Vineyard Chicken and Pasta Salad
A perfectly light, fresh dinner, this vineyard chicken and pasta salad is crazy delicious! So many tasty ingredients and that dressing…yum!
I’m a huge fan of main dish salads for dinner…as long as they are hearty enough to really constitute a full meal. (Many a dinner salad has lied to me in the past and left me disappointed and hungry.)
This chicken and pasta salad definitely checks that box! Not only is it hearty, it’s also super simple and quick to throw together!
Salad + Dressing
This vineyard salad consists of these layers:
- spring greens
- pasta (your life, your choice of shape!)
- cooked chicken (rotisserie or a tasty grilled chicken)
- grapes
- green onions or chives
- toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds
- fresh basil
Grapes, you ask? In a salad? Why, yes. The juicy pop of grapes is delightfully delicious with the other crunchy, flavorful salad ingredients.
And once the whole salad is drizzled with the bright vinaigrette, it becomes one of those simple, tasty meals that I could eat every day for the rest of forever.
A Couple of Tips
- Chop the spring greens or whatever lettuce/greens you use. Don’t leave the lettuce or spinach pieces large and unwieldy. Run a knife through the greens until they form a delicious confetti bed for everything else to build upon.
- Consider adding bacon. Quite honestly, it’s my one regret. I thought about adding it. Then didn’t. Then regretted it. Bacon would be fabulous in this salad.
- Eyeball most of the ingredients. While I give measurements down in the recipe, the ingredients for this salad can really become a “more or less” situation depending on the overall vibe you want.
- Don’t forget the crunch. I know pine nuts are exorbitantly expensive right now, so if you want to sub them out for something else, by all means, do. But don’t leave the crunchy bits off completely. The salad needs that contrasting texture with the other layered ingredients! I keep a precious bag of pine nuts in the freezer and sometimes use them just on my portion. Shhh. Let it be our secret.
A Salad for All Seasons
This salad makes a wonderful light meal for the warm summer months. But the ingredients adapt well to all seasons.
And if you want to feel like a total rock star, grab a block of Parmesan or Asiago cheese and your vegetable peeler and grate shards of cheese for the top of the salad.
Restaurant quality right there. And you can take all the credit.
What to Serve with This:
- Easy No-Knead Peasant Bread
- Herb Butter
- Fresh fruit
One Year Ago: Double Chocolate S’Mores Cookies
Two Years Ago: Pink Tropical Raspberry Sorbet
Three Years Ago: Fluffy Baked Pancakes
Four Years Ago: Grilled Hawaiian Chicken
Five Years Ago: No-Bake Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
Six Years Ago: Fresh Strawberry Cobbler
Seven Years Ago: Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs with Root Beer BBQ Sauce
Eight Years Ago: Thin and Chewy Butterfinger Cookies
Nine Years Ago: Berries on a Cloud {Best Dessert of the Summer!}
Ten Years Ago: Black Bottom Pudding Pie
Vineyard Chicken and Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 12 ounces bow tie or other favorite shape pasta
- 4 to 6 cups chopped spring greens or baby spinach
- 2 to 3 cups cooked, chopped chicken (see note)
- 1 cup green or red grapes (or a combo), halved
- 3 to 4 green onions or bunch of chives, finely chopped
- ½ cup toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds
- ½ cup shaved or grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese
- ¼ to ½ cup torn or chopped fresh basil
Dressing:
- ½ cup oil (see note)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in lightly salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside to cool (toss every once in a while so it doesn't stick together).
- Whisk or blend all the dressing ingredients together until well-combined.
- Assemble the salad by placing the chopped greens in a serving bowl. Top with pasta, chicken, grapes, green onions (or chives), pine nuts (or sunflower seeds), cheese, and fresh basil.
- Drizzle dressing over the salad and lightly toss until combined. Serve immediately.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe sent to me by a reader, Heather J. (thanks, Heather!)
70 Comments on “Vineyard Chicken and Pasta Salad”
One of our favorites!
This was much more filling that my family expected it to be. We were in the middle of enjoying it when I realized I hadn’t gotten the bacon out that I had planned to put on top. We all liked it with and without the bacon.
Our family absolutely loves this salad! Sorry, Mel, but my 4-year-old just renamed it “All My Favorite Things Salad.” That’s what we call it in our house now. I get requests for it almost weekly, so I love that it comes together so quickly. Thank you, Mel!
FINALLY made this recipe after having it printed for what seems like forever. And actually, I made it twice this week–once for a potluck and once for a light dinner. I really like the light dressing. I added bacon as Mel suggested (why not?!) and used almonds rather than pine nuts (due to a friend with a pine nut allergy). It was seriously delicious!
I think I might try feta instead of the parmesan shavings next time. All of the flavors in this salad were fairly mellow, and it occurred to me that a more flavorful element like feta might kick this one up (this is purely personal preference–it really was good just as written–but if I was choosing between this one and Mel’s amazing romaine salad, the romaine salad would win every time).
I would normally look at this salad and think “book club” “baby shower” “ladie’s night.” I made this salad for dinner last night just for me, despite thinking my 2 “meat and potato-inclined” teen sons and their father would balk. imagine my surprise and utter delight when all three devoured this entire recipe (minus my regular serving) completely in one sitting and declared it “one of the best” things they’ve had in a long time. And that includes lots of recent grilled summer meals, Sunday dinners, and brunches. My husband, (often suspicious of chard or spinach), raved about how great the spinach was in combination. I did use feta and sunflower seeds as subs, along with a rotisserie Costco chicken cut up. My personal opinion is the dressing is unique and super super great at bringing balance to all the elements and along with the basil, brings it all together so well. Thanks Mel! You’ve really outdone yourself!!!
So delicious! A trick I picked up years ago with pasta salads that works great here: after the pasta is drained, I put it into a bowl or back in the pot and put about 1/3 c. dressing and toss the pasta in it. It keeps it from sticking and the pasta absorbs some of the flavor. When tossing everything together, it has a small amount of dressing but not overly dressed, so it stays a little better for the next day too. I serve the rest of the dressing at the table for individuals to add.
My husband was watching me put this together the first time I made it & I could tell he was doubting it would be something he would enjoy. He now asks for it. Love it when we find something out of our comfort zone that we love. I’ve made this with chicken for a main course or without as a side, both work. We didn’t care for the grapes so the second time I used dried tart cherries & we love them in this. I add finely diced red onion & red or orange pepper also. We use sunflower seeds. The dressing is almost drinkable, lick the bowl good! Thanks so much for this recipe, it is going to a Father’s day BBQ tomorrow at my daughters house, I am anxious to see how everyone likes it.
This salad is insanely good! Like, I lick the plate, it’s so good! I cannot recommend this enough!
I know this is probably considered a sin to even ask if you have ever substituted fresh basil with dried but the store was out, I already have my other ingredients and my chicken has been marinating for hours. Have you ever substituted dry basil for fresh? If so, how much do you recommend?
It won’t have the same punch of flavor, but you could use dried basil (I’d probably mix it with the dressing). Maybe 1 teaspoon?
I made this for a neighbor without trying it first. In her words “freaking fantastic!” Thanks for the great recipe. I made it for my family, and my picky eaters liked it too.
Have made this salad 3 times in the last couple of months and it’s always a hit – especially when a meat & potatoes guy specifically asks for ‘that pasta salad with lettuce’ for dinner! Thank you Mel, you are my go-to for yummy ideas when I’m stumped 🙂
This was a delicious entree salad for dinner – we added grilled chicken and chopped bacon as suggested. We’ll definitely make this again!
I made this for my family for dinner & ate the leftovers for lunch for 3 days! (only dressed as we served).
So deliciously fresh & summery tasting – definitely adding to our regular rotation.
I’m always leery about salads with fruit, and especially this one with grapes (?!?), but as always, Mel hits it out of the ballpark with this recipe. The flavors are perfectly balanced, and I can’t stop eating this!! Thanks for satiating my salad craving. I’ll be keeping the ingredients for this salad in my fridge for the foreseeable future!
This was a fantastic recipe. I was intrigued after reading your post, so I added it to my “must make” list. I omitted the chicken and added pre-cooked bacon bits instead. It was great. I really liked the dressing on this hybrid salad. In fact, it was so good I’m considering making it again for this week of lunches. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this salad for company and everyone loved it. The dressing is especially good – light, flavorful, and a bit different from run-of-the-mill pasta salad dressings.
I used pine nuts but think sunflower seeds would have been just as good. I added bacon bits and of course bacon makes everything better but truly this salad would be delicious without them so if you don’t have bacon on hand, make the salad anyway.
My next comment may sound like blasphemy but – I am not a “fruit with savory” person so though I love grapes, I didn’t love them in the salad and next time I will probably substitute black or green olives which I know is less imaginative but more to my (very individual) taste. The leftovers were delicious.
Thank you, Mel, for yet another wonderful recipe.
This was knock your socks off delicious. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly (including the suggested bacon). We served it for a summer dinner party and it was a big hit. The leftovers the next day were equally delicious. The second time I made it, I marinated the chicken in homemade caesar dressing (because it was already made and handy), and dressed the salad in caesar as well. I left out the basil and pine nuts, swapped in almonds and blueberries. It was also delicious! So it’s a very flexible recipe. Highly recommend!!
I made this recipe for my book club. It served as a light dinner for 7 ladies. Everyone took second helpings. I made the recipe as closely to the way it is written so I could review it fairly. Here are my notes:
I used sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts. Pine nuts are $16/cup right now. Sunflower seeds served up a salty crunch and were a good substitute.
I also added crispy diced bacon as suggested. Honestly, this salad would have been 4/5 stars without it. Don’t skip the bacon.
I ended up only using about 8 oz of pasta (campanelle) because I could see the 12oz pasta was overwhelming the salad. Give yourself more time for the pasta to cool than you think.
Next time I will double the grapes.
I used 6 cups of bagged Butter lettuce and chopped it a bit extra.
Finally – like all similar types of salads, this is best served immediately, so I pre-prepped everything I could and assembled it as people arrived. The leftovers didn’t hold up the next day (as I expected of a hearty salad like this).
I felt like the qty of dressing was perfect. The salad was coated, but not drowning. Thanks for the great recipe. I’ll be keeping this one!
This was so yummy! I just cooked by chicken by your easy skillet method which is my family’s favorite way to cook chicken. This is the perfect summer dinner!
This was so good! I used a rotisserie chicken. Will probably use craisins instead of grapes next time. Lovely summer meal!
OH MY GOODNESS. This is by far the best pasta salad I’ve ever had! I made it with the grilled chicken you linked to in the notes. Soooo delicious!!
I will need to make this recipe soon. I wanted to comment to make you aware, if you are not already, if you ever go through Bountiful, UT and need a place for lunch, stop at Plates & Palates for the lemon tarragon pasta salad. Honestly, it is what I would eat every day for the rest of my life. Pasta, chicken, grapes and silvered almonds. I think your dressing recipe can be tweaked to include tarragon and if so, I will be indebted to you forever. If I can make my own and have it be just as delicious I will be so happy. Thanks for always giving me great recipes and good ideas!
So yummy and a nice change up of flavors! Love to you and your family, Mel!
Thank you, thank you!! 🙂
So so good Mel! Definitely a keeper!
Thank you, Alyssa!
Holy cow, this was good! So much better than I imagined (and I was expecting good things). The “peeled” cheese was a very nice touch.
I’m glad it exceeded your expectations, Joy! Thanks for letting me know!
Dumb question, but what do you think about using a cheese tortellini for the pasta? Possibly increasing the dressing if needed. I just have some I need to use and wondered if it would work.
I haven’t tried that, Kim, but it’s definitely worth a try. The cheese flavor in the tortellini (depending on the brand) may overwhelm the other flavors…but again, it may not! Let me know if you try it!
This was a hit at dinner tonight, kids going back for seconds and thirds. Added the recommended bacon. Yum yum yum thank you!
Yay! Love hearing that. Thanks, Angela!
Took this to a picnic and it was the star of the show! My new favorite salad, thank you Mel!!!
So glad to hear that!
Loved this!!
Thanks, Kami!
I have made this salad twice this week (teenagers in the house). You were right, it is a meal. Don’t forget the bacon!
I’m glad it’s been such a hit for you and your teenagers, Shireen! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know!
So good! Great flavor combinations. That dressing is just awesome. I laid all ingredients out separately to assemble what each person preferred. I put half the dressing on the pasta and let it soak in anx served the test on the side. Ised butter lettuce. Thanks!
Thanks for including your variations and how you served it, Debra!
This salad was amazing. Made it the night you posted it. It really is such an easy dinner for a hot summer night. Thank you for another salad in my arsenal!
Thank YOU for letting me know!
Hiding pine nuts in the freezer and only putting them on your portion?? That is totally something I do and it was incredibly validating and made me feel slightly less frugal and selfish. (Also with real maple syrup, and this amazing olive oil gifted to us by my husband’s boss!) Why waste it on people who won’t appreciate the difference, right?
And this salad looks delicious! I just added it to this week’s menu!
Haha, I’m glad I’m not the only one that does that!!
SO good. Requesting this for my birthday dinner next year.
You and me both! 🙂
We made this for dinner last night and it was a hit, per usual with your recipes!! Everybody loved it and no one complained about salad as the main course! Total hit! Thanks for another delicious recipe, Mel!
I love it when that happens, Angie! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
We each made our own individual salads instead of mixing it together. It was so yummy, the perfect summer meal!
Ok, I LIKE that idea. A lot.
Amazingly good salad! Bacon was in fact a great addition. My son suggested adding dried cranberries which we plan to try next time we make it, which is looking like two days from now 🙂 Thank you Mel!
Hiding pine nuts in the freezer and only putting them on your portion?? That is totally something I do and it was incredibly validating and made me feel slightly less frugal and selfish. (Also with real maple syrup, and this amazing olive oil gifted to us by my husband’s boss!) Why waste it on people who won’t appreciate the difference, right?
And this salad looks delicious! I just added it to this week’s menu!
Oops, sorry Becky! Didn’t mean to reply to you!
Your son is a smart guy! This would be delicious with both craisins and bacon!
Do you think craisins and pecans would work?
I have basil and lettuce in the garden that I’m looking to use so this will be a perfect recipe
Absolutely! Both of these would be delicious!
Yummy! Made it with rotisserie chicken. Easy week night dinner.
Awesome, Kelly! I usually use a rotisserie for this, too.
What a great recipe! I accidently used red wine vinegar instead of rice and it worked out. I had leftover chicken from your chicken gyro recipe, which was perfect. Thanks for another great recipe!!
I’m so happy you loved it (and thanks for making it so fast and checking back in with a review!)
I saw the note about the oil. I never do well on making these salads that amazing. Please tell me which oil you used.
I usually use canola oil or avocado oil. 🙂
When do you add the pasta? Looks like a great salad. We have enjoyed many of your recipes.
Thanks, Sheri! Add the pasta right on top of the chopped greens (just fixed the recipe – thanks for the heads up!)
In the photos, did you use cascatelli shaped pasta?
I can’t remember the name of it (sorry!), but I picked it up at Trader Joe’s.
It looks like cascatelli (available at trader joes.). Check out the sporkfull podcast. Dan designed this shape and took us along for the ride.
Another yummy looking recipe! Just wanted to pop into your comments and tell you that looking for recipes on your website is a regular occurrence at our house… thanks so much! Enjoy your sense of humour too! 🙂
Thank you so much, Sus! 🙂
Aaahhhh you used Cascatelli!! It’s my new favourite after listening to the podcast series about the invention of it.
Looking forward to trying this recipe.