughly chopped
  • 1 c cherry tomatoes around 12 tomatoes
  • ½ c sun dried tomatoes in oil
  • Handful fresh basil approx 24 leaves, roughly chopped
  • 2 c baby spinach
  • ¼ c parmesan cheese grated, plus extra to serve

Pesto Vinaigrette:

  • ⅔ c 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 NOTES
    • 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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