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    • Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes -->This collection of easy chicken dinner recipes features some of our favorite family dishes, perfect for making a healthy, delicious home cooked meal on a busy night! Getting a healthy, home cooked meal on the table every night can be challenging. Particularly with the demands of work, school, activities and social obligations, well, it can be the last thing we want to do at the end of the day. So I’ve got tons of easy chicken recipes at my disposal that I turn to when I need to whip something up for us on one of those busy weeknights. (Or even busy weekends – dinners can be tough then, too!) And this collection of easy chicken dinner recipes has some that we make over and over again. It includes everything from skillet chicken dinners to slow cooker chicken recipes, one-pot chicken pastas, soups and salads with chicken, chicken burgers and meatballs, sheet pan chicken dinners and easy chicken casseroles. Are you looking for fast as well as easy? Me too. I’ve got collections of chicken recipes in under 30 minutes and, faster still, chicken recipes in under 15 minutes. Or if you want to browse them all, my quick chicken recipes…
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Cold barley salad with chicken and creamy pesto

September 2, 2016 By Kathryn Doherty

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy

An easy make-ahead cold barley salad with chicken and a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner!Cold barley salad with chicken and a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner! | familyfoodonthetable.com

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Today marks M’s first official day of kindergarten. (Cue heavy sigh…)

She had a test run earlier this week, with a small group, so the teachers could do assessments of all of the kids throughout the week. Today is their first day all together in their actual class.

I’m excited and happy for her, but I’m also a bit of a hot mess. It’s hard and scary to see your first-born head off to school for a full day all by themselves. Whole different ball game than the half-day preschool we’re used to.

On top of that, it’s Labor Day weekend and that means the unofficial bye-bye to summer. (Though, thankfully, there’s a holiday and long weekend to soften the blow.)

Cold barley salad with chicken and a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner! | familyfoodonthetable.com

But on the upside, it was a pretty fantastic summer.

Several beach trips, lots of pool time, going for walks, enjoying the symphony at the park, M getting good at her bike and learning tennis, J turning 3 and potty training, a few baseball games, and all manners of delicious food.

So I can’t be too sad.

And I can also be sure to LIVE IT UP this weekend. Which means spending as much time as possible with my family, running around the house, playing play-doh or trucks or building towers, snuggling and reading, getting outside to play ball or do chases or go to the pool, and soaking in the special moments.

Chicken and barley salad with a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner! | familyfoodonthetable.com

And, as much as I love food and cooking, that might mean staying out of the kitchen. (Well, for the most part. Let’s not get crazy – it’s me we’re talking about!)

But one way to get ahead of the game is to whip up this cold barley salad with chicken and creamy pesto – easy to prep, portable, completely make-ahead, and delicious for lunch or dinner. Whenever you want to pull it out.

Plus, it’s just 7 ingredients!

Truth be told, I’ve been fixing this salad all summer long – it’s great for picnics, cookouts, potlucks or just staying at the pool a little longer and knowing it’s all set in the fridge for us when we get home.

Chicken and barley salad with a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner! | familyfoodonthetable.com

And realizing that summer is almost up, I figured I’d better go on and share this recipe with you!

A few quick notes on this cold barley salad with chicken and creamy pesto:

  • Feel free to customize the veggies you use in here to suit your tastes. You can add corn, carrots or zucchini, skip the cucumber, use any color bell pepper you like, substitute heirloom tomatoes – make it your own!
  • If you are making this day-of, you can mix everything together and just let it sit in the fridge. If you’re making it more in advance, keep the creamy pesto separate and mix everything together at least 30 minutes before serving.
  • Leftovers keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Plenty of fresh flavors, plenty of great crunch from the veggies and chewiness from the barley, plus the simple creamy pesto mixture that coats it all and really melds the salad together.

And even if school is back and summer is ending, I have a feeling I’ll be making this on a regular basis to have on hand for lunch.

Chicken and barley salad with a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner! | familyfoodonthetable.com

My husband loves when I mix up hearty salads like this for him to take to the office and I love when my lunch is waiting for me in the fridge amid my deadlines from my home office. My basil chicken salad with walnuts and chicken and quinoa salad with salsa hummus are some recent favorites.

Next time you need a bit of a break from the kitchen, a little extra time to enjoy the afternoon or a dinner that’s ready to go for you ahead of time, give this easy cold barley salad a try. 

And have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Enjoy!

