Healthy Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

A delicious and creamy pasta salad that’s good for you, too. This healthy chicken pesto pasta salad makes the perfect high protein lunch.

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Nothing screams summer like a creamy and satisfying pasta salad.

And as a dietitian, I love adding some extra nutrition to make this sometimes heavy lunch a little more balanced. This easy recipe for pasta salad is loaded with protein and fiber from nutritious ingredients like chickpeas, bocconcini, and arugula. And it’s coated in the dreamiest creamy pesto dressing that’s made a little lighter with yogurt and lemon.

This amazing chicken pesto pasta salad is good for you, but it tastes like it’s not. You know? Learn how to make this filling and nutrient-dense lunch for your next meal prep!

Why you’ll love it

High protein: Each serving contains 28 grams of protein to keep you full and help you build muscle.

High fiber: You’re getting 7 grams of dietary fiber for better digestion, better heart health, and reduced cravings.

Doesn’t taste too healthy: Regular white pasta, olive oil, store bought pesto, and cheese mean this balanced meal is as satisfying as it is nutritious.

Super easy: The hardest part of this recipe is chopping up your rotisserie chicken. Everything else comes together in minutes, and makes this the perfect meal for quick lunch prep.

Good for your gut: Did you know that cooked and cooled pasta contains resistant starch that can benefit your gut and blood sugar? And artichokes have the prebiotic fiber inulin, which can help your good gut bacteria feed and thrive.

Ingredients

For the base of this pasta salad, you’ll need:

• Bowtie pasta — I used regular white bowtie pasta, but sub for any noodle or protein pasta you enjoy
• Rotisserie chicken
• Canned chickpeas — sub any canned bean or lentil you like
• Cherry tomatoes
• Mini bocconcini — you can also use regular bocconcini and chop it smaller
• Marinated artichoke hearts — the kind in a jar
• Arugula — sub any green you like

For the dressing, you’ll need store bought pesto, olive oil, yogurt, honey, fresh lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. To save time, you could just toss the pasta salad in pesto. But this easy dressing is creamy, bright, and balanced, and does a better job at keeping your salad moist and tasty.

Variations

Higher protein: Use protein pasta and/or double the chicken.

Vegetarian: Sub chopped chicken for a can of lentils.

Higher fiber: Swap white pasta for chickpea pasta, lentil pasta, or whole wheat.

Lower calorie: Swap olive oil for more yogurt.

Lactose-free: Use lactose-free bocconcini, or sub for another lactose-free cheese.

Dairy free: Omit the bocconcini cheese.

Step-by-step instrutions

Add all ingredients for creamy pesto dressing to a small bowl and whisk together until smooth and well combined.

Taste your dressing, and adjust ingredients if desired. Every store bought dressing tastes a little different, so this is an important step. Set aside.

Add all ingredients for pasta salad to a large mixing bowl. Pour dressing over top and toss until all ingredients are well coated.

If you’re making this for meal prep, store the arugula separately and add to each bowl before eating.

Additional ingredients

Customize this pasta salad with these optional extra ingredients:

• Spinach
• Olives
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Feta cheese
• Parsley
• Dill
• Cucumber
• Hot pepper spread
• Pepperoncini peppers
• Chopped salami
• Bell peppers
• Red onion

Storage instructions

If you’re making chicken pesto pasta salad for meal prep, store the arugula separately and add to each bowl before eating. This ensures the arugula stays crisp and fresh, and prevents any sogginess.

Store in individually portioned food containers in the fridge. Chicken pesto pasta salad will stay good for up to 3 days.

Helpful tips

Try to buy fresh, refrigerated pesto instead of what’s on the regular grocery shelves. It tastes more fresh and bright! You can usually find it near the deli counter or olive bar.

Serve each portion of pesto pasta salad with a lemon wedge. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over top right before eating.