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Mango Chicken Pasta Salad with Tarragon Lime Dressing

This delicious salad was inspired by one of our favorite local Bountiful restaurants. Pasta, fruit, chicken and a light, sweet, homemade dressing

Course brunch, Dinner, lunch
Cuisine American
Keyword copycat recipe, dressing, Fresh fruit, pasta salad
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cool time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 12
Author A Bountiful Kitchen

Ingredients

Salad

  • 3/4 pound bow tie pasta
  • 2 cups boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
  • 3 cups red seedless grapes
  • 1 ripe mango cubed
  • 1 1/2 cups celery chopped
  • 1 bunch green onion chopped (green part of the onion only)
  • 1-2 avocados ripe but still firm, cut into chunks
  • Slivered almonds toasted (optional)

Dressing

  • 1 1/4 cups regular mayonnaise not low fat
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 2-3 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons dried tarragon or 1/4 cup fresh tarragon chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta as directed on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water.

dressing

  1. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients. If using fresh tarragon, place ingredients in a blender and blend until tarragon is finely chopped.

Salad

  1. In a large bowl, combine pasta and chicken; mix with half of the dressing. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. Most of the dressing will be absorbed into the cooked pasta.

  2. In a medium bowl, combine grapes, mango, celery, and green onions.

  3. To assemble: Mix three-quarters of the grapes, mango, celery, and green onions with the pasta and chicken. Toss with additional dressing. Just before serving, top with avocados, almonds, and the remaining grapes, mango, celery, and green onions.

Recipe Notes

  • I think tossing the pasta with the dressing and letting it rest in the fridge allows the flavors soak into the pasta. If you don't have time for that, just mix up the salad and let the pasta sit in the dressing for at least a half hour. Then proceed as directed.
  • If you want make a fresh basil-lime dressing, just sub 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped basil leaves for the tarragon.
  • I made this up with 1 lb pasta originally, but thought the veggie to pasta ratio was a bit on the heavy side for the pasta, so I reduced the amount of pasta in this recipe to 3/4 lb.
  • Did I mention Plates and Palates caters? If you are not the cooking type, you can purchase a whole BOWL of salad for your next gathering.