Suddenly Mom's Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe Is In My Dinner Rotation Salads Pasta Lunch Dinner Poultry Side Dishes

While at my parents' house recently, my mom made "chicken stuff" for lunch for us. Chicken stuff? It turned out to be a delicious, creamy chicken pasta salad. To my surprise, the recipe started with a box of Suddenly Salad™. She doctored that box of pasta salad up and created a tasty and craveable meal.

This hearty pasta salad is filling and the perfect lunch or dinner on hot summer days. To make this chicken and pasta dish you will need the following ingredients: a box of Suddenly Salad (choose your favorite variety) plus ingredients to make it, cooked shredded chicken breast, a carrot, mayonnaise, fresh chives, fresh dill and garlic powder. For serving, grab some Parmesan cheese and hard-boiled eggs. Prepare the salad mix according to package directions, adding grated carrots to the boiling pasta during the last minute of cooking time, then add mayonnaise, fresh dill and chives and garlic powder.

My mom served this cold chicken salad with pasta sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, black pepper and hard-boiled eggs on the side. This light but hearty recipe has found its way into my recipe rotation now, though I have a few more ingredients I may throw into the mix (see Recipe Notes). Serve this pasta salad for lunch or dinner, or even as a side dish. It packs up nicely, too, in lunch boxes.

Note: 30Seconds is a participant in the Amazon affiliate advertising program and this post contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission or fees if you make a purchase via those links.

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 box Suddenly Salad, plus ingredients to make it
• 1 - 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken breast
• 1 carrot, grated
• chopped fresh chives
• chopped fresh dill 
• garlic powder, to taste
• mayonnaise
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
• hard-boiled eggs, for serving (optional)

Helpful Products

• Saucepot
• Colander
• Salt and Pepper
• Cutting Board
• Grater
• Chef Knife

Recipe Notes

• My mom used Sweet Basil Suddenly Salad, but you could use whatever variety you enjoy.

• Add whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.

• Add some slices of fresh sliced avocado on the side.

• Other ingredients you could stir into the salad include chopped green onion, chopped red onion, red bell pepper and jalapeno, for a little spice.

• Instead of sprinkling the salad with Parmesan cheese, you could stir it into the salad.

• Even after adding the amount of mayo called for on the box of salad, you will still need more because of the added ingredients. If your variety of Suddenly Salad doesn't call for mayonnaise, you will want to add it anymore for a creamy finished product.

Here's how to make it:

1. Prepare the Suddenly Salad according to package directions. Add the grated carrot to the boiling pasta during the last minute of cooking time. 
2. Add chicken breast, chives, dill and garlic powder to taste. Stir in mayonnaise until you reach desired creaminess. 
3. Spoon into serving bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese and black pepper. Serve with a hard-boiled egg, if desired.

Recipe cooking times and servings are approximate. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography. Need to convert cooking and baking measurements? Here are some kitchen conversion charts. Here's how to submit your recipes to 30Seconds.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community, and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily.