Caesar Pasta Salad
Turn salad into a meal with a few easy items, this Caesar Pasta Salad recipe is on heavy repeat in my kitchen, and I give you tips so it’ll stay crisp for meal prep too.
I’m all about pasta salad, just saying those words makes my mouth water.
This is a fun twist on Caesar Salad, it turns it into a tasty meal.
This pasta salad is more than pasta, it includes salad… which you don’t typically find leafy greens in pasta salad recipes. I use Romaine lettuce, kale is another great option.
This recipe revolves around this easy homemade Creamy Caesar Dressing it’s one of my tasty go-to salad dressing recipes.
Let’s start with the main pasta salad ingredients
- Romaine lettuce
- shaved Romano or Parmesan Cheese
- Croutons
- Homemade Creamy Caesar Dressing
- pasta
- cooked chicken (grilled, sauteed, or rotisserie chicken breast)
Depending on how many servings you’re looking for this recipe can be easily customized, I made 4 servings with 1/2 lb of pasta, you can easily add the whole pound and some more salad dressing to make more filling servings or additional servings.
This has become one of my go-to pasta salad recipes. It takes minutes to prep, it’s great for making lunches ahead of time. It comes together so easily you can make it if someone stops by and you’re sitting and chatting and decide to make some lunch!
Adding cooked chicken to this recipe is just perfect for when you want that added protein a meal.
Get ready to dive your fork into this deliciousness!
BIGGEST tip when making this pasta salad- do not toss the lettuce in the dressing. It will wilt the greens and they’ll become soggy. You’ll want to keep the lettuce as crisp as possible. And you can even enjoy this the next day. Super-Bonus! The croutons will get less crisp if they are in the container for a leftover, it’s often better to place them in a bag and put that into the container so they stay crunchy when eating it at a later time.
Pasta salads that have been refrigerated develop a deeper flavor.
To do that for this recipe, mix the pasta with some dressing and refrigerate it, you can cut and prep out the other items and keep them separate, and mix just before serving. That way you can add some additional salad dressing if needed. It’s also nice to drizzle some Caesar Dressing over the top of the final dish too.
This recipe can certainly be enjoyed when just made! Be sure to soak the pasta in cold water for 3 minutes, so the pasta is cold. Then blot the pasta dry with paper towels so the salad dressing won’t slip off!
More great summer salad style recipes to try are my potato salad or macaroni salad. If you’d like more info on enjoying resistant starch… and reasons why pasta get better once completely chilled, read this.
Add this to your meal prep for fun lunches, to take to the park, or beach, or to drop by to see a friend. If you’re not serving immediately do not add the croutons, place them in a bag and tuck them inside the container when you take it out of the fridge to keep them crunchy.
Be sure to check out more pasta salad recipes here:
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Green Goddess Pasta Salad
- Feta Basil Balsamic Pasta Salad
- Creamy Lemon Pasta Salad
- Pesto Zucchini Pasta Salad
Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound Cellentani pasta or similar spiral pasta use a lb if you want more pasta
- 6-8 large romaine lettuce leaves chopped
- 1-1 1/2 lbs cooked chicken breast, chopped grilled, sauteed, or rotisserie chicken breast
- 1/3 cup Romano or Parmesan Cheese, shaved additional 1 oz grated cheese for dressing if desired
- pinch salt and pepper to taste you'll add to both the dressing then the pasta salad
- 1 cup homemade creamy caesar dressing recipe follows
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic or garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 4 dashes hot sauce for zing
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta according to package directions, and drain.
- Soak in cold water for 3 minutes, to completely chill the pasta.
- Prepare the dressing while the pasta cooks.
- Mix the sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and salt and pepper until blended. (for extra cheesy dressing add 1 oz grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese.
- Blot the pasta dry with a paper towel so the dressing will coat that pasta and not "slip" off. Add 1/2 the dressing to the pasta and stir well.
- In a medium bowl, add 1/2 the dressing to the pasta and stir well. Add more dressing as needed as desired.
- If serving immediately mix a couple of tablespoons dressing with the chicken and stir that into the pasta, stir in the chopped lettuce, top with grated cheese and croutons, salt and pepper, and serve.
- I usually prepare the pasta the day ahead when making pasta salad and allow the dressing time to absorb a bit, then add additional dressing before serving.
- In this recipe do not mix the lettuce with the dressing until closer to serving. Add additional dressing if desired.
- When meal prepping place the dressed pasta in the bottom of the dish, add the lettuce and cheese on top. Place the chicken on top. Then place the croutons in a bag, and tuck it inside the container so they stay crunchy.
- Top with salt and pepper and serve.