Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

An easy and delicious recipe for Greek Chicken Pasta Salad loaded with a ton of flavor. Perfect for a picnic or potluck!

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Happy 4th of July my friends! I hope you have a wonderful day planned with friends, family, BBQ’s and fireworks!

A picnic wouldn’t be complete without a good pasta salad. I love a good pasta salad and I’m always having fun creating new ones. Lately I’ve been on a roll here on Mother Thyme sharing some of my favorites including my Loaded Taco Pasta Salad and my BLT Pasta Salad. Today I have a new one for you, my Greek Chicken Pasta Salad.

This Greek Chicken Pasta Salad is loaded with all the yummy flavors of a Greek salad including feta cheese, kalamata olives, chopped cucumbers, chickpeas, tomatoes and fresh herbs tossed in a delicious dressing that is great on this salad or a leafy green pasta salad!

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

I’ve made this recently for a picnic and everyone was loved it! I love a good pasta salad that is loaded with flavor in every bite. What I also love about this salad is it’s light and fresh so on these hot summer days it’s the perfect salad to enjoy at a picnic.

This is one of those pasta salads I love to have just hanging in the refrigerator as well to grab for a quick lunch or if we are just lounging by the pool.

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Tips for the perfect Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

  • The salad and the dressing can be made ahead of time. If you don’t plan on serving the salad right away I suggest chilling the salad separately until before serving. When ready to serve toss with some of the dressing. Add more dressing if needed. I like to reserve a little dressing in case of any leftovers.
  • If you have leftovers and used all the dressing, just toss the salad with a little extra virgin olive oil.
  • After you toss salad with dressing, season well with salt and pepper. 
  • Don’t skip on the fresh basil and mint! It really adds a burst of flavor!
  • This dressing is also great on lettuce salads too! 
  • To save time use leftover chicken or a store bought rotisserie chicken. I always have cooked chicken breasts on hand to toss in salads. Lately I’ve been cooking my chicken breasts in my Instant Pot. I just take a few chicken breasts seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little oregano. Add a little chicken broth of liquid. Seal by Instant Pot and cook for about 22 minutes or use the poultry setting. Depending on what I’m doing I will manually vent the IP or let the pressure go down on it’s own. Then I’ll just take the chicken and shred or chop it for salads. It’s so tender and juicy!

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Print

Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

An easy and delicious recipe for Greek Chicken Pasta Salad loaded with a ton of flavor. Perfect for a picnic or potluck!

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 8
  • Category: Side Dish

Ingredients

Salad

  • 12 ounces penne pasta (or similar)
  • 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
  • 1 small red onion, sliced
  • 1 cucumber, halved and chopped
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/3 cup freshly chopped basil
  • 1/3 cup freshly chopped mint
  • 1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 jar (9.5 oz) kalamata olives (drained)
  • 5 oz crumbled feta cheese

Dressing

  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 large lemon, juiced (or 2 small)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • pinch salt and pepper

Instructions

Salad

  1. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
  2. Drain under cold water. Set aside to cool.
  3. Once pasta has cooled add pasta to a large bowl along with remaining salad ingredients.
  4. If not serving the salad right away, chill salad until ready to serve.

Dressing

  1. Place all dressing ingredients in a large mason jar.
  2. Seal jar with a lid and shake vigorously until blended.
  3. When ready to serve toss salad with dressing.
  4. Season pasta salad with additional salt and pepper if necessary to taste.

Notes

Dressing can be made ahead of time. When ready to serve pour most of the dressing over salad. Toss to coat. Add additional dressing if needed. I like to reserve a little dressing in case of leftovers. Store leftover salad in refrigerator. Add reserved dressing to leftovers if needed or just drizzle with a little olive oil if you used all of the dressing if needed. 

To save time use leftover chicken or shred a store bought rotisserie chicken. See post for how I easily make chicken to shred and chop in salads in my Instant Pot.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.