Seasoned chicken, broccoli, golden raisins, celery, and a wonderful creamy dressing come together to make this awesome Chicken Broccoli Pasta Salad. A total crowd pleaser, perfect for brunch, luncheons, potlucks, summer gatherings, and all year long!
Chicken and broccoli are just the perfect pair! Other recipes we love that include them both are our Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry and this Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole.
I have a go-to pasta salad with ground beef and bacon, and one with summer sausage, so I thought I would play around with one that uses chicken. This one is also perfection and we’re a little obsessed with it.
This Chicken Broccoli Pasta Salad has the best combination of flavors and textures, with the perfect amount of creamy dressing. It’s like classic Broccoli Salad, Chicken Salad, and pasta salad all rolled into one!
Pasta Salad Recipe Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed:
*Scroll down for the complete printable recipe.
- Small pasta – we use Radiatore, which is a fun small shape with lots of grooves to catch the creamy dressing. If you can’t find it, use any other small pasta.
- Cooked chicken – if you’ve got leftovers from a roast chicken, great! If not, you can use a rotisserie chicken.
- Broccoli – cut into bite sized florets.
- Celery – for crunch.
- Raisins – the sweetness from raisins are a great contrast to the broccoli and celery. Use regular, golden, or a combination.
- Almonds – sliced almonds provide some crunch and a nice nutty flavor.
- Scallions – for a subtle onion, peppery flavor.
- Dressing – this dressing the bring it all together includes mayo, sour cream, honey, mustard, Italian Seasoning, salt, and pepper. It’s so good!
Make Ahead and Storage
This can be made up to 24 hours in advance, but ideally not longer than that because the dressing will begin to loosen. If making it ahead of time, keep covered in the refrigerator. I recommend adding in the almonds right before serving, so they maintain their crunch. Give the salad a few good stirs to incorporate everything again.
Any leftovers should be kept in the refrigerator, covered. It will keep up to 3 days, but keep in mind the dressing will become watery over time.
Other Pasta Salad Recipes
Chicken Broccoli Pasta Salad Video
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Chicken Broccoli Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound (4 cups) dried Radiatore pasta
- 1 pound cooked seasoned chicken breast, diced into small cubes (about 2 cups)
- 3 cups small broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
- 4 scallions, diced
For The Dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 3/4 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil; cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drizzle with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.
- In an extra large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing until combined and smooth. Add in the cooked pasta, chicken, broccoli, raisins, celery, almonds, and scallions; toss to combine and coat.
- Enjoy right away or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Video
Nutrition
Other Notes
This has become a go-to favorite of ours, I use dried cranberries instead of raisins, and minced purple onion instead of scallions. I always have fresh herbs like oregano and thyme, so that goes in as well. Yummm!!
I made this for a wedding shower and everyone wanted the recipe!
I made this over Christmas, I had my doubts about the Dijon and Italian seasoning, but it all turned out so good!!! I will be making again for new years!!
Made this recipe for the second time, husband requested.
A new favorite summer salad in our house.
Really good recipe, love the dressing! Doubled the dressing only because I added more chicken and broccoli.
This is my go-to pasta salad recipe. I sub dried cranberries for the raisins because it’s what we like and toast whatever nuts I have on hand. We all love it so much! Even my finicky husband loves it!
Very good. Will make again.
I love the broccoli salad from the deli but this recipe is so much better its especially a great summer time meal when it’s to hot to cook
Can you make and freeze this? Is there a freeze option or how would you freeze it?
Delicious recipe! Exceeds all expectation!
Double the dressing and used most of it because I added extra chicken and broccoli to increase the veg/protein. DELISH!
Has anyone made a warm version of this??
Great salad and will definitely be adding this my list of salads. My family doesn’t like sour cream so used all mayonnaise and about a teaspoon of vinegar.
Delicious, nice change from plain old macaroni salad
My family loved it!!!
so good
A genuinely excellent, pleasantly complex and flavorful recipe
Can I use honey mustard in place of the honey and mustard? if so how much?
I would probably just total the two separate ingredients and use that amount.
Loved this salad!! My husband gave it a 10/10 while eating it!! Making this for sure again.
This salad is fantastic! Husband rated it 10 out of ten. It didn’t get runny as mentioned either for us. I used regular mustard and red onion since that’s what I had on hand. Will definitely make this over and over again!!!
Any substitute for the raisins ??
Dried cranberries.
Going to try this looks delicious
I’m allergic to broccoli. Any suggestions for a replacement ?
Cauliflower would be a good replacement or blanched asparagus, green beans, snap peas.
Great recipe! I changed it a little bit since I didn’t have what was called for. I substituted chopped pecans for the almonds, craisins for the raisins and then I didn’t have fresh broccoli so I used frozen. Defrosted it and mixed it right in. It was delicious!
This is now my new favorite pasta salad – it has all the right flavors and textures. Such a great combination of everything!
Hi Amy,
Is the Mayo Hellman’s or Miracle Whip?
Hellman’s mayo!
Thank you!
How big is one serving? It says the recipe makes 12 servings, but doesn’t actually list the serving size.
Made this for a baby shower and it disappeared before any of the desserts, not one spec left in the bowl!
any substitute for dressing in a bottle, ready to use instead?
I prepared this dish for our prayer meeting night, hoping it would be good…it was better than good, it was DELICIOUS ! ! ! Everyone really loved it. It was such a hit that our hostess requested the recipe. I cooked my Perdue Italian Style Chicken Breast the night before, used sour cream, and substituted the almonds with bacon bits and Farfalle paste instead of Radiatore. Thank you for this quick, easy & delicious recipe :).
P.S. While the chicken breasts are resting on the plate, there’s always a lot of good drippings that I also add to the sauce.
This was delicious. Unfortunately, I did not have a few things on hand, so I left out the raisins, almonds and celery (i know 1/2 the ingredients) I had been searching for a cold broccoli, chicken pasta salad, so this is where I stopped. The sauce is what makes this so good. I added 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 tsp of minced garlic to the sauce. It is so good I can’t stop eating it. Thanks for a great recipe. Sorry I had to change it a little. By the way before I grilled 2 chicken breasts I drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled both sides with S&P, onion & garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, & italian seasoning then grilled for 7 minutes in my George F. Grill. The end.
Nice! I don’t eat meat or dairy and have learned to “flip” any recipe to be plant-based — hate the “V” word…vegan. I’m a senior who has to watch my weight and try to keep fats at a minimum. I love to cook and EAT.
This is fabulous. Thanks.
With this salad, I’d stuff a tomato, top with avocado, maybe some kalamada olives or capers.
Let the fun begin!!!
This salad is so delicious! I made it the night before for a luncheon. Everyone loved it.
Made it for the first time today for a luncheon with friends. I used cranraisins interested if Golden raisins and this salad was deeeeeelicious!
How many points per serving size for Weight Watchers? I am a beginner. I need all the help I can get.
Sorry, I don’t have that information since I’m not familiar enough with the Weight Watchers system. You’d need to look at the nutritional information and figure that out, I guess.
Do I steam the broccoli or anything? Or it jist goes in raw?
Hi Kristin! It goes in raw.
It is 13 Freestyle Points/serving when made with full fat mayo & sour cream, 10 if you use light & 9 points if you use fat free. Not sure how the lighter products would work as I have found them to get watery after sitting overnight.
This is totally unique. Awesome pasta salad idea. :D
Thanks, Melissa! I took all my favorite salads and mixed/matched. HA. And I even added in celery, which you know I hate…and yet…I love it in this. Go figure.
Will definitely make this next week. It looks good for lunch, dinner or a bit of a snack.
You’ll love it, Mom!