Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is a perfect choice for a light summer meal.  Diced boneless Chicken breast is tossed with noodles and a homemade Caesar dressing for a flavorful pasta salad update.  Roasted red peppers, tomatoes and olives add some variety and round out this light summer meal. As the days get warmer this is a salad everyone will appreciate.  And if you don’t feel like making the homemade Caesar dressing you could always substitute it with about a half cup of your favorite dressing to make it even easier.  But as with all dressings please be sure to check the label for gluten containing ingredients if you’re following a gluten free diet.

Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad

Prep time:  10 min

Cook time:  10 min

Ingredients list

•          1 lb of cold diced chicken breast
•          1 head of romaine lettuce, washed dried and cut into bite sized pieces
•          8 oz of GFshort pasta cooked according to the package 
•          ½ cup of black olives
•          1 plum tomato cut into bite sized pieces
•          ½ cup roasted red peppers cut into small strips
•          FOR THE DRESSING:
•          2 anchovy fillets or 2 tsp anchovy paste
•          1 clove of grated garlic
•          1 lemon, juice and zest
•          2 tbsp red wine vinegar
•          ½ tsp mustard
•          1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•          1 tbsp sour cream
•          1 tsp Italian seasoning
•          ½ tsp red pepper flakes
•          salt and pepper to taste
•          ¼ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
•          1/3 cup olive oil

Video Tutorial: 

Instructions

1. To make the dressing, in a small bowl add the anchovies, grated garlic and lemon zest then using the back of a spoon smash the anchovies into the other ingredients until they resemble a paste. 
2. Add all of the other dressing ingredients except for the olive oil and whisk together until the mixture is nicely incorporated. 
3. Slowly stream in the olive oil and continue whisking until the dressing is emulsified. 
4. To assemble the salad, toss the lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, olives, and peppers with half the dressing to get it well coated then add the pasta with the other half of the dressing.  Toss again and serve.

Notes:  You can substitute about ½ cup of your favorite Caesar dressing in place of the dressing recipe here to make it even easier.  But be sure to check the ingredients list for gluten since it’s common in many dressings.