Caesar Pasta Salad is a creamy, savory and tangy summer time favorite! This easy pasta salad has the best homemade dressing and is fast to make in about 15 minutes!
Caesar Pasta Salad:
We are completely obsessed with this new pasta salad! It’s really simple, honestly embarrassingly easy to make. So, it’s a great one for hot weather when you don’t feel up to cooking! I have to say that our super creamy Homemade Caesar Dressing is an absolute must. It is just so fresh! I like to go with the homemade dressing because this is such a simple salad we want the best ingredients we can get! The great thing is that you can make the dressing ahead if you want! It lasts in the fridge for 10 days so you can have it ready whenever you want to boil your pasta and assemble! Personally I could eat this as a meal but if you’re grilling it’s a great side for Grilled Shrimp or Grilled Chicken Thighs too.
Caesar Pasta Salad Recipe Notes and Tips:
- I decided to make this a meatless pasta salad, but you can add protein if you wish. Crockpot Shredded Chicken is a great addition, or just grab a rotisserie chicken, or even leftover grilled chicken. If you aren’t a chicken person, you can cook up a pound of bacon until crispy and toss that in, it’s so good!
- If you are making this ahead, I recommend mixing up the cooked and cooled/rinsed pasta with the dressing, then adding the other ingredients later. The croutons will get soft within a couple of hours. So, don’t add everything until about 30 minutes to one hour before serving.
- As I mentioned, I love our homemade caesar. It is so, so easy and I mean it when I say it’s the BEST! But if you need to use a bottled dressing in a pinch that will be fine. Just make sure you get a brand you know and love. For bottled Caesar I tend to prefer Ken’s creamy.
- As far as parmesan, I do like to use freshly grated off the block. I have used the bag of shredded parmesan and it was good too! If all you have is the shaker of parm, you can give it a try and let us know what you think!
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 Ounces Short Cut Pasta**SEE NOTE BELOW
- 5 Cups Chopped Romaine
- 2 Cups Caesar Dressing
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- 2 Cups Croutons Divided
- 2-3 Cups Cooked Shredded Chicken OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions in a large pot of salted boiling water.
- Drain the pasta and rinse under cold water for a couple of minutes until completely cool.
- Add the cooled pasta to a large bowl and toss with the romaine, dressing, parmesan cheese, and half of the croutons as well as the chicken if using.
- If desired, crush the other half of the croutons and sprinkle over the top of the salad.
- *Croutons are best added no more than 1 hour before serving if you want them to stay crunchy.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
