Chicken Club Pasta Salad
Chicken Club Sausage Pasta Salad recipe has all the flavors of the classic club sandwich in this easy side dish that is ready in a flash for any dinner or picnic! It is a cross between a pasta salad and a macaroni salad.
I can seriously live solely on pasta salads, potato salads and macaroni salads in the summer. I must say that I very much prefer any salad that has pasta included in it….because….HELLO…..I’m Italian and love, adore, and worship pasta, especially this club sausage pasta salad!
Most meals just feel incomplete without some sort of pasta dish. In the colder months, I do Sunday Sauce just about every weekend. I come home from church, start my sauce and do other things around the house as it cooks all day long.
In the summer I feel like it’s a waste of a day to spend it inside and there’s other things I would much rather be doing. Also, hot pasta and sauce don’t really appeal to me as much when the weather is warm. Comfort food cravings start in the fall sometime for me.
I’m so glad you’re here! Follow along on Pinterest for more inspiration!
We are having the most spectacularly perfect summer here in Rochester this year. I realize the “perfect summer” is all in the eye of the beholder, but perfect to ME is extremely warm, basically zero rain, and lots of sunshine. Mother nature is my best friend right now and she needs to keep on delivering like this in the future.
So, a chicken club pasta salad is what I decided to try out this week. I got to brainstorming as to what I could do to turn my favorite diner club sandwich into a side dish pasta salad. This Chicken Club Sausage Pasta Salad is an absolute winner packed with 3 different kinds of meat that create the perfect match.
It is full of flavor: creamy, tangy, and salty – the perfect combination of flavors! I always have a stock of Zweigle’s chicken sausage in my freezer put aside for “a rainy day”. I love it because it’s already cooked which means I can keep it on hand for last minute meals that need meat added – just defrost the sausage and BAM – add it to any dish to complete the meal.
Zweigle’s is pretty much awesome because they not only have the best tasting chicken sausage around, but they have different flavors to choose from: Spinach & Feta, Chorizo, Italian, Buffalo Style, Lime Chipotle. Bonus?
They are a Rochester, NY company and you all know how I love “supporting local”! They use the highest quality ingredients and their chicken sausage is all-natural 100% boneless, skinless chicken meat (gluten-free, also).
Definitely try this Chicken Club Sausage Pasta Salad for your next picnic, BBQ, dinner party, everyday dinner – whatever the occasion may be!
Hawaiian Chicken Sausage Kabobs
Cheesy Chicken Sausage Pasta Skillet
One-Pot Creamy Green Orzo with Chicken Sausage
Buffalo Chicken Sausage Mac & Cheese
Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken Sausage Hash Brown Casserole
You can purchase Zweigle’s products online by heading on over to their website (or better yet, look for their products at your local grocery store). They also have great recipes on their site!
- 8 ounces short-cut pasta (shells, elbows, rotini, etc.)
- ¾ cup Italian salad dressing
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 cups chopped, fully-cooked Zweigle's chicken sausage
- 10 strips crispy cooked bacon, crumbled
- ½ cup cubed cheddar cheese
- 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 ripe avocado - peeled, pitted, and chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Cook pasta in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked to al dente according to instructions on package. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Whisk together the Italian dressing, onion powder, fresh parsley and mayonnaise in a large mixing bowl. Stir pasta, chicken sausage, bacon, cheese, cherry tomatoes, and avocado into dressing until evenly coated.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Let sit in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours for flavors to come together before serving. If letting sit overnight, you may need some more Italian dressing added before serving because the pasta will soak some of it up. Toss and serve cold or at room temperature. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Thank you, Zweigles, for sponsoring this conversation. All opinions remain 100% my own, as always.
Yum! I could totally go for a bowl of this for lunch today. It looks so light and refreshing, even with the sausage!
I could live on pasta salads in the summer too! Love this fun twist on this one!
Oh man, I love a good chicken club sammich. But then you went and took it to a whole new level with this pasta salad. I could live on pasta salad in the summer! And yes, this summer has been a warm one…but that’s ok, it’s just more opportunity for pasta salad!!
I love this loaded pasta salad, and that sausage sounds so good! We love pasta around here too, and since it fills up my boys we eat it a lot. Your idea of the perfect weather is my worst nightmare haha — I can’t take the extreme heat, and that’s exactly what we have here right now. It’s good pasta salad eating weather, though! 🙂
I’m with you Ashley! I’m a huge pasta salad fan! This one looks delish!
This is perfect for any potluck or BBQ! I can’t wait to give it a try!
Yup, I’m a big fan of chilled pasta salads in the summer, too. This looks terrific — such a creative idea. And those flavors! Wonderful.Thanks!
Pasta – in any form – is one of those things that I have trouble not eating the whole platter of! This looks delicious and a chilled pasta salad is just what we need right now. I need to try it.
This pasta salad is great! Perfect for this weekend. Thanks!