Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad (2024)

By: Danielle7 CommentsPosted: 08/04/2022Updated: 03/05/2024

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Fresh, vibrant, and simple, this Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad is fit for any Summer lunch or dinner. Try my super tender air fryer chicken breast method or use rotisserie chicken. Make-ahead friendly for a delicious cold lunch option!

As someone who had only ever transplanted half-grown cilantro plants into my garden that bolted less than two weeks later, I never understood what people meant when they said they need to “use up those Summer herbs”.

But now, here I am, being one of those people who’s like, “Here’s a great way to use up those Summer herbs!” I know how I sound, but let me explain.

This year, instead of buying two cilantro plants from the nursery, I planted several rows of flat-leaf parsley, dill, basil, and yes, cilantro (coriander), all from seeds. I also planted them in succession, meaning I planted a new herb row every couple weeks for the whole Summer so far.

This method worked FAR better than buying a couple plants, already halfway through their short season of life. And it led to an abundance of herbs that I needed a way to use. Also, shallots, which I grew for the first time this year 🙂

I’m a lover of cold pasta salads (hello pesto pasta salad and zesty tortellini pasta salad 😉), and this one is no exception. It’s full of juicy chicken breast, bright lemon, parmesan cheese, and of course, the fresh herbs and shallot.

If you have an air fryer, definitely give my lemon chicken breast method a try. If you don’t have an air fryer, that’s okay too! This pasta salad would be delicious with chicken breast cooked in your favorite method, or you can even use chopped rotisserie chicken from the store. Enjoy!

Recipe Overview

Total Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty:Easy
Method: Stovetop & Air Fryer
Prep:Make-Ahead Friendly

Watch how to make this Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad (2 min 7 sec):

What are the ingredients in Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad?

This is such a simple and fresh recipe – all of the ingredients should be available at your local grocery store! A few ingredients I even found in my garden 😍 Here’s everything I used for this pasta salad, plus some notes on each:

boneless skinless chicken breasts – Try to find a pack of 1 pound of chicken breasts with two even sized looking breasts – avoid the extra thick ones (or cut them in half horizontally).
avocado oil – While the pasta salad dressing has an olive oil base, I always use avocado oil for cooking in the air fryer, and making chicken is no exception!
fine sea salt & fresh ground black pepper – These are my choices for good old S&P in this recipe. Fresh ground black pepper is the best!
onion & garlic powder – Easy, basic seasonings for the chicken that help the fresh herbs, lemon and shallot flavors shine through too. But also so good when you sneak a bite of just the chicken!!
bowtie (farfalle) pasta – I like this style of pasta because the ridges catch lots of herbs, oil and cheese in each bite.
extra virgin olive oil – You’ll want to find a good quality EVOO for use as the pasta salad dressing base. I used California Olive Ranch 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
large lemon – We’re using the zest and all the juice from one lemon. I like to wash the outside since I’ll be eating the zest too. A little bit of the juice is for the chicken, the rest is for the pasta.
fresh herbs – This recipe is versatile and will work with your favorite fresh herbs that you normally like to season your food with. I used fresh flat-leaf parsley and dill from my garden.
shallot bulb – The shallot is small but mighty and essential for a bright zing of flavor!
parmesan cheese – Fresh grated parm is the best for this pasta salad! It’s okay if you have to use already grated – better than skipping it entirely!

How do you make this Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad?

Let’s break this pasta salad down into a couple main steps: First, there’s cooking the chicken with my air fryer method described in the recipe.

However, if you already have some leftover chicken, you can simply dice it up into bite sized pieces, and skip to step 4 of the recipe. You can bake your chicken in the oven, stovetop, Instant Pot, or even use rotisserie chicken. You’ll need about 2 cups cooked diced chicken breast.

