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This easy pesto tortellini pasta salad is what summer dreams are made of! It’s fresh, vibrant, and comes together in just minutes—no stove drama, no stress. You’ll love the juicy cherry tomatoes, tender shredded chicken, creamy mozzarella balls, and that gorgeous green pesto tying it all together. Perfect for cookouts, picnics, or just a lazy weeknight dinner.
Why you’ll love it
Let’s be real: sometimes you just want something quick, cool, and satisfying with zero fuss. That’s where this pasta salad comes in. It’s a full meal thanks to the chicken and tortellini, but it still feels light and summery. And if you use store-bought pesto and rotisserie chicken, you will barely have to lift a finger. Win!
Ingredient notes
With this pesto-accented salad, we’re celebrating the colors and flavors of Italian summer. There’s plenty of aroma and flavor just waiting to burst onto your plate. Your key ingredients are:
- Cheese tortellini. A four-cheese tortellini, often packaged as “quattro formaggio” is a great option for this.
- Cooked chicken breast. You can even use the meat from a pre-cooked grocery store rotisserie chicken! For any vegetarians, it’s very easy to keep the chicken out of this recipe. The chicken is mostly here to add some extra protein and body to an already pretty exciting salad.
- Cherry tomatoes. The best cherry tomatoes have a sweet aroma and are firm, not hard, to the touch.
- Fresh mozzarella. Use small, bite-sized balls of fresh mozzarella. You can use bocconcini or ciliegine, or simply try slicing up a larger fresh ball of mozzarella. If you’re lucky enough to have a good Italian grocer nearby, try buffalo mozzarella.
- Roasted bell peppers. You can use jarred bell peppers for this recipe, or roast them yourself. It’s up to you, but the jarred variety is easier for making a salad.
- Basil pesto. Homemade pesto is really easy to make and tastes so much better than the store bought stuff. You can take it easy on yourself and use storebought pesto for this recipe if you like.
How To Make Tortellini Pasta Salad
- You can cook your chicken up to three days ahead of time. Keep it in the fridge and slice when you want to make the salad. Sliced chicken will dry out more quickly in the fridge than a whole chicken breast.
- Up to two days ahead, you can make up your basil pesto. You could even make it a few months out and freeze it.
- Up to a day ahead, you can assemble the salad. Once you’re hungry, it’s time to eat!
Helpful Tips
- We advise that you halve your cherry tomatoes to go into the salad. This way, their lovely aroma will waft up from the salad as you eat them. They will also lend some moisture to other ingredients in the salad, helping keep the chicken nice and moist.
- The variety of mozzarella and tomato will vary based on what’s available at the time, but fresh basil is pretty much a necessity for this recipe.
- If you make a large batch of pesto ahead of time, you can use it for a variety of purposes. Fresh pesto is a great addition to this delicious summer salad, or you can save it to serve with pasta. You can add it to a sandwich, especially if you have some extra chicken lying around, and make yourself a tasty chicken sandwich. As you’d expect of a sauce from the Italian riviera, pesto goes great with seafood.
Variations and swaps
- Try sun-dried tomatoes or marinated artichokes for a flavor twist.
- Swap the chicken for grilled shrimp or even chickpeas for a vegetarian protein.
- Use arugula or spinach if you want to sneak in some greens.
FAQs
Any basil pesto works—store-bought or homemade. If you like a little kick, try a spicy pesto or mix in a spoonful of red pepper flakes.
Absolutely. It’s delicious warm or chilled, so serve it however you like. Just be careful not to overheat the mozzarella balls—they’ll melt!
Yes, it’s a great make-ahead lunch or light dinner. Store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Add a little extra olive oil or pesto before serving if it dries out.
After draining, toss the tortellini with a bit of olive oil while it cools to keep it from sticking together.
More Tortellini Recipes
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Summer Tortellini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 9 ounces cheese tortellini, cooked according to package instructions
- 2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 8 ounces small mozzarella balls
- 1 cup roasted bell peppers, (air fryer, oven-roasted, or from a jar, cut into strips)
- 1 cup basil pesto
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Fresh basil, thinly sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This pasta salad was perfect for our summer BBQ! The flavors were bright and refreshing, and the tortellini made it extra filling. Everyone kept asking for the recipe.
Thank you, Rachel! I’m so glad it was a hit at your BBQ. It’s definitely one of my favorite summer recipes!