This post is sponsored by Chickapea.
A healthy and delicious high-protein Chicken Pasta Salad perfect for meal prep or for a picnic! Make two different dressings to keep it interesting. You get 2 recipes in 1 here: Asian and Italian Pasta Salad with Chicken!
This Chicken Pasta Salad is super versatile. Use your favorite shape of Chickapea pasta, your favorite veggies, cubed chicken and then on top of that you can get creative with your dressing.
I chose bell pepper, carrots, cabbage and greens that hold their shape but you can literally add whatever veggies you like. Go to the market and choose from all the colors of the rainbow.
To keep meal prep time reasonable it’s easier to use the same veggies for all your containers. To keep it interesting you can simply prepare different dressings for your salads and you won’t feel like you’re eating the same thing every day.
I came up with two amazing Chicken Pasta Salad Dressings that make the salad taste completely different each time.
Asian-style with tamari (gluten-free version of soy sauce) and rice vinegar. And Italian-style with sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Both are super amazing and I couldn’t choose one over the other. Hence a Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe TWO ways today.
How to make Chicken Pasta Salad Healthy
It’s super easy! Here are 3 simple steps:
- add pleeeenty of vegetables. As mentioned above, the sky is the limit. Add whatever raw veggies you like. You can even make it easier by adding only greens. No need to chop up anything. Prep time goes down to like 15 minutes that way.
- Use Chickapea’s gluten-free high-protein pasta that doesn’t taste like most gluten-free pastas but like the real deal. It’s make of only chickpeas & lentils, which basically makes it a superfood!
- Add a homemade dressing made with simple but interesting and super falvorful ingredients.
There you have it! THIS is how you make Chicken Pasta Salad healthy.
Meal Prep Pasta Salad with Chicken
To meal prep Pasta Salad with Chicken for the week there are a couple things you have to pay attention to.
- add the dressing to the bottom and keep the container upright so it stays at the bottom. Right before eating, shake the container vigorously to mix is all up. If you only have flat wide containers, store the dressing separately.
- spin-dry your green really well to add them as dry as possible. The wetter they are the faster they wilt. Also, add greens that hold their shape better than others. Choose arugula, romaine lettuce or baby kale.
- Wait for the chickapea pasta and the chicken to cool down completely before adding to your container or else there will be water condensation and your greens start wilting.
Thank you Chickapea for sponsoring this post, it was super delicious to recipe test with your pasta, and thank YOU my lovely readers for supporting the brands that support Green Healthy Cooking.
Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe Video
Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 box Chickapea Pasta (any shape is fine but I used spirals)
- 10.5 oz chicken breast (300g)
- sea salt
- pepper
- 3 carrots
- 2 bell peppers (1 yellow, 1 red)
- 1/8 red cabbage
- 1.5 cups lettuce
- 10 tsp avocado oil
- 1-2 tsp tamari
- 1-2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1-2 tsp sesame oil
- 2-4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1-2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tsp raw honey
Instructions
- Prep: Bring a large pot of water to the boil and preheat oven to 450F (200C).
- Pasta: Cook Chickapea Pasta as instructed on the packaging.
- Chicken: Cube chicken breast add about 1-2 tsp avocado oil, sea salt and pepper to it and spread out in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
- Veggies: In the meantime, peel and grate (or julienne) carrots. Wash, deseed and dice bell peppers. Slice and rinse red cabbage. Wash and spin dry lettuce.
- Asian-style dressing: Add 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp tamari, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp honey and 3 tsp avocado oil to the bottom of your container or a separate small container and whisk or shake until completely combined.
- Italian-style dressing: Add 2 finely chopped sun-dried tomato, 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp honey and 3 teaspoons avocado oil to the bottom of your container or a separate small container and whisk or shake until completely combined.
- Build: Layer the salad ingredients starting with dressing (if not storing separate), pasta, hard veggies, then greens.
- Eat right away or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
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Izzy @ She Likes Food says
I love these for a meal prep lunch! They’re so fresh and packed with veggies! I love both dressing options too!
Rachael says
I love this recipe and video to accompany it. Keep it up!
Erin @ The Almond Eater says
I love these jars and that there are two dressing options, both of which sound delicious!
Regina says
Umh, yes please!! I love that your pasta salad doesn’t include any mayo. This way I can certainly enjoy pasta salad!!
GiGi Eats says
I have to rectify this drooling situation going on over here! ;)
marcie says
This is such a great way to get a ton of veggies and protein in one delicious meal! I love how portable these are and I’m definitely giving this a try!
Trish says
Lorena, they are GORGEOUS! I’d happily eat this for lunch like, every single day haha!
Dana says
These jars are so pretty and oh-so-colorful! Talk about eating the rainbow. I don’t even know which flavor I’d go for first. They both sound incredible. Though I am a complete sucker for East + Southeast Asian flavors…
Sarah says
I’m trying to get better about meal prepping and these are making me so excited to get started! Now I just need to decide which one to make first!
nocrumbsleft says
What a great meal-prep idea. And I love a great pasta salad!
Kristen @ The Endless Meal says
I love both of these options! So happy to have these two recipes for the upcoming BBQ season. And I love that you’ve used Chickapea Pasta. It’s our fav healthy pasta!!
Natasha @ Salt & Lavender says
I love easy make-ahead recipes like this. The jar is so convenient. Perfect for my work lunches!
Robyn Gleason says
I love a good pasta salad in the summer months and this is perfect for both work and weekends! Love the two flavors you’re suggesting, Lorena. Sharing :)