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Pulled chicken, veggies, and cheddar cheese come together with noodles and a creamy BBQ dressing to make this delicious BBQ chicken pasta salad. It’s a great dish to pack for lunch or to bring as a side to a potluck or picnic.

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Recipe Notes & Tips

Pasta

I used cellentani the first time I made this, and it worked well. A substantive, large-ish noodle tends to hold up well with the ingredients. Farfalle (bow ties) or fusilli (spirals) also work well. I don’t recommend macaroni elbows – they tend to be too small.

Chicken

This is a great recipe for using a rotisserie chicken, leftover pulled BBQ chicken, or leftover grilled chicken. I usually make some generic pulled chicken in the slow cooker and keep it in the freezer for recipes like this one. The Recipe Rebel has a good recipe for slow cooker shredded chicken.

The recipe calls for pulled chicken, but you can use diced chicken instead if that’s what you prefer. This would be a good way to use leftover grilled chicken.

BBQ Sauce

You can use any BBQ sauce you prefer for this recipe. I’ve used a variety of sauces to make it, and it’s always turned out great. I’ve never used a South Carolina mustard-based sauce (yet), but I will one of these days!

Making Ahead & Storage

You can make this (mostly) a day ahead of time. Assemble everything, but don’t add the dressing until the day of. The noodles tend to absorb the dressing and the salad starts to dry out. Leftovers can he stores for a couple of days, but the quality starts to diminish after that because it starts to get too dry.

Bowl of pasta salad next to wooden spoons.

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5 from 1 vote

BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad

Name: BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: ½ lb uncooked pasta (cellantini, fusilli, or farfalle recommended); 1 tsp olive oil; 3 cups pulled or shredded cooked chicken; 1 cup BBQ sauce; 1 red onion (chopped); 1 red bell pepper (diced); 2 ribs celery (diced); ½ cup chopped fresh parsley; 1 can corn (drained); 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; ¼ cup mayonnaise; ¼ cup BBQ sauce; ¼ cup sour cream; 2 tsp relish; 2 tsp yellow mustard; ¼ tsp sugar

Pulled chicken, veggies, and cheddar cheese come together with noodles and a creamy BBQ dressing to make this delicious BBQ chicken pasta salad. It's a great dish to pack for lunch or to bring as a side to a potluck or picnic.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cold pasta salad, pasta salad, potluck pasta salad

Servings: servings

Equipment

Large mixing bowl

Ingredients

½ lb uncooked pasta cellantini, fusilli, or farfalle recommended
1 tsp olive oil
3 cups pulled or shredded cooked chicken
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 red onion chopped
1 red bell pepper diced
2 ribs celery diced
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 can corn drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Dressing

¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup BBQ sauce
¼ cup sour cream
2 tsp relish
2 tsp yellow mustard
¼ tsp sugar

Instructions

Combine ingredients for dressing and set aside.
¼ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup BBQ sauce, ¼ cup sour cream, 2 tsp relish, 2 tsp yellow mustard, ¼ tsp sugar
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain in a colander and toss with a small amount of olive oil (1-2 teaspoons) to prevent noodles from sticking together. Set aside and let cool completely (OK to leave in the colander).
½ lb uncooked pasta, 1 tsp olive oil
Toss chicken in 1 cup of BBQ sauce and set aside.
3 cups pulled or shredded cooked chicken, 1 cup BBQ sauce
Once the pasta is cool, transfer to a large mixing bowl. You may need to separate into two bowls depending on the size.
Combine the cooked pasta, chicken, red bell pepper, onion, celery, corn, cheese, and parsley.
3 cups pulled or shredded cooked chicken, 1 red onion, 2 ribs celery, ½ cup chopped fresh parsley, 1 can corn, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 red bell pepper
Add the dressing and stir until it is well-distributed throughout the pasta salad.

Notes

Cooking time does not include time for cooking chicken.

Serving estimate of 12 assumes the pasta salad is being served as a regular side dish (with a meal), not at a potluck. If you’re taking this to a potluck with more than 12 people, you likely do not need to double the recipe since people tend to consume smaller portions of each dish at a potluck.

Bowl of pasta salad with text that says BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad.

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