Lemon Chicken Artichoke Pasta Salad.
This lemon chicken pasta salad is the perfect spring and summer dish. Artichokes, pine nuts and parmesan make this delicious! Prepare it ahead of time and everyone loves it.
Oh how I live for a good pasta salad.
Did you know I really didn’t care for pasta salad at all until a few years ago? I do not love the traditional italian style pasta salad. But I do love heartier pasta salads with a homemade vinaigrette and lots of my favorite add-ins. Which just so happens to not be salami.
Grilled chicken, artichokes, parmesan, lemon vinaigrette and lots of herbs. DELISH.
This pasta salad is going to be your new BFF for 2022. If you need a dish to take to a friend’s house, a potluck, make for a BBQ or have as a delish side at home with dinner, this is it. It’s filling and flavorful and superb!
Everyone loves it too, so there is that.
This is what you need for the lemon chicken pasta salad:
- Your favorite cut of pasta. You know how much I love this trottole! I used to find it at Target, but now I get it on amazon.
- Grilled chicken or even a rotisserie chicken. Leftover chicken works too. Shredded or chopped.
- A can of artichoke hearts, of course.
- Pine nuts! All toasty and golden and fragrant.
- Parmesan cheese. In what is one of the ONLY times I will ever recommend bagged cheese, I actually prefer a store-bought parmesan that has larger shreds that I make at home. I find that it holds up really well in the pasta salad, especially overnight or in leftovers.
- Fresh herbs! I’m always partial to basil and parsley when it comes to a dish like this.
- Lemon vinaigrette. One of my go-to dressings. It’s easy and works with a lot of different dishes. It’s mild but has a hint of spring flavor that can’t be beat.
Oh and yes… I realize I’m heavily on the lemon + herb + artichoke train right now. And pasta train! But this combo is just incredibly delicious come spring. It’s the first flavor mash up I think of when the weather starts warming up and I love that it can be taken all through summer too!
Guess what? This recipe is another one from the Nordstrom e-bar. I KNOW. I have a few of those and they are some of my favorites. I’ve done the tortellini salad and then their cauliflower and hummus from the cafe.
Back in the fall, I saw a container of this lemon artichoke chicken pasta in the e-bar. I grabbed it because the combo sounded delicious. It ended up being good, but I knew I could make it even better. I had many many months of testing this recipe considering I first created it half a year ago. It was difficult to wait to share this because I want you all to enjoy it.
Every year I tend to create a recipe that we end up taking EVERYWHERE. It becomes the hit of the summer.
Right now, that is this recipe! It’s so incredibly versatile. I love that you can make the entire thing ahead of time. You can even dress it ahead of time. It gets better as it sits, actually.
The texture is phenomenal. I love the little bites of crunch from the pine nuts. The tangy lemony dressing. The chewy pasta and cheese. This seriously has everything I want in a pasta salad.
It’s fantastic as a party side dish, but also lovely as part of your dinner tonight. ENJOY.
Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad
Lemon Chicken Artichoke Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon oregano.
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 1 pound short-cut pasta, cooked
- 1 14 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
- ¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh herbs, like parsley and basil
vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to the highest setting.
- Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Stir together the garlic powder, oregano and smoked paprika and sprinkle on both sides of the chicken. Place the chicken on the grill and cook for 5 to 6 minutes each side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. You can also bake the chicken or use a shredded rotisserie chicken! Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes then chop it into 1-inch pieces.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to the directions. While that cooks, toast the pine nuts.
- Place the pine nuts in a nonstick skillet and toast over low heat, stirring often, until golden. This will take about 6 to 8 minutes. Don’t walk away - they will burn.
- Place the pasta in a large bowl. Top with the chicken, artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, pine nuts and fresh herbs. Drizzle with half of the vinaigrette and toss well. Taste and drizzle on more of hte vinaigrette, continuing to toss so the dressing is easily distributed. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve! You can make this ahead of time (up to 24 hours ahead) and store it in the fridge. Leftovers are great too.
vinaigrette
- In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, zest, dijon, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Continue to whisk while streaming in the olive oil. You can make this dressing a day ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
Did you make this recipe?
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30 Comments on “Lemon Chicken Artichoke Pasta Salad.”
