This beautiful and scrumptious Chicken Pasta Salad is drenched in a heavenly sauce made of Greek yogurt, honey, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and apple cider vinegar, and it’s simply ambrosial.
One of the families I cook for has a daughter, Harper, who turns five in a month. The other day she said, “What’s a blog, Rhonda? My mom says I’m going to be famous.” So, please, let’s make Harper famous if, for nothing else, every hilarious thing she says just like that.
The other day she came over to go swimming in Sherry’s heated pool and she asks everyone, “Do you think I’m going to be pretty?” And I chimed in with my writer’s take on it, “You’re going to be cute-pretty.” She said, “You mean really cute?” And her mom laughs and says, “No, Rhonda means you’re going to be pretty and cute at the same time.” And Harper says, “How am I going to do that?” And I said, “You’re already doing it. Just look at those chipmunk cheeks that look like you just came out of the cold.” And she got right out of the pool to go stare at herself in the bathroom mirror. I said, “Harper, where are you going? I thought we were doing swimming lessons.” And she says, “You told me to go look at my cheeks!”
Kids. They take everything so literally…
Harper has two brothers who are twenty-month-old twins and that means almost two, if I’m doing my math right. And this is their favorite meal of all that I fix for them. I don’t know if it’s piercing these little rotini with their little kid sporks, I guess you’d call them, or the sweet cherry tomatoes that are little like them, but they pick their little dishes right up and lick them after they’re finished eating, so I know that’s one good pasta sauce
Why Your Family Will Devour This Chicken Pasta Salad
They say that the ancient Greek gods feasted on milk and honey. It’s all they would eat. And after trying this Chicken Pasta Salad recipe, you’ll know why. Here, plain Greek yogurt (I like the Greek Gods brand, as it happens), works with honey and Dijon mustard to set these sweet peas and tomatoes just dancing with flavor, and that delicious sauce just clings to all the little spirals of this rotini pasta. Each bite is a feast for the senses and will make you the hit of the dinner table or family reunion.
And can you believe it’s a less than 30-minute fix from start to table?
Rotini is a thicker cut of pasta. That means it will take longer than say a thin pasta like thin spaghetti or angel hair. But with a pasta salad that’s served cold and will have a thick sauce in it, you want your pasta a little under-done – not perfectly done. In other words, you don’t want it quite ready to serve. You want it pasta-salad ready. So, if your box says cook it ten minutes, test it at the eight-minute mark. You don’t want it getting too soft or it won’t stick on a fork in a perfect bite with a little cherry tomato, chicken, and sauce. And you want each and every bite to be delicious for them, right?
How to Make Ahead and Store?
Pasta salad keeps well in the refrigerator for 3 days in an airtight container, if it lasts that long because I haven’t made this for a family yet where I didn’t put the empty bowl right into the dishwasher straight after the meal. And you’ll want to eat this fast because this pasta salad has a lot of un-freezer-friendly ingredients that do not freeze well.
Serving Suggestions
Soup is not enough to fill my hungry clients’ families, but a good soup with this on the side would be, like this Tomato Basil Soup or Grandma Laurel’s Lentil Soup, which is soooo good. Or if you’ve got some really hungry family members who’ve been swimming or playing all day, serve this alongside a delicious and filling Cheeseburger Soup and give them a really protein-fueled meal. By the way, crusty, toasted French bread dips really nicely in these soups and this delicious pasta salad’s sauce.
Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast chopped
- 8 ounces rotini pasta cooked and cooled
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 medium cucumber diced
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper diced
- 1/4 cup red onion finely chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen peas thawed
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked chicken, cooked pasta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion, and thawed peas.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, and garlic powder until smooth to create the dressing.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta mixture and gently toss until all ingredients are well coated.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkle with fresh parsley.
- Chill the salad in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving to allow flavors to meld together.
Leave a Comment