Asian Chicken Pasta Salad
Summer is halfway over! I can’t believe it! However, there is still time to enjoy this Asian chicken pasta salad. It works great as a main dish or is perfect to take to a summer bbq! It’s a nice change from the usual pasta salad.
The Asian chicken pasta salad is comprised of pasta, chicken, shredded carrot, cilantro, green onion, diced bell peppers and optional almond slices or chopped peanuts. You can pick any medium sized pasta to make this. The recipe originally calls for bowtie pasta. However, I used fusilli corti bucati. I thought is was a fun and different shape to use in this salad.
The recipe also uses cooked chicken. Grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken are perfect options to use here. However, when I made it for this picture. I just used chicken I had cooked in my slow cooker.
Once you have all those salad ingredients ready, it’s time for the sesame soy dressing. This is what makes this salad taste so amazing. This dressing is made with vegetable oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, toasted sesame seeds, brown sugar, and sesame oil. If you don’t have sesame oil, you can just use another tablespoon of vegetable oil. However, that sesame oil is really what gives the dressing it’s amazing Asian flavor.
If taking this to a bbq, I recommend tossing the salad with only half the dressing before hand. Then toss it with the other have at serving time. Also, if using the nuts, don’t add those until serving time either. You want those nuts to keep their crunch.
Here is what you need to make this
Asian Chicken Pasta Salad
- MEDIUM SIZED PASTA (I USED FUSILLI CORTI BUCATI OR BOWTIE WORKS NICE)
- COOKED CHICKEN
- SHREDDED CARROTS
- CILANTRO
- GREEN ONION
- RED BELL PEPPER
- SLICED ALMONDS OR CHOPPED PEANUTS (OPTIONAL)
- VEGETABLE OR CANOLA OIL
- BROWN SUGAR
- SEASONED RICE VINEGAR
- LOW SODIUM SOY SAUCE
- SESAME OIL
- TOASTED SESAME SEEDS
Asian Chicken Pasta Salad
Real Mom Kitchen
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 oz medium sized pasta about 4 cups (I used fusilli corti bucati and bowtie is what the original recipe calls for)
- 2 cups cooked chicken chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ cup diced green onion
- ½ cup diced red bell pepper
- optional 1/2 cup slice almonds or chopped peanuts
- Dressing
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds **see note
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Once pasta is cooled and drained, add to a large bowl.
- Add in the chicken, carrots, cilantro, green onion, and bell pepper. Stir to combine.
- In a jar with a tight lid, add in the dressing ingredients. Seal and shake well to combine. Pour dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Sprinkle with optional nuts if desired and serve. If serving later, toss with half the dressing, the toss with the remaining dressing just before serving. Serves 8.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe is adapted from From Valerie’s Kitchen.