This looks so good. Love the combination of ingredients and the lemon vinaigrette. I will definitely try this…although I will stick with a plain old regular grocery store dried pasta. I cannot imagine ordering pasta that costs $12 for a pound package!!😳
I found the pasta online for less than $12 a pound. it was $7.65 a pound.
This is on my list! Looks amazing.
I know pasta salad was so 80s! The 3 color rotini with olives pepperoni chunks
and little squares of some funky cheese….😝
I like this revived style and probably really good hot!
I just bought a box of Barilla Campanelle pasta it should do just fine.
I’m so curious what your hit of the summer was last year. You mentioned you have one every year so that got me wondering.
biggest hit last year was my strawberry crunch salad! https://www.howsweeteats.com/2021/05/strawberry-salad/
biggest hit of 2020 was my blueberry summer salad: https://www.howsweeteats.com/2020/06/blueberry-summer-salad/
Thank you for asking for last years! I was wondering the same thing❤️⭕️
How necessary is it that the vinegar is champagne vinegar? Would a wine vinegar work in its place? (I have a small kitchen and space is at a premium.)
Thank you!
you can definitely use something else! apple cider, red wine, white vinegar should all work!
This is delicious!
I served it at a family dinner and substituted a bit more lemon juice instead the vinegar. I also used a meatless chicken substitute. Everyone loved it and I gave up my copy of the recipe to one of my guests. I will definitely be making this many more times!
Thank you!
I just made this with gluten free penne. Didnt have dijon mustard so substituted dry ground mustard. I doubled the recipe and added 1/2 sweet red pepper finely diced mostly for a little color. It was fabulous. I made it a day ahead for a friend who is battling breast cancer for her meal train. Cant wait to try it tomorrow after everything has had time to meld together. ( there was extra so am having it for lunch)
Do you serve yours hot or cold?
That is so cool I play play Minecraft too! I make custom mobs! I posted in the wrong spot 😑
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What would you recommend subbing if you don’t like pine nuts? almonds? chickpeas?
i think you can use any other nuts you may like or even just leave them out! i prefer anything toasted. i’d probably pick pistachios? i don’t think i’d do chickpeas since they don’t have the crunch.
This recipe is amazing! Definitely a keeper for sure. The flavor is fantastic. Also, thank you for introducing me to this fun pasta- love the shape!
Made this last night. Love it. Will definitely make this again. In search of the pasta I found a new online source. Win! Win!
Made this last night with leftover grilled chicken. Just left out the parm to keep it dairy free. It was delicious and perfect for packing up to take with us to the pool.
I was thinking of making it this weekend for a Fourth of July barbecue. If I want to leave the chicken out what would you recommend as a substitute?
i think you could do chickpeas! or even just leave it out and don’t replace it. you could add in another vegetable like grilled zucchini or broccoli!
Thank you Jessica. Chickpeas sound perfect.
This was excellent! Will definitely be on repeat in our home. Thank you!
I made this twice, first they way you did and second with farro instead of pasta. Both times I doubled the vinaigrette (general rule of thumb for me, just in case I want to add more later on) and used 1 1/2 the dressing on the farro. Both were delish! Next time I may throw in some baby spinach right before serving for even more oomph!
This is the best thing I’ve eaten all summer and my favorite pasta salad ever! I could eat the viniagrette with a spoon. Thanks for sharing this simple but delicious recipe.
Honestly so good. By far the tastiest pasta salad you’ll ever make. After cooking the chicken, I now always add a little jar of capers to the pan and add them to the dish. 10/10 would recommend.
This sounds incredible! One question, though: would the vinaigrette still work without the dijon mustard?
So good!! I make this at least once a month!
OMG! This was fantastic! Had everything I loved, and they went together well! It was perfect, and my husband loved it! The lemon dressing was da bomb! I could eat this every day in the warmer weather!!
I’m coming to this recipe late but I’m so excited to try!
One question though… the recipe calls for “marinated” artichoke hearts, so would it be a noticeable deviation if I just used regular jarred artichoke hearts that I have on hand? I’ve never had marinated artichoke hearts so I have no idea. Thanks for your time!
So amazingly delicious!! The flavors work so well together and the pine nuts give a crunch – thank you for sharing! Will make again and again!!