Pesto Pasta Salad { Easy one-dish summer meal! }

This Pesto Pasta Salad has a creamy, bright basil dressing! It’s so refreshingly delicious!

I add pepperoni and chicken, along with summer vegetables, so that it’s a one-dish summer meal that’s so easy to prepare for my family!

Summer is one of our favorite times of year, despite the heat – we get a break from homeschooling and try to just enjoy our free summer days.

This summer, the heat hit early and hasn’t let up, so we’ve been avoiding using the oven whenever possible.

When I do have to turn it on, I do a bunch of cooking at once. I especially love to get a few packs of chicken breasts cooked at once so that I can freeze it all, diced or shredded, for cold meals.

I talk all about that in this post >>> 10 REASONS WHY I KEEP COOKED CHICKEN IN MY FREEZER

When I don’t want to serve a hot meal without turning on the oven, I head to the grill! One of my favorites to grill is our Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Kabobs – so moist and juicy and packed with a bunch of flavorful spices! That’s a recipe you’ve got to try!

Anyways, back to one of our favorite summer meals, this Pesto Pasta Salad!

You only need a few ingredients to make Pesto Pasta Salad — here’s what they are:

Pasta salads are so versatile – you can use whatever veggies you love or are in season! I chose cucumbers and tomatoes because they’re in season and taste so much like summer. 😊

(Plus, we have LOADS of yellow and red grape & cherry tomatoes out in our garden, so this was a great recipe to use them in!)

Chicken and pepperoni together make a great flavor combo, but you could do all chicken or all pepperoni, too!

The absolute BEST part of this Pesto Pasta Salad is definitely the dressing! I am a basil pesto lover, so pesto paired with some creamy yogurt and balsamic dressing ends up SO full of flavor!

I could just dip veggies in the dressing to savor the bright herbal flavor of this dressing!

:: PIN FOR LATER ::

How to Make PESTO PASTA SALAD:

Combine cooked, cooled pasta (I rinse mine with cold water when it’s done cooking so it doesn’t continue to steam itself and get too soft, or it will break when you’re stirring everything together) with veggies, chicken, and pepperoni.

Now for that yummy dressing — combine 1 cup of our Easy Balsamic Vinaigrette (just olive oil, vinegar, and spices….you probably have everything on hand for this!) with some plain Greek yogurt and prepared basil pesto.

These flavors combined pack a POWERFUL burst of flavor that makes this so delicious!