~ Kathryn

Yield: 4-6 servings

Chicken and barley salad with creamy pesto

Chicken and barley salad with a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner! | familyfoodonthetable.com

An easy make-ahead chicken and barley salad with a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 (11 oz.) bag quick-cooking barley, cooked and cooled
  • 3 cups cooked, diced chicken breasts (from a rotisserie or oven-roasted chicken)
  • 1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium bell pepper (or 4-5 small sweet peppers), seeded and diced
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I use non-fat)
  • 3/4 cup basil pesto (homemade or store bought)

Instructions

  1. The barley and chicken need to be cooked and cooled, so please plan accordingly.
  2. Combine barley, chicken, cucumber, bell pepper and tomatoes in a large bowl and stir to combine.
  3. In a separate small bowl, combine the Greek yogurt and pesto until smooth and well-mixed.
  4. Add the yogurt-pesto mixture to the salad and stir to get everything well-coated.
  5. Let sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend together.
  6. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Notes

Leftovers keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 518Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 336mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 44g
© Kathryn Doherty
Cuisine: American / Category: Salads

Chicken and barley salad with a creamy pesto-yogurt mixture — a great recipe for a fresh and healthy lunch or dinner! | familyfoodonthetable.com

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Filed Under: Chicken, Chicken Recipes in Under 30 Minutes, Easy Chicken Recipes, Healthy Lunch Recipes with Chicken, Healthy Summer Salads, Main dishes, Salads

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Comments

  1. Tara | Treble in the Kitchen says

    September 2, 2016 at 7:07 AM

    I love adding grains to salad to make them a bit more hearty, and the flavor of pesto? This salad is a winner for sure!! I don’t have children, so I don’t know quite what it’s like to send your firstborn to kindergarten for the first time but I can’t imagine it’s easy!! Soak up this weekend, and enjoy the time with your family 🙂

    Reply
    • Kathryn says

      September 2, 2016 at 10:26 AM

      Thanks Tara! I think my motto this summer has been “just add pesto” 😉 Hope you have a wonderful long weekend, too!

      Reply
  2. Dawn @ Girl Heart Food says

    September 2, 2016 at 8:24 AM

    First day of kindergarten! Oh, how exciting! School for the kiddos doesn’t start around here until next week, after the long weekend.

    Speaking of long weekends, so looking forward to this one! 3 days weekends are the absolute best! That extra day makes all the difference!

    Great salad, Kathleen! Love the addition of chicken and pesto, of course! I could see myself making a big batch of this for lunch throughout the week 🙂

    Enjoy the long weekend, my friend! xoxo

    Reply
    • Kathryn says

      September 2, 2016 at 10:27 AM

      Yes, definitely love having this on hand for lunch all week – just hard to stop myself from eating it all up! Enjoy the 3-day weekend girl! XO

      Reply
  3. Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says

    September 3, 2016 at 6:01 PM

    First day of school already? I start next week, which I am super stressing about because I feel like I don’t have any of my lessons prepped yet (ahh!!)
    This looks amazing/ I am thinking a nice weekday meal?

    Reply
    • Kathryn says

      September 4, 2016 at 3:07 PM

      I know, how is it September?!? This is great for a weekday lunch or dinner – prepped ahead and ready to go for you!

      Reply
  4. Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says

    September 5, 2016 at 3:22 PM

    I know it must be hard to send your oldest off to Kindergarten, but you also must be so proud of how she’s turning into such a big girl! I’ll send positive thoughts your way that you make it through the school year without worrying too much, mama bear. 😉 Anywho, LOVE this salad! I’m actually a big fan of cold chicken salads, so I am loving this one! The barley, veggies and creamy pesto look just perfect! Totally my ideal lunch or easy dinner! I hope you guys are having a wonderful long weekend, friend!! Cheers! <3

    Reply
    • Kathryn says

      September 8, 2016 at 10:55 AM

      So hard, so proud 😉 Thanks friend! XO

      Reply
  5. [email protected] says

    September 7, 2016 at 12:02 PM

    Aww, happy first day of kindergarten for M. Hope she enjoyed it 🙂 Loving this interesting take on a chicken salad. Definitely not boring and this would be so good as dinner with leftovers as lunch the next day. Adore pesto but a creamy pesto? I’ll put that on everything! lol! Hope you and the family had a wonderful holiday weekend Kathryn.

    Reply
    • Kathryn says

      September 8, 2016 at 10:56 AM

      Pesto is the best, right? Creamy pesto, too 😉 (And she is absolutely loving kindergarten!!)

      Reply

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Hi there! I’m Kathryn Doherty, a health and nutrition editor, cookbook author, wife, mother of two kids, and devoted food and home cooking nut. I’ve got lots of easy recipes and resources to help you get delicious family food on your table! Learn more about me

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