Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad with Creamy Balsamic Dressing

This Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad with Creamy Balsamic Dressing is s cinch to make, and can easily be packed up for a quick and healthy dinner on the go!

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These last couple of weeks have been very busy around here, as I’m sure they are in your homes too.  The biggest challenge with these busy days are when activities land over the dinner hour.  What’s a gal supposed to do?  How am I supposed to feed the kids when we’re not even at home at dinner time?  With quite a few of these days coming over the next month, I don’t want to feed the kids fast food…maybe once in a while, but not very often.  So I’ve been trying to come up with easy and transportable meal ideas and this is proving to be harder than I thought.  I’m going to have to get creative.

But last week I did have a major success with this Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad with Creamy Balsamic Dressing (you might have seen it on Instagram already).  This pasta salad is loaded, LOADED, with flavour…basil, balsamic vinegar, grilled chicken, cheese…all so so delicious.  And the great thing about this salad is that it’s great right after you make it, but it’s just as great served a couple of hours after it’s been made, which makes it perfect for eating on the go.  So last week as we headed out to volleyball, I packed a tupperware container of this pasta salad for each of us, brought along some oatmeal raisin cookies and fresh fruit and we had a healthy dinner on the run.

Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad

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• Author: Jo-Anna Rooney
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

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Description

This Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad with Creamy Balsamic Dressing is a cinch to make, and can easily be packed up for a quick and healthy dinner on the go!

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Ingredients

Grilled Chicken:

• 3 – 4 chicken breasts
• seasoning salt

Creamy Balsamic Dressing:

• 3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• salt & pepper to taste

Salad Ingredients:

• 4 cups of cooked noodles (I use a whole grain spaghetti noodle)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 tomatoes (chopped)
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup mini bocconcini cheese
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 green onions (sliced)
• 3 tbsp grated parmesan

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Instructions

1. First, season the chicken breasts with the seasoning salt, and grill until cooked through.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions. Strain, and toss lightly with olive oil (about 2 tsp). Set aside.
3. While the chicken is grilling, combine all the ingredients for the dressing: balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mayonnaise and salt & pepper. Set aside.
4. In a serving bowl, mix together the cooked noodles, fresh basil, chopped tomatoes, sliced onions, bocconcini cheese, spinach and parmesan cheese.
5. Once the chicken is cooked, cut it into bite sized pieces, and add to the salad.
6. Stir in the creamy balsamic vinegar dressing, and mix until everything is coated.
7. You can serve this salad right away, or let it rest for up to an hour.
8. Serve with extra fresh basil and parmesan cheese if you wish!
9. Enjoy!

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Have I mentioned how much I’m looking forward to July?  No schedules, no running around.  Just easy breezy summer holidays…and sleeping in.  Oh my word, I cannot wait to sleep in every.  single.  day.   Sigh.

Have a delicious day!