Pesto Chicken Salad With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Another simple recipe for the win! I was poking around in my fridge looking for a fast and easy lunch idea one day and spotted some leftover roast chicken. I tossed a few things together and this resulting pesto chicken salad was a hit!

Pesto Chicken Salad With Artichokes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Delicious doesn’t have to be fancy or take a lot of time. This pesto chicken salad is basically diced artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes added to roast or canned chicken. Add some high quality fats from olive-oil rich pesto and you have a healthy, filling lunch or snack!

Tip: Sun-dried tomatoes freeze really well. Freeze what you don’t use in small portions, or save what you have from the garden after drying. It’s so nice to be able to grab a handful from the freezer and have potent summer flavor at any time of year.

Serve this pesto chicken salad on top of a bed of salad greens, stirred into scrambled eggs for breakfast, and over roasted cauliflower for a faux pasta salad.

Side note: I make my own pesto and it also freezes really well! Also, I knew that there are other variations of pesto out there — I also make cilantro pesto with pumpkin seeds — but I just found out the other day that sun-dried tomato pesto is a thing as well. Let me know if you’ve tried it!

A Meal Made Easy With Leftover Chicken

I frequently cook extra chicken when I’m making dinner. I love it when I can just grab already cooked chicken and toss it in something. It makes lunches and dinners a lot easier. In fact, I’ve developed quite a few recipes over the years that take advantage of this trick. Here are a few:

• BBQ Chicken Nachos
• Chicken Fiesta Salad
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Chipotle-Style Burrito Bowl – all the tasty burrito fillings in a bowl instead of a tortilla
• Healthy Chicken Salad
• Spinach Artichoke Chicken Salad – all the flavors of spinach artichoke dip, but in salad form
• Toss it on top of pretty much any salad

Pesto Chicken Salad Recipe

A fast and easy, but tasty chicken salad recipe with pesto, artichoke hearts, and sundried tomatoes.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Calories 342kcal

Author Katie Wells

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Servings

4

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 3½ cups cooked chicken (or 1 whole chicken)
• 12 oz artichoke hearts (drained)
• ¾ cup sun dried tomatoes
• ½ cup pesto

Instructions

• Chop the chicken, artichoke hearts, and tomatoes into even-sized pieces.
• Combine them all in a bowl.
• Stir in the pesto and serve.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Pesto Chicken Salad Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 cup)

Calories 342 Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Fat 15g23%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Trans Fat 1g

Cholesterol 86mg29%

Sodium 807mg35%

Potassium 1192mg34%

Carbohydrates 17g6%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 33g66%

Vitamin A 845IU17%

Vitamin C 10mg12%

Calcium 79mg8%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Try mixing in roasted cauliflower for a faux pesto chicken pasta salad.

What’s your favorite way to use leftover chicken? I’m always looking for new ideas!