Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Caesar salads are my favorite type of salad, hands down. I LIVE for a good Caesar dressing. So naturally, I love it in many forms: a salad before the entree, topped with chicken as the entree, in a wrap.
And then I got the idea for this recipe: a Caesar Salad, but with pasta!
This idea came about because it creates a more balanced meal:
Protein: chicken
Fat: Caesar dressing, cheese
Carbs: pasta!
Veg: romaine
The only drawback of this recipe is that you have to eat it immediately, or else the romaine gets soggy. But you can still prep the romaine, cook the pasta, debone the rotisserie chicken, and store them all separately so that this meal can come together in minutes. That’s how I did it!
As for Caesar dressings, I will not lie to you and tell you that a store-bought dressing is just as good as homemade. That is simply not true. Once I made a homemade version (I think from the New York Times?) I knew the truth. But, I am lazy, and most of the time I still buy store-bought dressings. Here are the best ones I have tried (and I’ve tried some real bad ones):
Hanley’s - the closest to the real thing I’ve tried!
Litehouse - good, very thick
Sidedish (Miso Caesar) - more tangy and thin than a typical Caesar, but great if you want a twist
Get the full recipe below, and check out the recipe video at this link!
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Course Lunch, Dinner
Servings 1 serving
Ingredients:
2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
2 oz cooked pasta of choice
4-6 oz rotisserie chicken
2-3 tbsp Caesar dressing
2 tbsp fresh parmesan cheese, shaved or grated
2-3 tbsp toasted breadcrumbs (just plain breadcrumbs with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes toasted in a pan with some butter and olive oil)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
In a large bowl, add romaine, pasta, rotisserie chicken, Caesar dressing, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and toasted breadcrumbs. Toss until well-combined.
Note: If your Caesar dressing is very thick, you can add a little water to thin it out to distribute it more evenly throughout your salad!
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