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This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is a hearty, flavorful twist on classic Caesar salad. It’s balanced and healthy enough for a full meal and loaded with chicken, crunchy croutons, crisp romaine lettuce and a light creamy Caesar dressing.
Why You’ll Love This
I’m a little obsessed with pasta salad recipes. I especially love a pasta salad that’s also a complete meal, like my Grinder Pasta Salad, High Protein Pasta Salad, and this insanely good Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad Recipe. Here’s why I love it!
- A fun twist on classic Caesar. Chicken Caesar salad is one of my favorite salads, but do you know what makes it even better? Pasta. This dish is so delicious, filling, and packs all of the same flavor you expect in a Caesar salad.
- High protein. With lean chicken breast and a Greek yogurt-based dressing, this pasta salad packs over 35 grams of protein per serving!
- Balanced + ultra-satisfying. Unlike lots of pasta salads, this one is a complete, balanced meal with plenty of protein, carbohydrates and veggies (+ 7 grams of fiber!). It makes a great side dish at summer BBQs too!
- Next level flavor. With a lightened up homemade Caesar dressing and homemade croutons, the flavor in this pasta salad is truly so so good.
If you love healthy, lightened up recipes that feel indulgent like this one, you’ll love my Marry Me Chicken Pasta too.
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts: You’ll season chicken breast with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and lemon juice for the perfect protein for this Caesar pasta salad. For a shortcut, use my Air Fryer Thin Sliced Chicken Breast, rotisserie chicken or any leftover chicken you have.
- Romaine lettuce: Romaine hearts are a must for that crisp lettuce crunch.
- Parmesan cheese: Shaved parmesan is my favorite but you can use grated as well or even another cheese like cheddar.
- Pasta: I use chickpea pasta for a protein and fiber boost, but any pasta will work. My favorite shapes for pasta salads are bow tie, rotini or penne pasta.
Greek Yogurt Caesar Ingredients
- Greek yogurt: Plain Greek yogurt is my favorite swap for creamy dressings.
- Parmesan cheese: Grated parmesan adds cheesy salty creamy flavor.
- Dijon mustard + Worcestershire sauce: Dijon mustard and Worcestershire deliver a big boost of flavor to the Caesar dressing.
- Mayonnaise: Just a little bit of mayo adds the classic creamy dressing flavor.
- Garlic + lemon juice: Lemon juice adds a zesty citrus boost to the dressing and fresh garlic cloves add a ton of bold flavor. (tip: use a garlic microplane)
Croutons
- Whole wheat bread: You’re free to use store-bought croutons, or you can make your own croutons with whole grain bread, olive oil, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. So simple!
For the full ingredients list with amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.
Variations
- Make it vegetarian. Skip the chicken and use chickpea pasta instead of regular pasta. Or, add a can of chickpeas or 2 cups of shelled edamame.
- Add more veggies. Add a cup each of fresh cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers for a veggie-packed caesar pasta salad.
- Switch up the protein. Chicken is a classic but this pasta salad is also amazing with shrimp, salmon or even steak.
- Use a different dressing. You can use your favorite store-bought salad dressing or change it up with my Cottage Cheese Ranch Dressing or Cucumber Ranch Dressing.
- Add anchovies. If you like a Caesar dressing with anchovies, add 1/2 teaspoon of anchovy paste to the dressing.
How to Make Caesar Pasta Salad
- Cook the pasta. Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside to cool (You can rinse with cold water to speed it up if needed).
- Make the chicken. Place chicken breast on a rimmed baking sheet and brush with olive oil and lemon juice on both sides. Sprinkle evenly with spices. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool and chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Make the croutons. Slice bread into ~¾” cubes using a serrated knife. Place on a second lined baking sheet. Drizzle evenly with olive oil and sprinkle with spices. Toss to coat evenly. Bake for 8-12 minutes, tossing half way through to brown evenly.
- Prepare the dressing. While the chicken and croutons bake, make the dressing by mixing all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
- Add your salad ingredients. In a large bowl add cooled pasta, chicken, chopped romaine lettuce, shaved parmesan cheese and dressing.
- Mix! Toss thoroughly to coat ingredients. Top with croutons right before serving.
How To Store
If you’re making this ahead of time, I recommend storing the prepared ingredients separately (each in an airtight container) until ready to serve. Or, mix everything and leave the lettuce and croutons out because they’ll get soggy. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Jamie’s Tips
Recipe Tips
- Save time. Use rotisserie chicken and grab your favorite croutons from the grocery store to make this a quicker meal. You can also grab a store-bought dressing if that’s more appealing.
- Cool your pasta + chicken. Make sure to give your pasta and chicken a few minutes of cooling time or your romaine lettuce will wilt.
- Don’t overcook. Make sure to cook pasta until it’s perfectly al dente (slightly chewy) and chicken until it reaches 165 degrees for pasta that will hold up in the salad and tender (not rubbery!) chicken.
More Healthy Pasta Salads
If you’ve made and loved this Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and comments below!
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
A hearty, flavorful twist on classic Caesar salad. It's balanced and healthy enough for a full meal and loaded with chicken, crunchy croutons, crisp romaine lettuce and a light creamy Caesar dressing.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast cutlets, thin-sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 large romaine lettuce bunches, washed, dried and chopped
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shaved
- 8 oz. bowtie pasta, whole wheat or chickpea pasta
Caesar Dressing
- 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt, full-fat
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 clove garlic, microplaned or very finely minced
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 2-4 tbsp milk, add slowly to reach desired consistency
- optional: 1/2 tsp anchovy paste
Croutons (or feel free to use store-bought!)
- 3 slices whole grain bread, thick slices, cut in
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder
- pinch of salt and black pepper, more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta to al dente. Drain and set aside to cool.
- Mix lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl with a whisk or fork.
- Place chicken breast on the prepared baking sheet and brush with olive oil and lemon juice on both sides. Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper evenly on both sides. Bake for 20 minutes, cool slightly and chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Slice bread into ~¾” cubes for croutons using a serrated knife. Place on a second baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle evenly with olive oil and sprinkle with spices, tossing to coat evenly. Bake for 8-12 minutes, tossing half way through. Croutons should be crunchy on the outside with a slight chewiness in the middle.
- While the chicken and croutons bake, make the dressing by mixing all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl add cooled pasta and chicken, chopped romaine lettuce, shaved parmesan cheese and dressing. Toss thoroughly to coat ingredients. Top with croutons right before serving.
Notes
To save time, grab a rotisserie chicken and store-bought croutons. You can also use a store-bought creamy Caesar dressing if you’d like.
Make sure to cook the pasta to al dente (slightly chewy) so that it holds up in the pasta salad.
Nutrition
Serving: 2.5cups | Calories: 427kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 830mg | Potassium: 436mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1004IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 323mg | Iron: 5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an estimate.
Did you try this recipe?Leave a comment + star rating below!
This was the perfect back-home-from-vacation meal! I am on a low sodium journey so I love being about to control the amount of salt in my salad dressing. This was delicious! Definitely will make this again!
Yay! Thank you so much for trying it and leaving a review :). I’m so glad you enjoyed it!