Gluten Free Chicken Feta Pasta Salad

A protein packed perfect fridge salad that's an all in one meal. Chickpea pasta with chicken and feta will keep you full and satisfied!

Like some of our favorite recipes on the blog, this recipe started as something we just kept making for ourselves. Over. And over. As we've mentioned in the past, we really enjoy a good fridge salad for snacking or easy meals. Something that holds up, where the flavor just seems to get better with each passing hour and that you can definitely modify if you don't have a specific shape of pasta or vinegar for example. This chickpea pasta salad is that fridge salad.

This healthy recipe is protein packed, not only for the chicken (and yes, the feta), but because of the pasta. This pasta, although it looks like typical pasta, is actually made from chickpeas. Each serving of the pasta alone has 25 grams of protein and 13 grams of fiber....that's not including the chicken. This isn't to say you can't make this recipe if you only have regular pasta on hand. Trust me, it tastes AWESOME with normal pasta. But if you're looking for a better for you switch that still tastes amazing (really- I prefer chickpea pasta to whole wheat pasta), you should 100% try this. The brand we use, and the only brand I know of on the market at this time is called Banza. 

If you want to develop your own customized fridge entrée salad like this, I recommend picking crisp and crunchy veggies that can hold their own against a dressing over time. Here we use radishes and cucumbers, although cherry tomatoes or carrots or broccoli are other winners. 

Gluten Free Chicken Feta Pasta Salad

EntrÉe: Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1, 8 oz box of Banza chickpea ziti pasta (or regular pasta)
• 1 1/2 cups cubed chicken
• 2 small seedless cucumbers, chopped
• 1/4 cup sliced radishes
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta
• 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 T whole grain dijon mustard
• 2 T complete seasoning with onion and garlic, herbs, salt
• dried parsley
• optional fresh thyme or parsley

Directions: 

Cube chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Broil or grill until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165 F. Cool. As chicken cools, bring water to a boil and cook pasta to package instructions. Drain, toss with a drizzle of olive oil and cool. Chop cucumbers and radishes. Crumble feta. Once pasta and chicken are cool, add with produce to a large bowl. To make dressing whisk olive oil, vinegar, dijon and dried spices together in a small vessel. Pour over top of mixed pasta dish and toss to combine. Top with fresh thyme or parsley if desired. Store in fridge.