Cashew Chicken Pasta Salad

This Cashew Chicken Pasta Salad is one of my very favorite summertime main dishes. It is so stinking good! I take it to potlucks, baby showers, and family parties all the time and everyone loves it. It has such a great combination of flavors. The sweetness of the fruit is balanced by the saltiness of the cashews. So yummy!



I like to use my homemade ranch dressing, because it gives this salad such a fresh flavor. But you can use bottled in a pinch. I like to serve this with fruit salad or a smoothie, but a green salad or vegetables would be great too. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite salads of all time!

Yield: 12-16 servings

Cashew Pasta Chicken Salad

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Pasta salad with chicken, grapes, pineapple, cashews, and other tasty ingredients.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and chopped
• 24oz spiral pasta, cooked
• 2 cups grapes, halved
• 2 cans pineapple tidbits, drained
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 2 cups sliced celery
• 1 cup Craisins
• 2 cups roasted, salted cashews[br]
• Dressing:
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1-2 cups Ranch dressing

Instructions

Combine all salad ingredients except cashews in a large bowl.

Stir in mayonnaise and ranch dressing till everything is well coated. You can add more or less ranch dressing according to taste.

Add cashews right before serving.

Notes

Notes:
-This makes a really large salad, so cut it in half if you have a small family.
-The cashews get all funky and soft if they sit in the salad overnight, so if you know you will have leftovers, you can just add them to the individual servings.
-Do not use Miracle Whip instead of mayo, it would just be wrong. Trust me.

Here are a few other Chicken Salad recipes you should check out!

Chinese Chicken Salad
Balsamic Chicken Salad
Spicy Chicken Salad
Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad