Description
This chicken Caesar pasta salad recipe is tossed with my favorite dressing, al dente pasta, garlicky breadcrumbs and loads of Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta Salad Ingredients:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound uncooked pasta (I used farfalle)
- 3 Romaine lettuce hearts (12 ounces), roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups Caesar dressing*
- Parmesan cheese, for topping
Garlic Breadcrumbs Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prep the pasta water. Bring a large pot of generously-salted water to a boil over high heat.
- Cook the garlic breadcrumbs. Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the breadcrumbs along with a generous pinch of salt and pepper and sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden. Transfer the breadcrumbs to a bowl and set aside. Wipe down the sauté pan briefly until clean.
- Cook the chicken. Season the chicken generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Using the same sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes per side until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 minutes, then thinly slice it into bite-sized pieces.
- Cook the pasta. Cook the pasta in the salted water until just al dente. Strain the pasta through a colander, then rinse it with cold water until chilled.
- Toss the pasta salad. Add the pasta, lettuce, chicken and Caesar dressing to a large mixing bowl and gently toss until evenly combined.
- Serve. Serve immediately, garnished with the garlic breadcrumbs, lots of Parmesan cheese, and a few extra twists of black pepper. Or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 4 hours and then serve chilled.
Notes
Caesar dressing amount: If using my homemade Caesar dressing recipe, please note that you’ll need to make a 1.5 batch to yield 1.5 cups.