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A mixing bowl full of Chicken Club Pasta Salad with chives on top on a white marble background
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Chicken Cobb Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is loaded up with chicken and bacon and tossed with a creamy ranch dressing. Perfect for summer picnics, bbqs, holidays, potlucks and family meals.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Refrigerating Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 420kcal
Author Mara

Ingredients

  • kosher salt to salt pasta
  • 8 ounces pasta
  • 2 cups cooked chicken I used rotisserie chicken
  • 5 slices cooked bacon
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • ¼ cup red onion
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 avocado medium or ½ large
  • 3 tablespoons chives

Dressing

  • 1 cup mayo
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 packet ranch seasoning
  • salt + pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Cook the pasta: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt heavily. Follow package directions to cook pasta al dente.
  • Drain: pasta and rinse in cold water. Set aside until cool.
  • Prep: wash and slice/dice vegetables except for avocado and chives/green onions. Cube or shred chicken and chop bacon. Set aside.
  • Whisk: In a bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream and dry ranch seasoning until combined.
  • Combine: In a large bowl combine all ingredients including dressing except for the avocado and chives or green onions. Cover and refrigerate pasta salad for at least 2 hours - 1 day for optimal flavor.
  • Right before serving, add in cubed avocado and chopped chives or green onion. Toss, taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Serve & enjoy!

Notes

  • This recipe is great for leftover ingredients! Leftover grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken? Bacon from breakfast? Handful of vegetables? Pasta salad is a wonderful way to transform leftover ingredients into something delicious and new. If you need to cook bacon and chicken just realize you'll need to add time for prep and cooking!
  • Season the pasta water well. The water should be salty to impart flavor on the pasta plus keep it from sticking together.
  • Don’t overcook the pasta. Use the package directions of the pasta you choose as a guide and cook al dente. When done, drain the pasta and move onto our next tip.
  • Rinse the cooked pasta under cold water before tossing with the salad dressing. If you’ve ever made pasta salad that turned sticky, not rinsing the pasta before tossing with the dressing could be the reason. The cooked pasta is coated in starches. By removing the starches, the salad won’t turn sticky or clump as much. Rinsing the pasta will also keep the pasta from continuing to cook.
  • Check the seasoning!: The flavor of pasta salad changes when cold. Make sure to toss the pasta salad after refrigerating to evenly redistribute, taste, and re-season as needed before serving.
Nutritional information for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. Please calculate your own nutritional information if you want it exact to what you make and use my calculations as a guide only.

Nutrition

Calories: 420kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 783mg | Potassium: 409mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 563IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 1mg