High Protein Pasta Salad: 26 g per Serving With Chicken

A serving of high protein pasta salad made with 240 g of chicken for four people has 26.2 g of protein and 359 kcal. The same salad with no protein add-in has 6.9 g and 260 kcal. I summed both from USDA records, and the add-in matters far more than the pasta.

How much protein is in regular pasta salad?

The pasta carries nearly all of it. My base salad for four uses 428 g of cooked rotini, which is 4 cups by the USDA portion of 107 g a cup. The cooked pasta record lists 5.8 g of protein and 158 kcal per 100 g.

Ingredient (USDA record)	Amount	Protein	Energy
Pasta, cooked, enriched	428 g (4 cups rotini)	24.8 g	676 kcal
Grape tomatoes, raw	150 g	1.2 g	40 kcal
Cucumber with peel, raw	150 g	0.9 g	21 kcal
Red onion, raw	40 g	0.4 g	17 kcal
Black olives, canned	40 g	0.3 g	46 kcal
Olive oil	27 g (2 tbsp)	0 g	239 kcal
Whole bowl	835 g	27.7 g	1,039 kcal

Pasta gives 90% of the protein. The oil gives 23% of the energy and none of the protein. The tomatoes, cucumber and onion (340 g) bring 2.6 g of protein for 78 kcal.

What makes pasta salad high in protein?

Add protein, and add a lot. I tried five add-ins on the base, and each version makes four servings. Every add-in is weighed in the state its record describes.

Version (4 servings)	Serving	Protein	Energy	Protein per 100 kcal
A. Base	209 g	6.9 g	260 kcal	2.7 g
B. Base + 100 g feta	234 g	11.9 g	328 kcal	3.6 g
C. Base + 240 g chicken	269 g	26.2 g	359 kcal	7.3 g
D. Base + 246 g chickpeas + 100 g feta	295 g	17.3 g	429 kcal	4.0 g
E. Base + 214 g tuna	262 g	17.1 g	308 kcal	5.5 g
F. Base + chicken, chickpeas and feta	355 g	36.6 g	529 kcal	6.9 g

Chicken wins. If it’s the whole point, high protein chicken salad builds on it without the pasta. The braised breast adds 19.3 g per serving for 100 kcal. Light tuna, two drained cans of 107 g, adds 10.2 g for 48 kcal. Feta adds 4.9 g for 68 kcal, and its ratio is lower because most of what it brings is fat. Chickpeas add 5.4 g for 101 kcal.

Compare the versions by the last column. Version F is a 355 g bowl, about 1.7 times the size of the base. Its total looks big. Per 100 kcal it falls just behind version C, 6.9 g against 7.3 g. Pick the bowl you’ll really eat, then pick the add-in.

Version D is what you get from sides without a main: 8.9 g less protein than chicken alone and 70 kcal more. That is a clear loss to chicken. Chickpeas still earn a place in the bowl, just not the place of the main protein. If you don’t eat chicken, tuna in version E is the next best at 5.5 g per 100 kcal.

How do I make high protein pasta salad?

Cook the pasta, cool it, and toss it with the vegetables, the oil and whatever protein you picked. I’d make version C first. It has the best ratio of the six.

Version C ingredient	Amount	Protein	Energy
Base bowl (table above)	835 g	27.7 g	1,039 kcal
Chicken breast, braised, diced	240 g	77.0 g	398 kcal
Whole bowl	1,075 g	104.8 g	1,438 kcal

The 240 g of chicken is about 1.4 of the 174 g pieces in the record. Weigh the pasta cooked, because the dry pasta record lists 13.04 g of protein per 100 g against 5.8 g for the cooked one. Log cooked pasta against the dry record and you overcount the protein by a factor of 2.2.

Weigh the chicken cooked, too. The record is for braised breast.

How long does pasta salad keep?

Three to four days. The USDA says leftovers keep for 3 to 4 days, and cold perishable food such as chicken salad should stay at 40°F or below. Throw away perishable food left out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it is above 90°F, as at a summer picnic.

Cook any chicken to 165°F before dicing. Then split a big bowl into shallow containers which cool faster than one deep dish. If the bowl is headed for a party table, high protein buffalo chicken dip goes through keeping food safe while it sits out.

Can a yogurt dressing replace the oil?

Yes. It adds protein and takes energy out. In version C, swap the 27 g of olive oil for 150 g of plain nonfat Greek yogurt. A serving then has 30.1 g of protein and 323 kcal, which is 3.9 g more protein and 37 kcal less than before.

It becomes a creamy, tangy salad with no gloss. Taste a spoonful before you commit a whole batch. High protein egg salad makes the same swap for mayonnaise.

How much of a day’s protein is one serving?

For a 70 kg adult, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans set the daily goal at 1.2–1.6 g of protein per kg, which is 84–112 g. A serving of the base salad covers 6–8% of that range. Version C covers 23–31%, and version F 33–44%.

With kidney disease, take your protein target from your doctor and ignore the percentages in this paragraph.

To see where you land, use the protein calculator. It starts at 1.2 g per kg of a reference weight, with a floor of 60 g. The longer answer is in how much protein you should eat a day.

Calsa can hold the salad as a recipe, with the pasta at its cooked weight, so Thursday’s bowl uses the same numbers.