Sesame Pasta Salad with Chicken is a tasty side dish that’s easy to prepare, fully satisfying, great for sharing, and makes great leftovers.
Pasta salad is a great, yummy dish to bring to potlucks, dinner parties, and BBQs. If you enjoyed my recipes for BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad and Mexican Avocado BLT Pasta Salad, then you should try this one out too.
Why You’ll Love This Sesame Pasta Salad with Chicken?
- Tender chicken and pasta make this hearty enough to serve as a main dish, but also goes well as a side.
- Because this is easy to make ahead, it’s a very convenient recipe to use for your weekly meal prep, especially for lunch.
Sabrina’s Sesame Pasta Salad with Chicken Recipe
Sesame Pasta Salad is great as a main course, or you can serve it in smaller portions as an appetizer or side dish. It pairs really well with a variety of other dishes like Asian Potsticker Soup, or Teriyaki Chicken. Since it is a cold salad, it is perfect as a meal prep recipe, or bring it to your next potluck. And be sure to check out the Variations section for additional prep ideas.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 pound rotini pasta
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 bag coleslaw
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup cilantro , chopped
- 1/4 cup green onions , chopped
- 2 cups chicken breast , cooked and chopped
- sesame seeds , optional for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the pasta one minute shy of the package directions.
- Drain pasta but do not rinse. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to allow some heat to dissipate.
- In a large bowl whisk together the oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, ground ginger, garlic powder, cilantro, coleslaw, and green onions.
- Add cooked pasta and cooked chicken to the bowl.
- Toss well.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until you are ready to serve.
- (Optional) Top with sesame seeds for garnish.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
Give the salad a good toss before serving. The sesame dressing will settle at the bottom as it chills. So a quick and thorough stir will help redistribute the dressing.
Table of contents
Can this be made ahead of time?
This is the perfect recipe to make ahead of time. It can be made up to 2 days in advance, as long as it is completely consumed on the third day.
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave out for longer than about 2 hours because of the chicken in it.
- Store: This salad will last 3 days before the dressing thoroughly soaks through everything, and changes the texture of the vegetables. When you’re ready to eat it again, just take it straight out of its container and eat.
- Freeze: I wouldn’t recommend keeping this in the freezer because of the raw vegetables.
Variations
- Nuts: Add some peanuts or cashews to give a nice crunch and texture to this dish. Coarsely chop ½ cup of nuts, and add to salad just before serving.
- Veggies: Throw in a diced bell pepper, chopped broccoli, or even whole snow peas for extra crunch and flavor.
- Leftovers: You don’t have to cook chicken for this recipe, you can use leftovers from the fridge. If you have a rotisserie chicken that you need to use up, this will make prep even easier.
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