Perfect for the warmer weather, this chicken pesto pasta salad is hearty, flavorful and so good for a summer lunch, or to enjoy as a BBQ side dish or picnic food. Easy to make with affordable ingredients, it's both adult and kid-friendly!
Using pesto sauce makes this a chicken pasta salad without mayo, so it should work well for those who are egg free.
I'm a huge fan of pesto as you may have noticed from my air fryer pesto chicken and pesto chicken quinoa bowls recipes! It adds tons of flavor, is easy to make and you can easily blend up dairy free or pine nut free pesto versions to preference.
This easy summer pesto chicken pasta salad has something for everyone I think! Hearty chicken and pasta make it suitable as a main dish or side, the pesto is fragrant and delicious, and mini cucumbers and radishes give a good crunch.
Have a peek at my turkey pasta salad for another summer side dish option!
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🌿 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Chicken - I suggest to use boneless skinless chicken breast that has been diced into small bite-size pieces. Using chicken gives us a higher protein salad that's suitable as a main dish or side dish.
- Pasta - there are lots of options, but I like fusilli, penne or or farfalle to make a pasta salad. Choose a gluten free option, if required.
- Pesto - I suggest that my low histamine readers will want to make their own fresh pesto. My pumpkin seed pesto is easy to do!
- Veggies - I like mini cucumbers and radishes for crunch, but see below for more options.
🥕 Optional add-ins
The beauty of summer pasta salads is how versatile they are. If you have them to hand you can always add in:
- Shredded carrot
- Kale (I suggest to massage with a little oil first)
- Mozzarella balls (also known as pearls)
- Diced red peppers
- Corn
🔪 How to Make Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
Let me show you how easy it is to make this pesto chicken pasta salad for your next summer BBQ, picnic or potluck! It's very easy and you don't need any fancy kitchen equipment.
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Cook the chicken
Season the diced chicken bites with dried thyme, salt and optional black pepper. Drizzle olive oil in your skillet and cook the chicken until lightly browned and white meat throughout (image 1).
Step 2: Cook pasta
Cook your pasta in salted water according to package instructions, but give it a few more minutes so it is just past al dente and a little softer. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool (image 2). Optionally you can drizzle a little oil over it to help prevent sticking.
Step 3: Dice the veggies
Dice the cucumbers and radishes, and finely dice the red onion, if using (image 3).
Step 4: Make your pasta salad!
Combine the cooled chicken and pasta in a large bowl. Spoon in the pesto, and add the veggies (image 4). Stir well so the pasta and chicken are well coated in the pesto sauce.
💭 Recipe Tips and Notes
- Adjust the amount of pesto sauce. Add a spoonful or two more if you like a lot of pesto flavor!
- Swap cubed chicken for shredded. You can easily cook chicken breast, allow to cool and then shred with two forks or in a stand mixer as an alternative to diced chicken if you like.
- Oil the pasta. Drizzling a little olive oil over the cooked pasta as it cools helps prevent it from sticking together.
📋 Frequently Asked Questions
You can use rotisserie chicken in the pasta salad, but I suggest my low histamine readers will want to cook and use fresh chicken.
You can make the pasta salad dairy free by making a pesto sauce without cheese, and gluten free by using a suitable alternative pasta. The recipe is also egg free as we don't use mayo.
I don't suggest to freeze the pasta salad. Neither pasta or salad veggies freeze too well and can go mushy in texture.
🥗 More salad recipes
Find so many more salad ideas for summer here, including my roasted vegetable pasta salad and these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 oz pasta fusilli, penne
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
- ⅓ cup pesto
- 3 mini cucumbers diced
- 6 radishes sliced
- ¼ cup red onion optional, finely diced
Instructions
- Dice the chicken breast into small bite-size pieces. Sprinkle with dried thyme, salt and optional black pepper. Heat oil in a skillet and, once shimmering, cook the chicken pieces for 4-5 minutes each side or until cooked through. Check for an internal temperature of 165F using a meat thermometer. Set aside to cool.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to package instructions but so that it is a little past al dente, so it has a softer texture. Drain and set aside to cool. You can drizzle the cooked pasta with a little olive oil as it cools to help prevent sticking.
- Dice the mini cucumbers and radishes, and finely dice the red onion.
- Once the chicken and pasta have cooled, add to a large bowl with your cucumbers, radishes, red onion and pesto. Stir to combine so the ingredients are all coated in the pesto sauce. Spoon onto your serving plate or bowl.
Notes
- Adjust the amount of pesto used to preference.
- If you prefer, you can cook chicken breast and then shred with two forks instead of having diced chicken pieces.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- pesto will depend upon ingredients used.
- wheat (pasta), scores 1. There are other forms of gluten free and alternative pasta so use the type you know you tolerate best.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
- red onion is not mentioned. White onion can be used as a swap.
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