One of the Best Pasta Salads You’ll Ever Eat

March 31, 2025 | My Jottings

I have been making this pasta salad off and on for almost thirty years now, and I can’t remember one single time that someone has eaten it and not asked for the recipe. It’s unique, not your typical pasta with mayonnaise, or pasta-with-Italian-flavors-salad, and the various textures and tastes are just delicious.

It’s called Spicy Grape Pasta Salad, but with everything in it you could call it Angel Hair Chicken Salad with Broccoli and Grapes, Or Asian-flavored Vegetable Salad with Chicken and Cilantro, or a dozen other titles. Whatever you decide to call it, you should make it. I made a quadruple batch of it recently and it was gone in 24 hours. Granted, I served a group, but I heard mmmms and moans and maybe observed a few eye rolls as people were enjoying it.

Spicy Grape Pasta Salad

16 ounces angel hair pasta

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breast

2 cups red seedless grapes, cut in halves

1-2 sweet red bell peppers, julienned

1 large bunch of broccoli (or asparagus cut into 2 inch pieces), cut in small florets (I steam these over boiling water for a couple minutes and then cool by plunging into cold water – makes them nicer to eat in a salad)

1 cup finely sliced celery

1/2 cup finely sliced green onion

4-6 T. chopped fresh basil or fresh cilantro

Spicy Oriental Dressing (see below)

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.  Toss pasta with the Spicy Oriental Dressing. Add remaining ingredients; toss and serve.  Store in fridge.

Spicy Oriental Dressing:

Whisk together:

3/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar (must be the seasoned kind)

3 T. vegetable oil

3 T. sesame oil

6 T. soy sauce (I use Kikkoman lower-sodium)

4 heaping Tablespoons grated ginger root (I grate fresh ginger on a microplane, but you can use the ginger in the little jars and tubes found in the produce section too – the result is just as good)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red chilies (the kind found in a spice jar)

2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced (don’t use garlic powder)

Let me know if you make it!