BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad
Pulled chicken, veggies, and cheddar cheese come together with noodles and a creamy BBQ dressing to make this delicious BBQ chicken pasta salad. It's a great dish to pack for lunch or to bring as a side to a potluck or picnic.
Equipment
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoon relish
- 2 teaspoon yellow mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Combine ingredients for dressing and set aside.¼ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup BBQ sauce, ¼ cup sour cream, 2 teaspoon relish, 2 teaspoon yellow mustard, ¼ teaspoon sugar
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain in a colander and toss with a small amount of olive oil (1-2 teaspoons) to prevent noodles from sticking together. Set aside and let cool completely (OK to leave in the colander).½ lb uncooked pasta, 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Toss chicken in 1 cup of BBQ sauce and set aside.3 cups pulled or shredded cooked chicken, 1 cup BBQ sauce
- Once the pasta is cool, transfer to a large mixing bowl. You may need to separate into two bowls depending on the size.
- Combine the cooked pasta, chicken, red bell pepper, onion, celery, corn, cheese, and parsley.3 cups pulled or shredded cooked chicken, 1 red onion, 2 ribs celery, ½ cup chopped fresh parsley, 1 can corn, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 red bell pepper
- Add the dressing and stir until it is well-distributed throughout the pasta salad.
Notes
Cooking time does not include time for cooking chicken.
You can make this (mostly) a day ahead of time. Assemble everything, but don't add the dressing until the day of. The noodles tend to absorb the dressing and the salad starts to dry out. Leftovers can he stores for a couple of days, but the quality starts to diminish after that because it starts to get too dry as the noodles absorb the dressing.
Serving estimate of 12 assumes the pasta salad is being served as a regular side dish (with a meal), not at a potluck. If you're taking this to a potluck with more than 12 people, you likely do not need to double the recipe since people tend to consume smaller portions of each dish at a potluck.