Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
This tasty Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is perfect for lunches or as a dish to share at a party or summer cookout! Hearty chicken and pasta tossed with smoky bacon, crunchy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, nutty Parmesan cheese, and all coated in creamy Caesar dressing. It’s a delicious blend of flavors and textures! A satisfying lunch-sized serving of 1 & 2/3 cups is only 298 calories or 7 Weight Watchers Points (or 8 Points if following the diabetic WW plan)! If you’re bringing this as a side dish for a picnic or barbecue, a smaller ¾ cup serving is just 133 calories or 3 WW Points.
Serving Size
This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad works equally well as a lunch main course or as a potluck dish at a party. Since it can be a main dish, or a side dish, I am listing two different serving sizes for your convenience! When measuring out the entire dish I got about 13.5 cups total.
- If you’re eating it as a main course for lunch, I’d do eight substantial servings of 1 & 2/3 cups each, at 298 calories or 7 WW Points per serving (or 8 if following the diabetic plan). CLICK HERE to track the main course option in the WW app.
- If you’re serving it as a side dish at a cookout or party, I’d say it makes eighteen servings of ¾ cup each, at 133 calories or 3 WW Points per serving. CLICK HERE to track the side dish option in the WW app.
Ingredient Notes
- Pasta: I used cavatappi, which is a fun and bouncy spiral tube shape that works well in pasta salads. I recommend it! Other medium-sized pasta shapes would work as well, like rotini or farfalle. Feel free to use what you have!
- Chicken: This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad recipe uses already cooked chicken breast, so it’s a great way to use up leftovers. You can use grilled chicken, or chop up a rotisserie breast, cook it on the stovetop, or make some in your slow cooker. Whatever is most convenient for you!
- Bacon: I pretty much always use center cut bacon, because it’s just a leaner cut of regular bacon, so it tastes just as good with a little less fat. I generally use Oscar Mayer brand and it always cooks up beautifully!
- Caesar Dressing: You can use any light Caesar dressing, but I really prefer Marzetti Simply Creamy Caesar. It tastes great, is low in sugar, and just 50 calories per serving. It can be found by the refrigerated salad dressing!
- Greek Yogurt: I decided to stretch out my dressing using a little bit of Greek yogurt and I think it worked out great! You can use any brand for this, just choose a plain flavored nonfat variety to keep the same nutrition information/WW Points.
- Optional Add: My husband likes to add croutons when he eats this for crunch and to get the full Caesar salad experience! Obviously this will change the nutrition info and WW Points, but I wanted to mention it here in case anyone wants to try it that way.
More Tasty, Lightened Up Salads
Looking for more tasty lightened up salads? Check out my Avocado BLT Pasta Salad, Broccoli Salad, Strawberry Quinoa Salad, Beef Taco Salad, Apple Farro Salad, Deviled Egg Macaroni Salad, Corn and Tomato Salad, Mediterranean Couscous Salad, Buffalo Chicken Salad, Taco Chicken Salad, Avocado Bacon Corn Panzanella Salad, Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad, Greek Orzo Pasta Salad, Hummus Chicken Salad, Doritos Taco Salad, Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad, and more in the Salad section of my recipe index!
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 oz uncooked pasta, (I used Cavatappi)
- 6 slices center cut bacon, (I use Oscar Mayer)
- 12 oz cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped
- 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes, (I quartered mine)
- 1 oz Parmesan cheese, shredded
- ⅔ cup light Caesar dressing, (I use Marzetti Simply Creamy Caesar)
- ½ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. Rinse the pasta in a colander under cold water until the pasta is cooled and drain. Transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl.
- While the pasta is cooking, cook the bacon according to package directions and drain on paper towels. Chop or crumble the bacon into small pieces.
- Add the bacon, chicken, romaine, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese to the mixing bowl with the pasta and stir to combine.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the Caesar dressing, Greek yogurt, salt, and pepper and stir until well combined. Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the large mixing bowl and stir until well coated. Chill until serving.
Notes
298 calories, 33 g carbs, 2 g sugars, 8 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 22 g protein, 2 g fiber, 367 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Nutrition Information per (3/4 cup) SIDE serving:
133 calories, 15 g carbs, 1 g sugars, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 10 g protein, 1 g fiber, 163 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Weight Watchers Points Plus:
7 per (1 & 2/3 cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info) Weight Watchers Points Plus:
3 per (3/4 cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info)
Hi Emily! I love all your recipes and am hoping to make this one next week. How do you think the leftovers would keep in the fridge? If I wanted to take this for lunches, do you think it would stay good for the week?
I kept it in the fridge for a few days and thought it kept well! The lettuce will be less crispy, but otherwise I was happy eating the leftovers.
This recipe did not disappoint! I used whole wheat elbow macaroni that I had on hand to make this for my lunch and I am full and satisfied with a tasty low points meal. Thank you!
See earlier comments. I forgot to do the star rating!
this was amazing!! super simple!!
I took this to a party and it was a hit! Left out the bacon since I didn’t have any handy, and it was fine without.