Ally
Easy & healthy pesto chicken potato salad is perfect for work lunches! No need to heat up in the microwave, and made super simple with rotisserie chicken.
Well, it’s September 8th and we’re in the not-quite-summer, not-quite-fall period where it’s 80 degrees during the day but 55 degrees at night and I still have fresh basil and tomatoes but like also want to wear a turtleneck. And while I’m totally embracing fall food at nighttime when it’s chilly, (see: pot roast, butternut squash soup, and sweet potato chili) I’m also desperately trying to use up all this fresh produce while it’s still here.
Last weekend I flew to Seattle for a wedding and, naturally, spent a few hours flipping through allllll the food magazines to pass the time. I found this recipe for pesto chicken potato salad in Clean Eating magazine and immediately knew I had to make it for easy meal prep lunches.
I made a few tweaks to simplify your life further:
- Shred cooked rotisserie chicken instead of poaching your own.
- While boiling the potatoes, add green beans into the boiling water for the last three minutes instead of cooking them separately.
- Just use walnuts for the pesto instead of walnuts AND pine nuts. It’s super yummy on its own and pine nuts are hella expensive.
PLUS you don’t even need to heat this up in a microwave. Hello, easy. Soak up the last bits of healthy summer goodness while you still can!
- 1 lb. baby redskin or yellow potatoes, scrubbed and halved
- 8 oz. green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" lengths
- 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed and white meat shredded
- 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 Tbsp. walnuts
- 2 gloves garlic
- 1 cup basil leaves
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes, and let cook 15-20 minutes, or until fork tender. In the last 3 minutes of cooking, add the green beans to the water. Drain the potatoes and green beans together and let cool.
- For the pesto: In a food processor (or blender) add walnuts, garlic, basil, salt, pepper, oil, and cheese. Pulse to combine for about 10 seconds.
- In a large bowl, toss the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, shredded chicken, and pesto. Toss to coat.
- Divide evenly into 4 Tupperware containers and refrigerate until ready to eat. This can be eaten cold!
Ally, could you please start adding nutritional information for your recipes? It would be really helpful!