Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Pasta Salad

This flavor-packed grilled chicken and vegetable pasta salad is filled with tender chicken and seasonal veggies, grilled to perfection, and tossed in a Greek vinaigrette with crumbled feta cheese. This easy recipe is ideal as a main or side dish served warm, room temperature or chilled.

With spring here and summer just around the corner, I am so excited to be cooking outside on the grill again! We love using our grill to make grilled steak with herbs, grilled chicken pasta salad with smoke mozzarella, and countless other grilled recipes. And shopping at my local D&W Fresh Market gives me an amazing pick of seasonal produce at its best to use in some of my favorite summertime dishes. With how busy my family gets as school gets out and the boys are home more, I love that I can easily create a grocery order online to pickup when convenient, or better yet, have delivered! Using my most recent order, I put together this delicious Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Pasta Salad that I just had to share!

Ingredients

• Rotini pasta: I love to use D&W’s brand Our Family as it’s budget friendly but still high quality!
• Olive oil: Helps to get the perfect grill on the chicken and veggies, as well as dress the pasta salad.
• Oregano: Earthy and peppery, oregano adds flavor to both the chicken and vegetables.
• Chicken breasts: A lean, accessible, affordable protein that can be bought either frozen or from the meat counter!
• Zucchini: A delicious summer squash that grills to be soft and slightly sweet.
• Eggplant: Colorful, tender, and slightly sweet, eggplant becomes a bit creamy when cooked.
• Red onion: Good cooked or raw, but grilling alongside the eggplant and zucchini adds pungent flavor to the whole dish.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic adds strong, aromatic, somewhat nutty flavor that sweetens as it cooks.
• Red wine vinegar: A staple in lots of Mediterranean cuisine, it’s tangy flavor helps to dress the pasta salad.
• Feta cheese: Continuing with the Greek or Mediterranean flare of this dish, this soft, white cheese gives rich and salty flavor to the salad.

How to Make Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Pasta Salad

Start your grilled chicken and vegetable pasta salad by cooking the Our Family rotini according to package instructions. Then drain and set aside.

Next take your chicken breasts and brush them with some olive oil.

Then season your chicken with salt, pepper, and oregano. If you want to add a bit of a kick, you could also add some chili flakes!

Then cut the eggplant, zucchini, and red onion into cubes. D&W’s weekly ad will highlight seasonal produce and any items they have on sale, so use that to tailor the dish for your family!

Then add the cubed veggies together in a bowl with some whole cloves of garlic and drizzle with olive oil.

Season with more oregano, salt, and pepper and toss until it’s all evenly coated.

Then on a grill pre-heated to high heat, grill your chicken until fully cooked, about 5 minutes per side. Once it reaches an internal temperature of 165, remove from the grill and let rest a few minutes before cutting into cubes.

Next add your veggies to the grill, also cooking over high heat for about 8 minutes, tossing regularly. If you don’t have a grill basket, you can make a one-time use grill “basket” out of tin foil.

Once chicken and vegetables are both cooked, add the cut chicken to a large bowl with the cooked pasta.

Next add in the grilled veggies.

Crumble in the feta cheese, as well as any fresh herbs you have. D&W always has a great pick of fresh parsley, basil, and chives.

Use a microplane to grate in some garlic.

Then dress with the red wine vinegar and some olive oil. Toss well to get all of the salad evenly coated. Check for seasoning, and sprinkle with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Serve cold or at room temperature, and enjoy your Grilled Chicken and Vegetables Pasta Salad!

Easy Substitutions

• Swap the veggies. Knowing my local market will have what’s in season keeps this dish accessible and affordable year round! Use whatever vegetables are in season and on sale at the grocery store!
• Make it vegetarian. You could make this pasta salad with only the grilled vegetables and omit the chicken to make it vegetarian. Take out the feta and it becomes vegan.

Frequently Asked Questions:

More Grilling Recipes

• Beef Shawarma with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
• Rosemary Chicken Breasts
• Grilled Turkey Burgers with Pesto
• Flank Steak Tacos
• Grilled Eggplant with Tahini Sauce

Eat It, Like IT, Share It!

Did you try this recipe and like it? The next time you make it, snap a picture and share it to your socials! Tag @thelemonbowl and #thelemonbowl so we can admire and share your dish.

Delicious day of or next day, this easy make-ahead dish of Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Pasta Salad makes the best use of staples and seasonal produce from your local D&W Fresh Market. Give it a try yourself!

Your fork is waiting.

Disclosure: This recipe was developed in partnership with Spartan Nash Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Lemon Bowl possible. All thoughts are my own.