Orange Chicken Pasta Salad
This Orange Chicken Pasta Salad with Orange Poppyseed Dressing recipe has just a few ingredients and is so easy to make!
A DELICIOUSLY DIFFERENT PASTA SALAD
I love when a salad can really be a whole meal. This Orange Chicken Pasta Salad with Poppyseed Dressing is really a meal-in-one. Plus, it tastes like summer! It’s not too heavy and the orange poppyseed dressing sets it all off without drowning out all the other flavors. And it only has a handful ingredients and can be made in minutes!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I purchase it at Kroger. However, if you’d like, you can make it yourself using this recipe here.
You can use store-bought rotisserie chicken, canned chicken or the grilled chicken (like the one pictured below) that is in the refrigerated or frozen section of your grocery store. This salad works great with any leftover chicken you may have.
This pasta salad could also be a BBQ side dish. You could leave out the diced chicken and serve this as just a side to some BBQ grilled chicken. Actually, I think it would go beautifully with my Grilled Hawaiian BBQ Chicken. The citrus flavors in each of these would really complement each other.
The lettuce is optional in this. You can leave it out altogether or substitute with chopped broccoli or baby spinach.
Leftovers should be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Please note that the lettuce will wilt so if you are planning to have this as leftovers, love out the romaine lettuce and only stir in just before serving.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- rotini pasta – feel free to use other types of pasta, elbow macaroni, cavatappi or farfalle all with with this recipe.
- cooked chicken breast – I just used the Tyson’s grilled and ready that you can find in the frozen food section. I just let it thaw out (there are also microwave directions on the back) but you can use whatever cooked chicken you like here.
- romaine lettuce – I like a hearty lettuce for this that can really hold up to all the other ingredients.
- mandarin oranges – I think it’s important to use canned mandarin oranges here since they will be the perfect texture instead of using fresh.
- chopped pecans – these are optional but add such a nice little crunch to the salad.
- orange poppyseed dressing – please see my FAQ section on how to make this from scratch if necessary. You can also use just a regular poppyseed dressing.
HOW TO MAKE ORANGE CHICKEN PASTA SALAD:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well, then cool.
In a large bowl, combine cooled pasta, diced chicken, chopped lettuce, mandarin oranges and chopped pecans.
Pour poppyseed dressing on top of salad.
Stir gently to combine well.
You can serve immediately or cover the bowl with plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge for a couple of hours.
Stir again before serving!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Orange Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounce box rotini pasta
- 2 cups fully cooked chicken breast, diced into chunks
- 3 cups diced romaine lettuce (or baby spinach) roughly chopped
- 15 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained well
- 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
- 12 ounce bottle orange poppyseed dressing
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well, then cool.
- In a large bowl, combine cooled pasta, diced chicken, chopped lettuce, mandarin oranges and chopped pecans.
- Pour poppyseed dressing on top of salad.
- Stir gently to combine well.
- You can serve immediately or cover the bowl with plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Stir again before serving!
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- You can use store-bought rotisserie chicken, canned chicken or the grilled chicken (like the one pictured above) that is in the refrigerated or frozen section of your grocery store.
- This salad works great with any leftover chicken you may have.
- If you can’t find orange poppyseed dressing (I bought this at Kroger), just go with regular poppyseed dressing.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I love receiving your recipes. I have been cooking for 60 years and still love to try new meals. In 60 years I thought I had tried everything. NOT. Since we are such salad lovers I cannot wait to try the Orange Chicken Pasta Salad. Great for family and for sharing with friends and potlucks. Thanks..
That looks delicious! I love salads that can stand in for full fledged meals . Pinned
I checked out the same dressing you used …$30.00 (yes – that is correct) for 2 – 12 oz bottles…no Kroger here in CT
That is ridiculous! I paid less than $2 at the store. My local Walmart carries it. But, it will still taste really good with regular poppyseed dressing. I promise!! 🙂 If you want, you could even stir in some of the juice from the mandarin oranges into the regular poppyseed dressing to kick up the orange flavor! 🙂
Oh, my Brandie, you read my mind. This is something I can easily make and I LOVE salads with chicken and mandarin oranges so I know this salad with the pasta will be scruptious! Thank you so much for sharing..
Thank you Claudine!! Hope you love it as much as I did! I probably ate too much (if I’m being honest – LOL!)
Brandie, I have a two recipes for Orange Poppy Seed Dressing that I got many many years ago from an online group that I belonged to. The group is now extinct, but I can send it to you if you’d like. It is easy to do and quick. It makes 1 1/2 cups which I think would be equal to the 12 ounce bottle of dressing. One recipe uses cornstarch for the thickener and the other recipe uses powdered fruit pectin for the thickener. I just wanted to check with you before posting it I don’t want to do anything wrong. Let me know if you would be interested.
Hi Claudine! Of course I would love it! If you wouldn’t mind, I’ll add it into this post in case anyone wants to make it themselves. I always appreciate a good recipe share!
Hello, Was the dressing recipe ever posted? 1 Would love to have it and cannot find it ❤
Print link doesn’t work…
Hi Sherry! I just tested it and it’s working. It might’ve been a temporary hiccup. Can you try again? 🙂
Hi Brandie,
The Orange chicken pasta sounds delicious! Where can we find Orange poppyseed dressing?
Thank you
Hi Diana, I purchased it at Kroger. I also saw it at Walmart. But, if you can’t find it, the regular poppyseed dressing still works good!