Strawberry Avocado Chicken Pasta Salad is loaded with spinach and arugula, strawberries, avocado, tender pasta noodles, chopped nuts, and a creamy balsamic dressing. This fresh Spring salad is the perfect dinner side or potluck dish!
Looking to change up your potluck game? Try Bacon Avocado Potato Salad, Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad, and Greek Avocado Chicken Salad.
It’s time for Spring salads around here! We just got back from being out of town for a week and as much as I adore eating out while we are traveling and trying new restaurants in whichever town we might be visiting, I came home craving fresh fruits, veggies, and greens so badly.
I’ve been wanting salads (like this great Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad) for every meal – yes even breakfast – so this salad today is in honor of my current salad obsession. It’s loaded with all the good stuff I promise!
How do You Make Pasta Salad
You can really put any favorite ingredients into a pasta salad. My favorite way to make pasta salad is to combine fresh greens, like spinach and arugula, with short pasta noodles like bowtie or spiral noodles. The fresh greens keep the pasta salad feeling light and fresh, rather than heavy, and it also makes the salad go farther which is perfect for serving a crowd.
After combining the greens and pasta, you can add protein such as cheese and shredded chicken or turkey, and any combination of fresh fruits or vegetables. Today I am putting strawberry and avocado together – I never get sick of that combination!
The last thing you’ll want to add to your pasta salad is a good dressing. This creamy balsamic dressing is the perfect combination of sweet and tangy and compliments the strawberries and avocados so well. I like to add chopped nuts for a bit of crunch and that’s all you need for a perfect pasta salad!
This Strawberry Avocado Chicken Pasta Salad has spinach and balsamic dressing for tons of flavor and perfect texture, and comes together in about 20 minutes when you use shredded rotisserie chicken (my favorite tip for cutting out prep time!). This is so easy to throw together and makes a great side dish or potluck salad!
More Tasty Salad Recipes
- Balsamic Chicken, Apple, and Strawberry Salad
- Strawberry Spinach Pasta Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing
- Best Broccoli Salad (no mayo!)
- Best Simple Tossed Green Salad
- Chicken Avocado Corn Salad
Strawberry Avocado Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh baby spinach
- ½ cup arugula
- 1-2 cups shredded cooked chicken - rotisserie chicken works well
- 2 cups cooked bowtie pasta
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 2 avocados - sliced
- ⅓ cup crumbled blue, feta, or goat cheese
- ½ cup chopped pecans - or walnuts
Creamy Balsamic Dressing
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning blend
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ⅓ cup plain fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar, cover, and shake well until all ingredients are incorporated and creamy.
- In a large bowl combine spinach, arugula, shredded chicken, avocado, pasta, strawberries, crumbled cheese, and chopped nuts. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
- To prepare in advance, reserve dressing until ready to serve, then pour over salad and toss immediately before serving.
this salad was so good! i prepped everything the night before and threw everything in a bowl for a gals lunch! loved it and will make many more times! thanks!
Great idea to prep ahead of time!
WHAT store bought dressing would be the closest equivalent of the Home made?
I was just thinking Brianna’s New American Creamy Balsamic…at least that is what I was going to try to save time.
Do you Happen to know macros or calories on this
Hi Ashli- My Fitness Pal has an awesome online tool that allows you to input any recipe URL in and it will generate the nutritional information for you! I suggest using that!
Hey there! Looks delish, can’t wait to try it! it says it serves 8, but can you confirm the serving size? I’ve plugged the info into myfitnesspal and it comes out to 308 calories a serving… but doesn’t give light to serving size either. i know it might be a silly question, but thanks in advance!
Hi Ashley- it does serve 8 when served as side dish! If you are looking to serve it for the main course it may not quite feed 8 people by itself! You can always add more spinach and pasta if you want to make it a larger salad! I hope that you love it!
i wish your recipe printed with a photo of the dish. Looks tasty. I can’t wait to make it.