TikTok's Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad Is A Flavorful Twist On The Classic
Video-sharing app TikTok has become one of the foodie world's go-to sources of viral cooking trends. When those food fixations get big, they get massive — the one-pot TikTok feta pasta recipe's viral success in 2021 saw a huge spike in demand for feta cheese, reportedly leading to supply shortages and empty grocery store shelves. Chicken Caesar pasta salad is the latest recipe to get a TikTok twist, combining vibrant sources of flavor — lots of cheese, colorful veggies, and unctuous sounding, slightly slurpy sauces — while also bringing in that other pillar of the online recipe sharing community: the meal preppers.
Pasta salads have been huge on TikTok for a little while now, with 2023's #pastasaladsummer trend racking up almost 60 million views. As with any viral trend, content creators have been trying out the different possible variations on the theme, and it's no surprise that chicken Caesar pasta salad has emerged on the other side as a winner; it combines some of the core components of what makes pasta salad such a nostalgic classic with the rich and tangy elements that make Caesar salad one of the world's favorites.
The genius of chicken Caesar pasta salad is in its simplicity
TikTok recipes are often shot to look as simple as possible, but chicken Caesar pasta salad really is easy to make. You could even buy a rotisserie chicken and bottled Caesar dressing, cutting out everything except boiling the noodles and shredding the lettuce. But you could get more flavorful results by making each component from scratch as user @mad_about_food does in their version, which has racked up 3.7 million views.
@mad_about_food Two of my favorite things in one ☺️ #easyrecipe #lunchideas
As always, marinating your chicken is advisable. A simple rub of salt, pepper, and garlic powder will give it a flavorful crust, or an overnight yogurt marinade will yield tender, moist results. Cook your chicken to a safe temperature while you prepare the pasta and the rest of the salad. Caesar dressing is simply mayonnaise that gets the necessary tanginess from vinegar and lemon juice, its bite from black pepper and garlic powder, and its salty depth thanks to a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce.
Although it's tempting to mix it all together and dive in, if you're prepping chicken Caesar pasta salad for the days ahead, it's better to keep the dressing on the side so the lettuce doesn't get soggy and slimy. While the most basic version of the dish is just chicken, Caesar dressing, lettuce, and pasta, there are many other possible mix-ins. The most obvious of these are the salty, crunchy, Caesar salad classics — grated parmesan cheese, bacon bits, and croutons.