Easy & Delicious Asian Pasta Salad topped with a sweet and tangy dressing is packed with veggies and flavor!
Asian Pasta Salad is one of those pasta dishes that is easily customized based off of the ingredients you love. Serve this pasta salad with Chicken Ceasar Wraps and Fruit Kabobs for a perfect picnic!
Asian Pasta
One summer a while back, my mom and I would get together every Wednesday night. I always brought a new dessert and she always tried a new recipe. Fun, huh? It really forced us to try new recipes and figure out the ones we liked and didn’t like. One of our favorites that we found is this Asian Pasta Salad.
After looking at all the delicious ingredients, she knew we had to give it a try. We love chicken, peppers, pasta, spinach, carrots and all things Asian, so it wasn’t a surprise that we loved this recipe. In fact, we’ve made it several more times because it’s perfect for BBQs and holiday get togethers.
I know you’ll love this Asian Pasta Salad. It is seriously one of my favorites now, and I already cannot wait to have it again. The pasta and the spinach together (with the homemade dressing) make it so yummy!
Making Asian Pasta Salad
PASTA. Make pasta as directed and set aside.
SESAME SEEDS. Cook sesame seeds in a skillet on medium heat for 1-2 minutes until lightly toasted. Set aside.
DRESSING. Mix together vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds and pepper with a whisk until mixed well.
COMBINE. Pour dressing mixture over pasta, chicken breasts (try our oven baked chicken), red pepper, shredded carrots and spinach and mix until coated evenly. ENJOY!
Tips + Storing Info
Sugar substitute: If you are trying to cut down on added white sugar, or just don’t have sugar at the moment you could substitute it for agave or honey. This may change the texture of the dressing, so mix in an extra tablespoon or so of water to thin it out.
Pastas: If you don’t have rotini you can always use spaghetti, shells, or macaroni. The pasta shape doesn’t alter the taste but it just depends on your preference.
Shortcut: use rotisserie chicken and a bag of pre-shredded carrots.
Some other ingredients that would be great in this dish, include:
- Broccoli
- Snow Peas
- Edamame
- Crispy Wontons
- Add spice by incorporating red chili flakes or sriracha into the dressing
STORE leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Make this salad ahead of time if you’d like. If you are making this salad in the afternoon to serve later that night, combining all the ingredients should be fine. If you are planning to serve it later than that you should separate the salad ingredients so nothing gets soggy. Keep the spinach, chopped veggies, pasta, and salad dressing in separate containers until you combine and serve immediately.
For more pasta salads, check out:
- Bowtie Pasta Salad
- Tortellini Salad
- Easy Pasta Salad
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad
- Asian Noodle Salad
Asian Pasta Salad recipe
Ingredients
- 1 - 16 oz. bag tri-color rotini
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 3 TB sugar
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3 cups chicken breast cooked and cubed
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 1 red bell pepper julienned
Instructions
- Make pasta as directed and set aside.
- Cook sesame seeds in a skillet on medium heat for 1-2 minutes until lightly toasted. Set aside.
- Mix together vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds and pepper with a whisk until mixed well.
- Pour dressing mixture over pasta, chicken breasts, red pepper, shredded carrots and spinach and mix until coated evenly. ENJOY!
Recipe adapted from The Cooking Mom.
Awww…. that sounds like so much fun to do with your mom. I wish I lived close enough to my mom or sister to do something like that. 🙂
And this does look delish!
It’s been super fun to do and has also helped me get some fun recipe posts for the future. Where is all your fam, Dezi?
Would this taste good at room temp? We are going to the beach and I am looking for light different items to bring vice the standard turkey sandwhich.
Yes, I think it would be fine at room temp. I would just wait to put the dressing on when you’re at the beach so it doesn’t get soggy. 🙂
Approximately how much cilantro did you use?
This dish was amazing! I followed it exactly (which is not what I normally do with recipes) and we are taking it on a road trip.
Did you use any tomatoes or red peppers in this recipe??
Beautiful colors! It does look like you used some ‘undocumented’ red pepper strips in the recipe, which look really nice with the spinach. I used to get probably the same tricolor pasta when my kids were little, the green with spinach powder in it and the orange with I think carrot. What a nice tradition you had having dinner with your mom and dad, so helpful that your own family was there on nights that your husband was busy.
Can this be made ahead of time with the dressing in it?
I have made this twice now…LOVE IT. Crave it! Thanks so much, I love watching your posts on Facebook for food ideas! YUM
This was a really good pasta salad except you didnt put cilantro in recipe so when I made my grocery list, I didnt buy that (and I love cilantro) but that is okay because it was still good. Next time i will be sure to get the cilantro.
I updated the recipe – I didn’t use cilantro in it. 😉
Did you use rotisserie chicken? I didn’t see where you talked about preparing the chicken.
What is the amt of soy sauce and vinegar? In the recipe all I see is a small square box then cup. This looks so good, have to try it! Thanks!
Hi,
I love your recipes. I am on Weight Watchers Freestyle and would love to know the points for your recipes. I would like to make the Asian Pasta Salad recipe.
I am sorry, I do not have that information. There are sites you can use to convert the ingredients & measurements into the nutritional info, though. I love the Asian pasta salad!! I hope you find what you need 🙂
Hello – I’m a wee bit confused on step four? So you pour the dressing over the pasta and then add all the other ingredients?? Can’t wait to make this just want to be sure I’m doing it right!! Thanks!
It’s one of my favorites!! Add the carrots & other ingredients to the pasta & add the dressing & mix well 🙂 You can add the dressing to the pasta, then add the other ingredients..no wrong way 🙂 Hope you like it!!
This is a great recipe, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great tasting dish!
What do you do with the spinach, chicken and carrots? They are called for in the list of ingredients however are not mentioned in the recipe. I assume that the spinach, chicken and carrots are mixed with the pasta prior to adding the dressing. Correct?
Yes, sorry about that! Right before adding the dressing 🙂
Some info and ingredients seem to have been left out. No bell peppers in ingredient list, and no instructions on using the spinach and carrots, nothing about adding the chicken to the pasta
Sorry about that! I added the bell pepper into the ingredient list and added instructions on pouring the dressing over the chicken, carrots, bell pepper and spinach to the pasta. Thank you!