If you’re burnt out on traditional salads, you’ll love this high protein chickpea pasta salad with a creamy lemon herb dressing. Not only are pasta salads insanely delicious and filling, but they’re also meal prep friendly, especially for a grab-and-go lunch prep.

This high protein chickpea pasta salad is packed with 39g protein and 9g fiber – ensuring you stay full and energized for hours! It’s also loaded with nutritious foods, such as olives, sunflower seeds, spinach, and cucumber keeping this pasta salad light and refreshing.

Why You’ll Love This High Protein Pasta Salad

There are many reasons I, personally, love this salad.

Meal Prep Friendly. I’m all about meal prepping for busy work weeks, and this high protein chickpea pasta salad is perfect for that because it’ll stay fresh for up to 5 days in the fridge. I like to pre-portion it out into individual glass jars for a true grab-and-go lunch option.
Nutrient-Dense. This pasta salad combines olives, spinach, cucumber, bell pepper, sunflower seeds, and more to give your body essential vitamins and minerals – keeping you healthy and strong.
High Protein. With a whopping 39g of protein per serving, this salad will help you hit your protein goals while keeping you full for hours.
High Fiber. When it comes to being healthy, fiber is just as important! One serving contains 9g of fiber helping you stay regular and promoting overall gut and digestive health.

High Protein Chickpea Pasta Salad Ingredients

Gluten Free Pasta. I like to use chickpea pasta to sneak in even more protein and fiber. But, any type of fusilli or rotini pasta works.
Chicken Breasts. The addition of shredded chicken helps to make this pasta salad a true high protein meal.
Chickpeas. A great plant-based way to get in more protein and fiber.
Fresh Foods. I combine diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, spinach, and red onion to really round out this meal and make it more nutrient dense.
Sunflower Seeds. I don’t know about you, but I like to add an extra crunch to my salads sometimes. Plus, sunflower seeds are a great source of healthy fats.
Olives. Another way to get in healthy fats keeping you satiated even longer between meals.

How to Make This Pasta Salad

This high protein chickpea pasta salad is actually very easy to make.

Bake the Chicken. Season the chicken breasts to your liking and bake until done. Then, shred it up.
Boil the Noodles. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse with cool water.
Assemble the Salad. Add all salad ingredients to a large salad bowl along with the lemon herb dressing and toss to combine.

Variations and Substitutions

This pasta salad recipe is very customizable. Here are some variation and substitution ideas.

Pasta Noodles. I like to use fusilli noodles, but rotini and elbow noodles work great too.
Veggies. Feel free to add in (or substitute with) chopped celery, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, shredded beets, chopped kale, etc.
Sunflower Seeds. You can also use pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, etc.
Olives. A great substitute for olives in this recipe is capers!

Storage Tips + Meal Prepping

Refrigerator. This high protein pasta salad will last in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer. Pasta salads do not freeze well in my experience.
Meal Prepping. I like to pre-portion out individual servings into glass meal prep containers.

More High Protein Meal Prep Ideas

If you’re on the search for more healthy, high protein meal prep ideas, here are a few of my favorites.

High Protein Turkey Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bowls – 69g of protein per bowl, great for meal prep!
High Protein Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese – one pan dinner
High Protein Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole – easy dinner to sneak in more veggies and fiber
High Protein Pizza Pasta Salad – gluten free, easy lunch meal prep