The rest of the recipe is easy – cooking the pasta, followed by assembling the pasta salad with all of your prepared ingredients. Here’s a breakdown:

My tips for how to tenderize chicken:

One of the important parts of this air fryer chicken breast recipe is tenderizing. For this recipe, we will be physically tenderizing the chicken through pounding with a meat tenderizer to create the most juicy and tender chicken.

Here are my tips to make the process a little easier:

Use a plate for staging the chicken breasts (and seasoning after tenderizing), plus a cutting board as a hard solid surface, safe for pounding.
Placing each chicken breast into a Ziploc bag or between plastic wrap during tenderizing helps stop shredding (breaking the fibers of the chicken apart), reduce cleanup and avoid cross-contamination. Note: I used a gallon Ziploc bag in the video, and plastic wrap in the photos. Both methods work but a Ziploc is usually easier to manage.
Use a meat tenderizer, or a heavy pan, such as a cast-iron skillet. Be sure you are working on a safe surface like a cutting board on a countertop.
Go slowly and methodically to create an even thickness in the chicken. It should take about 10-15 seconds to tenderize each piece of chicken.
Focus more on the thicker parts of the chicken breast, working to make them the same thickness as the thinner parts of the chicken breast.
If your chicken breasts are more than 10 ounces each, it may work better to horizontally cut the chicken into two halves, then tenderize all pieces into an even thickness.

Season & cook the chicken:

After tenderizing both chicken breasts and returning them to the original plate, use a paper towel to pat the chicken breasts dry. This helps the oil and seasonings stick to the chicken.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the avocado oil and lemon juice together, then drizzle on to the chicken. Use a pastry brush or your fingers to coat the chicken with the lemon oil mixture on both sides.

Next, season the chicken breasts by sprinkling the salt, fresh ground black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder on both sides. To help keep your hands clean, use tongs to flip chicken back and forth while oiling and seasoning.

Use tongs again to place prepared chicken breasts into the air fryer basket in a single layer. Air fry at 380F for 11-14 minutes, flipping halfway through (I do the flip after 6 minutes). The chicken is done when the edges are browning and the internal temperature reads 165F. If your chicken is on the thicker side, it may take a couple more minutes.

Remove the cooked chicken breasts from the air fryer and place onto a clean cutting board. Let them rest for 10 minutes while you start the pasta, then dice into bite sized pieces and set aside.

Cook pasta & assemble the salad:

While the chicken is cooling, it’s a good time to get the pasta going. Add about 4 quarts of water to a large stockpot over high heat. Once boiling, add at least 1 tablespoon salt to season the water.

Cook pasta to al dente based on package directions (11 minutes for my pasta). If you like your pasta a little softer, feel free to add another minute.

Drain well and rinse pasta with cold water to stop the cooking and bring to room temperature (yes, rinse your pasta for this recipe!). Set aside to cool while you prep the remaining ingredients.

After the cooked ingredients have cooled for a few minutes, combine all pasta salad ingredients in a large bowl, including the cooked pasta, cooked chicken breast, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh herbs, shallot, and parmesan cheese.

Mix it up and taste to see if it needs any additional salt or pepper. You may not need any additional salt depending on your tastes (since the pasta and chicken are both well salted!). Serve immediately or transfer to a serving dish and top with additional chopped fresh herbs and parmesan cheese.

Can I use different chicken or cook it in a different way?

Crafting a delicious air fryer chicken breast recipe was something I focused on while testing this recipe, but if you don’t have an air fryer, or if you simply want to make your chicken another way, I encourage it!

This pasta salad would be delicious with rotisserie chicken too! For more chicken cooking ideas, check out my post on How to Cook Chicken for Meal Prep. Any of those chicken cooking methods would work for this recipe as well.

More ways to cook chicken:

How to Cook Chicken for Meal Prep 3 Ways

All chicken recipes

How much salt do you add to the pasta cooking water?

I always strongly suggest adding salt to your pasta water to add flavor directly to your pasta. Since we’re using 4 quarts of water, I’ll add two generous pinches of the closest salt, once the water is boiling. This is equal to about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of salt.

The exact amount doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a lot. Salting your pasta water is especially vital for this pasta salad, since the flavors and ingredients are all so simple. Flavor is extra important!

Reader Love

Delicious salad!! Very flavorful. Lemon & herbs. I also used parsley & dill. Great for summer. No need to worry about mayo based salad in the heat. My whole family loved it!!! Would highly recommend.

–

Andrea

Why does this recipe have two different oils?

You might have noticed I used both avocado oil and extra virgin olive oil in this recipe. If you read the recipe from start to finish, you’ll also notice I’ve used them in two different ways.

Avocado oil – In general, I use avocado oil for all of my cooking, especially when higher heat is involved. Avocado oil has a more neutral flavor and a higher smoke point than olive oil. In this recipe, I use the avocado oil for cooking the chicken in the air fryer.

Extra virgin olive oil – If there’s no cooking involved and the oil is going directly into a dressing or salad, I prefer to use good tasting, high quality olive oil. In this case, the dressing for this pasta salad is oil based, so I’ve used olive oil.

Testing notes for this Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta:

While testing this recipe, here are a couple things I noticed:

shallot is necessary – I tested this pasta salad without the shallot and we decided it’s vital for flavor!
be liberal with olive oil – If you’re eating the pasta 4 days later, there’s a chance it could be starting to dry out, depending on how airtight your container is. Feel free to drizzle on more olive oil and give it a good stir.

What should you serve with this Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad?

This Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad works great as a main dish all on it’s own, and can be enjoyed for lunch or dinner.

But, it would also be good with something on the side, depending on how you’re feeling when you eat. Anything from a side fruit to a veggies and dip to a brownie would go well with this meal.

Alternative customization ideas:

Here are a couple suggestions for customizing this pasta salad for your own tastes:

herbs – I used parsley and dill because that’s what was most bountiful in my herb garden, but definitely use your favorite herbs! Basil and cilantro would be good additions along with the parsley and dill.
chicken – Feel free to swap the chicken for another protein like shrimp or chickpeas.
more veggies – Add some fresh peas, sliced radishes, or other mild produce for some crunch and variation.

Reader Love

I bought a lemon pepper rotisserie chicken and forgot the shallot but it was delicious. light, but filling. When I make it again, I might put some cut up blanched asparagus in it to bulk it up a bit.

–

Brian

What kind of air fryer do you use?

The air fryer I have currently, and the one that is pictured in this post is the Cosori XL 5.8 qt Air Fryer (affiliate link!).

Cosori 5.8 Qt Air Fryer

This is my air fryer I use in my kitchen almost every day. I recommend it to all my friends and family!

See it on Amazon

If you’re going to invest in an air fryer to cook things for two or more people, you should opt for a larger size like this one, in my opinion!

I previously had a slightly smaller Philips Air Fryer with a metal grate basket which I liked, but I prefer the larger Cosori model with the nonstick coated basket instead.

How do you meal prep this Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta?

This pasta salad works for both an easy weeknight meal, or a make-ahead option to take on-the-go during the week. There are a couple ways to save time by preparing this recipe ahead. Here are some options:

Complete meal prep:Make the recipe as written, but portion the pasta salad evenly into four meal prep containers (see photo below!).
Enjoy now & later:Prepare all the ingredients and make the recipe as written. Enjoy some now, then store leftovers in meal prep containers with lids and use up within 4 days.

Is this recipe freezer-friendly?

While this pasta salad is a good make-ahead recipe from the fridge, I don’t think this would be very good from the freezer. The herbs and pasta would lose all texture and freshness.

How to reheat Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad:

I think leftovers from this recipe are best served cold to keep the fresh herbs bright. But if you want to warm it up, I won’t stop you!

How to store Herby Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad:

Store leftovers in the refrigerator and enjoy within 4 days. Serve cold – if pasta seems dry, drizzle with additional olive oil.

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