Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad

Looking for a new pasta salad recipe? This Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad is loaded with cashews, grapes, chicken, pasta and dried cranberries. It’s covered in a ranch dressing and is packed with flavor. It’s perfect for your summer potlucks, BBQs and parties!

The BEST Pasta Salad Recipe

This easy pasta salad would be the perfect 4th of July side dish! Really, it’s perfect any time, all year round. Trust me, I make it all the time. Any gathering and I’ll volunteer to bring the side dish and this is my go to winner!

I made this last weekend for Kinzee’s baptism. I needed two different salads to make and this was one of them and the other was my Strawberry Tapioca Salad. I love the juicy grapes in it and crunchy cashews.

We served this Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad with my  famous Sweet ‘n’ Sour Meatballs and they were a hit like usual. If you haven’t checked out this recipe you must!

If you are looking for a delicious pasta salad recipe that’s a little different than the norm you guys have to try this! This recipe for chicken pasta salad with grapes is loaded with so many amazing flavors from the chicken, grapes, cranberries and cashews. It is going to become your new favorite pasta salad recipe!

What do I need to make Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad?

While this is just a snippet of what the ingredients are, it shows you that there aren’t that many that you’ll need. The entire recipe can be viewed below!

• Rotini
• Cooked chicken
• Green Grapes
• Red Grapes
• Dried Cranberries
• Ranch Salad Dressing
• Mayonnaise
• Salted Cashews

Steps to Prepare

• Cook Pasta – Prepare the rotini according the package directions, drain and rinse pasta in cold water
• Mix Pasta Salad – In a large bowl combine chicken, grapes and cranberries. Add in pasta.
• Prepare dressing – In a mixing bowl whisk together ranch dressing and mayonnaise. Pour over pasta salad
• Refrigerate – Chill for at least one hour before serving.
• Add Cashews – Right before serving stir in cashews

More Pasta Salad Recipes!

• Pepperoni Cold Pasta Salad
• Pesto Pasta Salad
• Looking for a traditional pasta salad. This Macaroni Salad is just like Mom made!

Pair it with….

• Grilling out? BBQ Chicken Marinade is the BEST out there!
• Barbecue Baked Chicken Drumsticks perfect for an easy dinner they are finger licking good!
• Barbecue Ribs are packed with flavor and the perfect dinner.
• Instant Pot French Onion Meatloaf is like no other meatloaf. Tons of flavor and a fun twist!

WATCH THE STEP BY STEP VIDEO FOR THIS RECIPE BELOW:

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Try it and love it? Rate it, please!!! ?Seriously though a five-star rating below will make my day! If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your delicious Garlic Butter Noodles!!

Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad

Julie Evink

Loaded with Cashews, Grapes, Chicken, Pasta and Dried Cranberries! Perfect Pasta Salad Recipe for the Summer!

4.54 from 32 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 16

Calories 537 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 16 oz rotini
• 4 c. cubed cooked chicken
• 1 c. seedless green grapes halved
• 1 c. seedless red grapes halved
• 5 oz dried cranberries
• 1 c. ranch salad dressing
• 3/4 c. mayonnaise
• 2 c. salted cashews

Instructions

 

• Cook the pasta according to packaged directions. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water.
• In a large bowl combine chicken, grapes and cranberries. Add pasta.
• In a small bowl, whisk ranch dressing and mayonnaise. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Just before serving stir in cashews.

Notes

Why do I need to rinse my cooked pasta?

You will want to rinse the rotini after you prepare it for this Cashew Chicken Rotini Pasta salad to cool the temperature of the pasta down. It also helps keep the pasta loose for the pasta salad.

Can you make pasta salad the night before?

You can make this pasta salad the night before but some of the dressing will get soaked up into it. If you make it the night before you might need to add a little bit more dressing the next day if you want too!

Another quick tip is to toss your pasta in a little olive oil after you rinse it to help it from sticking and prevent it from soaking as much of the dressing up if you prepare it a day ahead.

How to store leftover pasta salad

Store your leftover pasta salad in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer.

How long does pasta salad last?

If you store your pasta salad properly in the fridge it will last 3-5 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 537kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 21gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 493mgPotassium: 521mgFiber: 3gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 50IUVitamin C: 2.1mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 2.6mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!