Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad (2024)

By Natasha Bull

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 35 minutes mins

Servings: 8

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• ▢ 1 pound uncooked pasta
• ▢ 6 strips bacon cut into small pieces
• ▢ 2 large chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ Salt & pepper to taste
• ▢ 4 cups romaine lettuce chopped or torn
• ▢ 2 cups croutons
• ▢ 3/4 cup Caesar dressing or to taste
• ▢ 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese finely grated or shaved
• ▢ Lemon juice (optional, to taste)

• If you are making my Caesar dressing and/or croutons, I suggest prepping those first prior to starting this recipe. For this recipe, I prep as I go along (like while the pasta, bacon, and chicken are cooking) to save time.

• Boil a salted pot for the pasta. Cook it al dente according to package directions. Once it's done, drain it and rinse it with cold water. Let it sit in a colander/sieve so it drains thoroughly while you're doing other steps in the recipe.

• Meanwhile, cut the bacon into bite-size pieces (I use kitchen shears to make this easy), and cook it over medium-high heat until crispy (about 10 minutes). Once it's finished, take the pan off the heat and remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate, and leave the fat in the pan.

• Cut your chicken in half lengthwise and season both sides with the garlic powder and salt & pepper. Return the skillet to the heat (medium high), and when the fat is hot, fry the chicken for about 5 minutes/side or until it's golden and cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate and let it cool a bit prior to slicing it into strips.

• Once your pasta, bacon, and chicken are all ready, it's time to assemble the salad in a large bowl. Toss it with the dressing (feel free to add more if needed). I like to squeeze a little bit of lemon juice on top of the salad prior to serving. I suggest eating this salad as soon as you've added the dressing.

• You can easily halve this recipe (or halve it and keep the chicken the same) if you don’t need a big batch.
• This recipe is very forgiving, so you don’t need to stick to the ingredient quantities I suggest. I encourage you to add more/less of something to suit your tastes. And feel free to swap the chicken with rotisserie chicken!
• Prep time will be longer if you make the Caesar dressing and/or croutons from scratch. I count some of the prep time in the cook time since you can multi-task pretty easily in this recipe.