TUE LUNCH · FROM THE VIDEO
Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad
- 20 min
- 5 min with Sunday prep
- 1–4 servings
- 430 kcal
- 36g protein
A cold, no-fuss pasta salad that turns Sunday's rotisserie chicken and a jar of pesto into a bright, protein-packed lunch. Sweet cherry tomatoes add juiciness against the rich basil pesto coating every noodle and shred of chicken. It travels well cold and tastes even better after a night in the fridge.
Adds this lunch's 4 groceries to your Walmart cart; you check out on Walmart. Part of 5 work lunches from one rotisserie chicken · send the whole week to Walmart.
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Ingredients
- 1 cuprotini pasta, cooked
- 3/4 cupcooked rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 2 tbspbasil pesto
- 1/2 cupcherry tomatoes, halved
From the pantry: salt, black pepper
Cookware
large pot · colander · cutting board · mixing bowl · meal-prep container
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the rotini according to package directions until al dente.
- Drain the pasta in a colander and rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking and cool it down.
- While the pasta cools, halve the cherry tomatoes on a cutting board.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the cooled pasta, shredded rotisserie chicken, and pesto, tossing until every piece is coated.
- Fold in the halved cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pack the pasta salad into a meal-prep container and refrigerate until ready to eat; if using Sunday's pre-tossed pesto chicken pasta, skip straight to adding the tomatoes and packing.
Two tips
- If you're working from Sunday prep, the pasta and chicken are already tossed with pesto, so just fold in the tomatoes and pack.
- Swap in whole-wheat or chickpea rotini for extra fiber and protein without changing the flavor.
Packing
Pack the finished pasta salad directly into an airtight meal-prep container; no need to separate components since it's meant to be eaten cold. Keep chilled until lunchtime and eat straight from the fridge within 30 minutes of taking it out.
Storage
Keeps well in the fridge for up to 4 days in a sealed container. Not recommended for freezing, as the tomatoes and pasta texture suffer once thawed.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 36 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 480 mg
The rest of the week
MonChicken Caesar Wrap Box
Chicken tossed with half the Caesar kit, rolled tight in a tortilla; the rest of the kit on the side.
chicken · Caesar salad kit · tortilla
~38g proteinFull recipe →
WedBuffalo Chicken Cottage Cheese Bowl
Buffalo chicken over rice with a scoop of cottage cheese and sliced celery for crunch.
chicken · buffalo sauce · cottage cheese · celery · rice
~46g proteinFull recipe →
ThuBBQ Chicken Quesadilla Box
BBQ chicken and cheddar quesadilla, cut into wedges, with celery sticks.
chicken · BBQ sauce · tortilla · cheddar
~42g proteinFull recipe →
FriChicken Taco Rice Bowl
Rice, black beans, chicken, salsa and cheddar. Microwave 90 seconds.
chicken · rice · black beans · salsa · cheddar
~37g proteinFull recipe →
Recipe developed by MealPot for the “5 work lunches from one rotisserie chicken” video. Nutrition is estimated from standard (USDA) data for the quantities above. Photo: MealPot, an AI-rendered illustration of the packed lunch.