Asian Pasta Salad Homemade Dressing

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.