Chicken pesto pasta salad is a quick, easy, healthy meal with fresh ingredients like homemade basil pesto, bacon, tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. This summer dish is perfect for barbecues, weeknight dinners, and meal prep.
0 Cook pasta according to the package instructions until al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water.
1 I prepped the chicken ahead of time and highly recommend it. If you are making this same day, you can season the chicken with your favorite blend of spices. I used salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Once the chicken is cooked, roughly chop it into bite sized pieces.
2 Cook the bacon and chop all the vegetables.
3 In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients– pasta, parsley, grilled chicken, bacon, cherry tomatoes, red onion, parsley, basil pesto and parmesan cheese. Toss it all together until everything is coated with the basil pesto. Feel free to add more pesto to your desire and salt and pepper if needed. If the basil pesto is too thick, add a splash of the reserve pasta water to thin it out.
4 You can use store bought basil pesto and try my homemade basil pesto recipe. It is so easy to make and very delicious.
