A Chicken Pasta Salad to Die For

I absolutely love, love this chicken salad recipe from my aunt! It's to die for seriously! Your guests will be asking you for the recipe. It's got the perfect texture mixture of crunch (grapes, celery, cashews) and softness (pasta, Crasins, oranges, pineapple) and a balanced sweet and salty taste. Yum!! This is the perfect salad for your summer BBQs--better hurry, fall is right around the corner!

The great thing about this recipe, and any salad, really is that most of the ingredients vary on your taste preferences. You can add more or less of most of these ingredients! One of my favorite ingredients is the grapes! <<<


Here's the recipe:

Chicken Pasta Salad

Bow tie pasta (1 box)
Colored rotini pasta (2 box)
Red grapes (as many as you like)
Celery (half a bunch)
Green onions (half a bunch)
Craisins (as many as you like)
Cashews (as many as you like)
Cooked chicken shredded (half a large bag of tenders...or 1 rotisserie chicken)
Mandarin oranges (1 large can)
Pineapple tidbits or crushed (1 large can)

Season and bake half a large bag of chicken tenders or use a rotisserie chicken. Shred the chicken and place in the refrigerator to cool. Cook the pasta as directed on your box and set aside to cool. Chop celery, green onion and red grapes if desired (I usually leave them whole) and add to pasta. Add Crasins, cashews, chicken, mandarin oranges and pineapple to pasta. Mix, and pour whisked dressing over. Add salt and pepper to taste. Be sure to refrigerate for several hours as this salad is best cold.

Dressing 

1 cup mayo
1 bottle Cole Slaw dressing

This recipe will make enough for 20 people, but my aunt always has a lot of people over and doubles this recipe. If you have a smaller group, feel free to half this recipe! Hope you enjoy!