Pasta Salad with Chicken and Avocado

Posted on by Jeff the Chef

If you are what you eat, I’m made in no small part out of pasta. And chicken. And maybe avocado gives me my cool, sophisticated vibe.

Pasta Salad with Chicken and Avocado
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Pasta Salad with Chicken and Avocado

Makes

6

large servings
Prep time

25

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken breasts

  • Coarse salt

  • ¼ cup + 2 Tbs olive oil, divided

  • 1 lb penne or fusilli

  • 10 oz red grape tomatoes, quartered

  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced

  • ¼ cup sliced bread and butter pickles

  • 3 Tbs dried parsley

  • 3 small avocados, peeled, seeded, and diced

  • Juice of 1 lemon, poured through a fine-mesh strainer

  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced

  • 1 Tbs dried oregano

  • Coarsely ground black pepper

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Pat the chicken very, very dry with paper towels; set aside. Preheat a large, heavy, oven-safe skillet over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt. Add the oil to the pan, then add the chicken, salt-side down, using the first breast to spread the oil all around the pan. Top the pan with a spatter screen and let the chicken sear for 4 minutes. Flip, salt, cover with screen, and sear for another 4 minutes. Insert a probe into the thickest part of the thickest breast, set a temperature alarm for 160ºF (or your preferred temperature), and transfer the pan to the oven. Once it comes to temperature, transfer the breast to a cutting board, allow to cool for a few minutes, then slice into bite-sized slices.
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water, according to package directions for al dente. Strain it, return the pasta to the empty pot, and cover the pasta with cold water. Strain again.
  • Meanwhile, add the tomatoes, scallions, pickles, parsley, and avocado to a large mixing bowl. Add the chicken and pasta. Toss.
  • Add lemon juice, ¼ cup of olive oil, garlic, oregano, 1 tsp coarse salt, and pepper to a 1-cup capacity, tightly sealable container and shake violently. Pour it over the salad, and toss thoroughly.
  • Serve while the chicken is still warm, or serve at room temperature.

Notes

  • Substitutions: 1/4 cup of capers, strained thoroughly, for the pickles; fresh parsley for the dried
"Pasta Salad," from Make It Like a Man!

Ingredients:

  • I didn’t call for red pepper flakes in the ingredient list, even optionally … but I don’t think I’d mind them in this salad. 
  • This salad could probably also take on whatever you have on-hand, such as celery, bell pepper, or even raisins. However, it doesn’t need any of these things. 
  • Don’t fear the raw garlic. Just try the salad with it, and see what you think. It may surprise you. It’s not overwhelming or over-the-top. It’s fabulous. No kidding, though, it will give you serious garlic breath – but that’s the only drawback, and it’s worth it.
  • The pickles are the real genius of this salad, especially if they’re best-quality. If they’re sliced so thinly that they’re all bendy, they can go into the salad as they are. Otherwise, you should coarsely chop them. If your pickles have other things in among them, like onions, definitely include them. Remove the pickles from the jar with a fork, but don’t try too hard to strain them. A bit of brine will be wonderful in the salad. 

Cooking:

  • There’s nothing essential about pan-frying the chicken. Grilled, rotisserie, baked, or broiled chicken would be wonderful. And it could easily be leftover chicken. Poached, though, I think, would be a bit too plain.
  • Do your own homework about safe chicken temperatures, and remember not to take my advice when it comes to the temperatures that I like.
  • If you know you’ll have leftovers, add the avocado to individual servings (½-avocado per serving) rather than to the bowl, because avocado doesn’t leftover well.
"Pasta Salad," from Make It Like a Man!

24 thoughts on “Pasta Salad with Chicken and Avocado”

  2. So nice in the summer, to have something ready to go for dinner. Lest we just have cereal every night!

    Reply

  4. Una ensalada de pasta es una comida ideal muy veraniega. Tanto si es para degustar en familia o con amigos, resulta idónea para la fecha. Es fácil de preparar y acepta cantidad de ingredientes, a nosotros nos encanta. Me llevo la tuya porque la combinación que has hecho me parece buenísima.
    Un beso.

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Nessa. I think the pickles really make this salad. (By the way, your gravitar doesn’t link to your website.)

      Reply

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