Go Back
–+ servings
A bowl of poppyseed chicken pasta salad. A spoon rests in the bowl.
Print Recipe
5 from 18 votes

Poppy Seed Chicken Pasta Salad

Poppy seed chicken pasta salad makes for the perfect summer side or easy dinner with bowtie pasta, chicken, sweet grapes and crunchy almonds all in a creamy poppy seed dressing.
Prep Time25 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: poppy seed chicken pasta salad
Servings: 6
Author: Brittany Mullins

Ingredients

  • 8 oz bow tie pasta
  • 2 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken about 1 lb cooked boneless chicken breasts
  • 1 ½ cups halved red grapes
  • 4 stalks celery diced (about 1 cup)
  • ½ yellow onion diced (about 1 cup)
  • 1 cup whole raw almonds

Poppy Seed Dressing

  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt I used whole milk
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup avocado or olive oil
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 4 teaspoons poppy seeds
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions

  • Cook pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Add almonds to a baking sheet and place in oven to toast. Stir almonds after 5 minutes. Allow to toast about 5 minutes longer or until the almonds are golden and fragrant. Remove from oven and allow almonds to cool then chop. Set aside.
    Toasted almonds on a sheet pan.
  • While pasta is cooking and almonds are roasting, make dressing by whisking together all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
    Poppyseed dressing in a mixing bow with a spoon.
  • In a large bowl, combine the pasta, chicken, grapes, celery, onion and chopped almonds.
    Ingredients for pasta salad in a bowl.
  • Pour the dressing over the pasta salad and gently toss to combine. Taste for and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve right away or refrigerate in a container with a lid for 1-2 hours or until ready to serve.
    Poppyseed dressing added to pasta salad ingredients mixed together in a bowl.

Notes

  • Red grapes: Feel free to swap for green grapes, dried cranberries or dried cherries. 
  • Yellow onion: Allergic or not a fan of yellow onion? Feel free to skip it. The yellow onion provides a mild background flavor. If you want more onion flavor, try red onion instead. Green onions would also be a wonderful substitute.
  • Almonds: Want to put this salad together even faster? Skip the roasting and purchase store-bought roasted almonds. You can use salted or unsalted roasted almonds. If you use salted almonds, you may want to reduce the amount of salt you use in the dressing. You can also swap for a different nut like pecans or walnuts if you don’t like almonds or have an allergy.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 recipe | Calories: 534kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 845mg | Potassium: 519mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 18g