Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad (gluten free)
A good Caesar salad has always been one of my favorite foods—it was actually my gateway “salad” as a kid. My dad makes a killer Caesar dressing (recipe below), and he’s always had a way of making his Caesar salad the star of any meal. This past weekend, I wanted to introduce salad to my kids, and I figured the safest bet was to start with my own first favorite—but give it a twist by turning it into a pasta salad. The results were mixed (one kid loved it, the other picked out every piece of romaine), but the adults cleaned their plates and raved about it.
With just a handful of simple ingredients, you can have this on the table in no time. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Serves: 4-6
Caesar Dressing:- 5 anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into small chunks
- 1 Tablespoon ghee or olive oil
- 10 ounces chickpea noodle pasta (or pasta of choice)
- 2 heads of romaine lettuce, thinly sliced
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving
- Fresh cracked black pepper
Preparation
- Make the dressing by blending all the ingredients together with an immersion blender, food processor or stand blender. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. Keep to the side.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the ghee or oil and once hot toss in the chicken. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and cook, turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked through and lightly browned.
- While the chicken cooks bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and return the pasta to the pot and drizzle with about 1 Tablespoon of the dressing.
- Once the chicken has cooked and cooled a bit add it to the pasta along with the romaine lettuce. Drizzle with the dressing and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with plenty of freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh cracked black pepper.
Notes
Use this recipe as a guide and adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary