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This easy creamy Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Salad is full of marinated chicken, juicy red tomatoes, salty olives, and soft artichoke hearts. It all comes together with a garlic Parmesan vinaigrette and Parmesan cheese. Make it for dinner, or take it to your next potluck or BBQ!
Pasta Salad with Chicken
I love pasta salad and this Mediterranean pasta salad is an all-time favorite. Grilled chicken is mixed with a creamy parmesan garlic dressing for the perfect combination of Mediterranean flavors.
We love to grill chicken and often cook a big batch during the weekend to have on hand during the week. It’s so easy to toss it into a dish like this summer pasta salad, making dinner a breeze.
In fact, this easy creamy Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Salad was born from our love of grilling chicken. The first time I made it, I was looking for a way to use up the leftovers, and I tossed a few things together and ended up with this easy chicken pasta salad.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- What makes it so easy is the dressing. I use bottled garlic Parmesan dressing, so there’s nothing to prep. Use as much or as little dressing as you want to make it perfect for you – just pour and toss!
- It’s also really easy to adapt to what you have on hand. Instead of grilling chicken, you can use chopped rotisserie chicken or add other veggies that you like. You can also change the dressing – there are so many possibilities.
- It makes a lot which is great if you’re feeding a crowd or want leftovers in the refrigerator. It’s a great side dish, or you can add more chicken to make it a main dish. It works either way.
Ingredients in Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Chicken: Use Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Dressing: Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette is the one I love to use – it’s the chicken marinade and the dressing for the salad.
- Pasta: Use your favorite shape – mine is Farfalle
- Mediterranean Flavors: Sliced Black Olives, Quartered Artichokes, Grape tomatoes (sliced)
- Shredded parmesan cheese: More cheese is always better!
How to Cook Chicken for Pasta Salad
- Place the chicken in a large resealable bag. Add about ½ the bottle of the dressing. Close the bag and marinate the chicken for at least one hour or up to three to four hours.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (about 350°F). Grill the chicken for 15 to 20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165°F in the thickest part.
- Rest the chicken for at least 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Tip: You can marinate and grill the chicken up to two days in advance. Keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
How to make Chicken Pasta Salad
- Cook the pasta one to two minutes less than the cooking time listed on the package. Drain and let the pasta cool.
- Place the cooled pasta, olives, tomatoes, artichokes, and cheese in a large bowl. Dice the chicken and then add it to the bowl. Add the dressing and toss everything together, so it’s well mixed. You can serve it at room temperature or chilled.
Variations
- Pasta: You can use other short pasta shapes for this recipe like orzo, penne, rotini, orecchiette, or cavatappi.
- Cheese: Feel free to add mozzarella cheese along with the Parmesan. Grated mozzarella will work, or try cubed fresh mozzarella.
- Dressing: A balsamic dressing would work great, or make this pasta salad with Greek dressing. There are a lot of options to choose from!
- Other Add-Ins: Try green olives instead of black olives or mix in some marinated sun-dried tomatoes.
FAQs
Yes, you can make the whole thing ahead or cook the chicken ahead and assemble the salad later. You can marinate and grill the chicken up to two days in advance. Or, prepare the whole salad ahead and store it in the refrigerator for up to two days.
This pasta salad with chicken keeps well in the refrigerator for up to two days. If it dries out, add a little more dressing before serving it.
Give this creamy Mediterranean pasta salad a try, and it might just be your new favorite summer pasta salad! It’s definitely one of ours – we make it on repeat throughout the summer. It’s so delicious – Enjoy!
Creamy Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 1 12 fluid ounces/355 ml bottle Garlic Parmesan Vinaigarette (or use your favorite creamy dressing)
- 12 ounces (340g) Farfalle pasta
- 1 cup (from a 6.5 ounce can) Sliced Black Olives
- 1 13.75 ounces can Quartered Artichokes
- 1 cup sliced grape tomatoes
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
Cook the chicken:
- Place the chicken (about 3 breasts) in a large gallon size zip top bag. Add about ½ the bottle of vinaigrette. Seal the bag and marinate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat grill to medium hot (about 350°F). Grill chicken until it reads 165°F internal temperature using an instant read thermometer (about 15-20 minutes).
- Let chicken rest at least 15 minutes before slicing and adding to pasta salad. If desired, chicken can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
Make the pasta salad:
- Cook pasta according to package directions, cooking 1-2 minutes less than instructed (about 10-12 minutes). Drain then cool.
- Place pasta, olives, tomatoes, artichokes, and parmesan in a large bowl. Add cooled diced chicken. Add desired amount of dressing and toss to coat.
- Serve immediately or store up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
Recipe Nutrition
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This recipe was sponsored by Safeway in 2018. When shopping for my meals this week, I went to my normal grocery store: Safeway. I love all the products they sell, but I especially love their signature brands. I was able to buy everything in this salad at my local store, using their products. I buy my Signature SELECT, Signature Kitchens, and Signature Farms products, available exclusively in my local area, at my local Rocklin Safeway. You can find all these brands at all of the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Shaw’s, Star Market and Carrs/Safeway. Visit Safeway.com to find a store near you and discover more meal prep tips and recipe ideas.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad is a chicken pasta salad with olives, artichokes and tomatoes – the perfect easy dinner, weeknight meal or summer potluck recipe!
great summertime meal.
What is the Brand of salad dressing is use in this recipe ? I read Signature Select, but is that the actual Pirandello name ?
Thank you !
It was Signature Select from Safeway
I changed this up a little bit because I only had marinated artichokes and Olive Garden dressing. It was very good. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will try the garlic Parmesan dressing.
YUMMY!! My husband & I loved this recipe…great for a summer dinner when you want something a little lighter. We will be having this one again!
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