

Cold Chicken Pasta Salad
By ChickenRecipes.ca Team|March 15, 2024
The potluck staple that shows up at every Canadian Canada Day barbecue, family reunion, and neighbourhood block party from coast to coast. Rotini pasta — always rotini because the spirals trap the dressing in every groove — grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, red onion, and a simple Italian dressing that soaks into the pasta overnight. Make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge — the pasta absorbs the dressing and the flavours develop into something significantly better than it was fresh. Add feta cheese crumbles on top if you want to look like you put in extra effort, which you didn't, because this salad takes 20 minutes of active work.
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition Per Serving
Reviews
My family loved this recipe. Will definitely make again!
Simple ingredients, amazing results. Highly recommend.
Best chicken recipe I have tried in a long time.
Recipe at a Glance
Pro Tips
- 1Always rinse the pasta with cold water — it stops the cooking and washes off starch that makes cold pasta gummy.
- 2The salad absorbs dressing overnight. Before serving, add 2-3 tablespoons of extra dressing and toss again.
- 3This serves 8 easily — make the full batch. It disappears faster than you'd expect at any gathering.
Variations
- Greek pasta salad: add Kalamata olives, cucumber, and a Greek vinaigrette instead of Italian.
- Southwest version: add corn, black beans, and a cilantro-lime dressing.
- Pesto version: replace Italian dressing with basil pesto thinned with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Cold Chicken Pasta Salad
“Restaurant-quality Cold Chicken Pasta Salad you can make at home tonight.”
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