Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad combines your favorite salad with a little bit of pasta to make a family dinner or side dish that’s quick, easy, and so darn tasty. Full of all the classic flavors and a little bit of bacon, this pasta salad recipe will be on your must make list.
My kids, like most, don’t ever want to eat their veggies.
So I find a way to get those greens in.
I get behind their defenses and hit them where it hurts.
Right in the taste buds.
This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad recipe is a beautiful pairing of pasta and salad that they love because of a tricky secret ingredient.
The secret ingredient? Bacon!
It makes this dish just too tasty.
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need:
- Pasta- 1 cup of dry pasta cooked to package directions
- Bacon– Cooked crisp and crumples along with bacon grease
- Rotisserie chicken– Chopped
- Red onion– Thinly sliced
- Parmesan cheese– I recommend shredded Parmesan cheese
- Romaine or green leaf lettuce– Chopped
- Salt and pepper- To taste
- Caesar dressing– You can use store bought or Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
- Croutons– Optional but highly recommended for extra crunch
How to Make
This Caesar pasta salad is so easy to make!
To do it, just cook the pasta according to package directions.
Then, drain the pasta and run it under cold water to stop cooking.
Set it aside.
While the pasta is cooking, cook the bacon, reserving 1 tbsp of the grease/drippings.
Transfer cooled pasta to a bowl and toss with the bacon drippings until evenly combined.
Stir in the other ingredients until evenly combined.
Add in more dressing if necessary, to taste, and again toss everything to evenly coat.
Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes! With one small note.
If you’d like to make this ahead of time, don’t stir in the lettuce until you are ready to serve. It will get soggy.
Prepare everything else as instructed, and store it in an airtight container.
You can prep your lettuce and store it in a separate container. Toss together just before you’re ready to serve.
Tips and Tricks
- Use a smaller shaped pasta that the dressing will cling to well- we like penne, rotini, farfalle, cavatappi, or radiatorre.
- Don’t skip tossing the pasta with bacon drippings. It adds so much flavor and keeps the noodles from sticking together.
- You can use whatever version of Caesar dressing you fancy most, just use a creamy version and not a vinaigrette. You need the creamy to stick to all the ingredients and keep them together. If all you have is caesar vinaigrette, whisk a tablespoon or two of mayo into it until smooth & creamy.
- We don’t serve this as a chilled pasta salad, but it tastes good that way too. If you’d prefer it cold, simply make as instructed (skipping the lettuce until serving time), and chill, covered, in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before needed.
Other Pasta Salad Recipes
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is loaded with a bonanza of flavors from penne pasta noodles, crisp green leaf lettuce, crumbled bacon, tangry red onions, and chopped rotisserie chicken all lightly bathed in a creamy Caesar dressing.
It’s a perfect filling side or light, filling meal.
Looking for other pasta salad recipes? Try these:
- Spinach Dip Pasta Salad
- Chicken Club Pasta Salad
- Seafood Pasta Salad
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
- Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
- Ranch BLT Pasta Salad
- Crunchy Doritos Taco Pasta Salad
- Three Bean Pasta Salad
- Pizza Pasta Salad
- Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad
f you’ve tried this CHICKEN CAESAR PASTA SALAD, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry pasta cooked according to package directions
- 6 slices thick cut bacon; cooked crisp and crumbled
- 1 tbsp bacon grease*
- 1 cup cooked rotisserie chicken roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups chopped romaine or green leaf, lettuce
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup Caesar dressing or more to taste
- 1 cup croutons optional
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, run under cold water to stop cooking, and set aside.
- Cook bacon, reserving 1 tbsp of the grease/drippings.
- Transfer cooled pasta to a bowl and toss with the bacon drippings* until evenly combined.
- Add in all other ingredients and stir thoroughly until evenly combined.
- Add in more dressing if necessary, to taste, and again toss everything to evenly coat.
- Serve immediately.**
Notes
- Use a smaller shaped pasta that the dressing will cling to well- we like penne, rotini, farfalle, cavatappi, or radiatorre.
- Don't skip tossing the pasta with bacon drippings. It adds so much flavor and keeps the noodles from sticking together.
- You can use whatever version of Caesar dressing you fancy most, just use a creamy version and not a vinaigrette. You need the creamy to stick to all the ingredients and keep them together. If all you have is caesar vinaigrette, whisk a tablespoon or two of mayo into it until smooth & creamy.
- We don’t serve this as a chilled pasta salad, but it tastes good that way too. If you’d prefer it cold, simply make as instructed (skipping the lettuce until serving time), and chill, covered, in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before needed.
Nutrition
Deb says
This look SO good – and who could resist that bacony goodness? I bet coating the pasta with the bacon drippings adds the perfect extra pop. I bet this would be good with salmon as well. Thank you for sharing at #FiestaFriday!
Natalie says
All that’s missing is egg, otherwise great recipe!
Stacy says
Only 1 cup of pasta?
4sonsrus says
Yes, one cup of dry pasta- cooked. As the pasta fluffs it’s more that it initially looked like. This also wasn’t supposed to be a pasta heavy salad, more like a hybrid. That being said, you can always add more. You just may need to add a bit more dressing so it’s all well coated.
Kairee says
Where did you get these bowls, or what are they called ?
Carrie says
I am trying to help my son make a meal that is under 800 calories, 1300mg sodium, and 40g of fat, are the nutritional values for the whole salad???
4sonsrus says
The nutritional values are per serving. This salad recipe makes roughly four servings. Hope that helps!
Lindsay McNierney says
I normally do not comment on recipes but this was so freaking good! This definitely just became a family favorite! I’m already looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!
Cathie says
Wow! This is fantastic! Will be making this over and over again! Thank you!!
Cindeelou says
Made this last night – with your home made Caesar dressing. It was soooo good and full of flavor. My husband was a little unsure of the pasta in at first…like, “Don’t mess with my Caesar salad”. But then I told him it’s NOT a cold pasta salad with lettuce in it. He gave it a go and loved it. This will be a repeat for us. And always with your dressing recipe. So easy to get ready ahead of time and just do a few things at the last minute. Oh, and I didn’t tweak a thing….that’s quite amazing, lol. Wait….I sauteed my own chicken breasts. That’s all. Thanks for a great recipe!
Cindeelou says
Making it again tonight with all your homemade suggestions….dressing & croutons! They are worth the tiny bit of extra time. Yum! Thanks!