This Avocado Chicken Pasta Salad is just what you need on a hot summer day. This pasta salad is packed with protein and is so easy to put together, making it perfect for days you don’t want to spend hours cooking in the kitchen! Simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss with the dressing and you’ve got a meal!
I love an easy pasta salad, especially when they involve minimal cooking. This avocado chicken pasta salad is great for lunch, picnics, potlucks, and more. Even better, it’s made in 20 minutes!
Want more easy delicious salads? You should try my Brussels Sprouts Salad or my Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. They make great side dishes or as a light lunch.
Why You’ll Love This Pasta Salad
- It is so easy to make! You simply cut everything up and then toss it all together in a bowl. Quick, easy, and perfect for any meal.
- It’s packed with healthy goodness. You’ll get all the healthy fats you need from the avocado, protein from the chicken, and your serving of vegetables all in one meal!
- It’s perfect for summer. If you get your chicken pre-cooked or if you’ve meal-prepped chicken ahead of time, then this is almost a no-cook recipe! All you’ll have to make is the pasta!
What You’ll Need
- Chicken: I use boneless skinless chicken for this pasta salad.
- Vegetables: I use cherry tomatoes, red onions, feel free to add more!
- Pasta: I use rotini pasta but you can use whatever pasta you’d like.
- Italian parsley: for that fresh herby flavor, I had a handful of parsley.
- Dried cranberries: this adds a touch of sweetness to the pasta salad.
- Avocado: make sure they are ripe or it will not be creamy or taste good!
- Red chili pepper: just a bit to add some heat to the chicken avocado pasta salad!
- Dressing: for the dressing, I use lemon juice, olive oil, salt, Dijon mustard, honey, pepper, dried oregano, and minced garlic!
How To Make Avocado Chicken Pasta Salad
- Cook pasta: cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain in a strainer and run cold water on them to cool immediately.
- Prepare the ingredients: Prepare the dressing in a cup and then dice and slice the veggies need.
- Combine everything: Place all the ingredients in a bowl and drizzle the dressing on them. Toss them together carefully to avoid smashing the avocados. Make sure everything is evenly coated. Serve immediately.
Tips and Notes
- To save time, using a cooked rotisserie chicken is a great shortcut. Shred the chicken meat you need from the pre-made chicken and you even save the bones to make stock with!
- You can also cook the chicken and pasta ahead of time as well and store that in the fridge so you can quickly toss this together.
- The dressing can also be made ahead of time as well! Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
- If you don’t have Dijon mustard you can use normal yellow mustard or honey mustard.
- Shaved or shredded Parmesan, goat cheese, and blue cheese works great on this salad as well.
- Avoid using bottled lemon juice as the bottled juice tend to have a bitter aftertaste. I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice!
FAQs
Add whatever vegetables you have to this! Bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, corn, and peas are a great addition. You can even add whatever fresh herbs you have on hand as well! Fresh basil, mint, and dill go really well with this avocado pasta salad as well. You can also add other greens to this like massaged kale, spinach, or romaine lettuce.
This avocado chicken pasta salad won’t last more than three days as the avocado will turn brown from oxidation. The lemon in the dressing will keep it from oxidizing right away but it’s best to eat this pasta salad as soon as possible. To help keep it fresh, be sure to keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. If your container is not airtight, the avocado will oxidize quicker.
An avocado is firm when the skin turns dark green. The avocado should also yield to pressure when you lightly squeeze it. Once the avocado is ripe, you can store it in the fridge until you’re ready to make the salad so it doesn’t go bad. Avocados can go from no-ripe to ripe, to over ripe so quickly!
More Salad Recipes You’ll Love
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Chicken Avocado Pasta Salad recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it, and share it with your friends and family
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Chicken Avocado Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken skinless
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ¼ cup red onion fine chopped
- 2 cups rotini pasta cooked
- ¼ cup Italian parsley finely chopped
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 2 large avocados
- 1-2 tbsps. red chili pepper petite diced, more or less to taste
Dressing
- ¼ cup lemon juice or 1 lemon
- 3 tbsps. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsps. Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp. honey
- ½ tsp. fresh cracked pepper
- ½ tsp. chili flakes
- ¾ tsp. dry oregano
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain in a strainer and run cold water on them to cool immediately.
- Prepare the dressing in a cup.
- Dice and slice the veggies need.
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and drizzle the dressing on them. Toss them together carefully to avoid smashing the avocados. Make sure everything is evenly coated.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- To save time, using a cooked rotisserie chicken is a great shortcut. Shred the chicken meat you need from the pre-made chicken and you even save the bones to make stock with!
- You can also cook the chicken and pasta ahead of time as well and store that in the fridge so you can quickly toss this together.
- The dressing can also be made ahead of time as well! Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
- If you don’t have Dijon mustard you can use normal yellow mustard or honey mustard.
- Shaved or shredded Parmesan, goat cheese, and blue cheese works great on this salad as well.
- Avoid using bottled lemon juice as the bottled juice tend to have a bitter aftertaste. I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice!
Love the dressing, so bright
Hi Terry!
Thanks so much for the review. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.