Description
A simple cold pasta salad featuring cooked chicken and pesto sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound pasta (rotini or penne)
- 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
- 1 cup prepared pesto sauce
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup mozzarella balls (small)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool completely.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooled pasta, chopped chicken, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella balls.
- Pour the pesto sauce over the pasta mixture.
- Toss gently until all ingredients are evenly coated with the pesto.
- Stir in the toasted pine nuts.
- Season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- You can toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until lightly browned.
- Use rotisserie chicken for quicker preparation.
- For a lighter version, use half the amount of pesto and add 1/4 cup of olive oil.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Category: Salad
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 3
- Sodium: 550
- Fat: 25
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Unsaturated Fat: 20
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 35
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 25
- Cholesterol: 50
Keywords: pesto, chicken, pasta salad, cold salad, summer salad, easy recipe