This simple pesto pasta salad is full of bright, fresh flavors! It’s made with chunks of chicken, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, mini mozzarella balls, and tossed in basil pesto and lemon juice. Serve it for lunch, dinner, or take it as a side dish to your next barbecue or potluck!
If you have some leftover pesto, use it to make this pesto baked chicken with tomatoes, pesto orzo, or grilled pesto chicken skewers!
Why You’ll Love Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
Easy prep – This pasta salad only has a few ingredients to chop up. You can get everything prepped in the time that it takes for the pasta to cook.
Simple ingredients – The salad uses a mix of both fresh and pantry ingredients, all of which are packed with flavor.
Leftovers keep well – This is a pasta salad that will keep for up to 4 days making it great for busy nights or lunches during the week.
Summer flavors – Fresh basil pesto and sweet tomatoes give this pasta salad all the summer vibes! With the mini mozzarella balls added in, it has similar flavor to caprese salad.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken – Any leftover cooked chicken you have on hand will work for the salad. You can also use rotisserie chicken.
Pasta – Use a short shaped pasta for the salad such as fusilli, cavatappi, or bow-tie pasta.
Fresh mozzarella pearls – I like to use this size because you can just add them in whole. If you can’t find them you can use larger fresh mozzarella balls and either halve or quarter them.
Tomatoes – Cherry tomatoes are perfect for this pasta salad because they’re extra sweet and you only have to cut them in half.
Roasted red peppers and marinated artichoke hearts – Flavorful pantry ingredients.
Red onion – Raw red onion is nice because the flavor isn’t as harsh as yellow onion.
Pesto – Use refrigerated pesto, jarred pesto, or homemade pesto.
Lemon – Fresh lemon juice brightens up all the flavors in the salad.
Tips for Making Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad
- Cook the pasta just until al dente and rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking process. If the pasta is overcooked it will be mushy and fall apart when you toss everything together in the pesto.
- Use a good quality pesto. For jarred pesto I recommend DeLallo and for refrigerated Gotham Greens.
- Use room temperature pesto so that it mixes into the pasta salad easily.
- You can use canned artichoke hearts, but marinated artichoke hearts add extra flavor to the salad.
- Depending on your tastes, you may want to use 1/2 or a whole lemon in the salad. Whatever you decide, use fresh squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
Substitutions and Variations
- Make it vegetarian and omit the chicken. You can also make it vegan if you use dairy-free pesto and omit the mozzarella balls.
- Make it spicy and add in a pinch of red pepper flakes.
- Use different veggies. Red bell pepper, baby spinach or arugula, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, and olives would all be good alternatives.
- Swap mozzarella balls with feta or shredded parmesan cheese.
- Make it gluten-free simply by using a gluten-free pasta.
Serving Suggestions
This is a pasta salad that can be served as a main dish or side dish.
Storage
The pasta salad will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
I like to eat the leftovers cold, however you can warm it in the microwave if you prefer a warm pasta salad.
Don’t freeze the pasta salad. The tomatoes will be mushy once defrosted.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
Looking for more delicious pasta salads to make this summer or anytime of year? Here are some of my favorites!
Cook the pasta until it’s al dente. Drain and rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking process. Pour it into a large mixing bowl or serving bowl.
Add the diced chicken, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, mozzarella pearls, tomatoes and onion in with the pasta. Gently toss everything together.
Add the pesto and lemon juice in with the pasta mixture. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir everything together until it’s coated in the pesto. Taste for seasoning and add a pinch of salt and extra lemon juice or pesto if needed.
Garnish with fresh basil if desired. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Calories: 516kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 36gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 767mgPotassium: 450mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1076IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 305mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this chicken pesto pasta salad? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
