Don’t you love when you get a sudden lightning bolt of inspiration and then create something beautiful from it?
I do.
That’s exactly what happened to me in this dish. I had opened my fridge one day and was staring at all of the half empty bottles of jam, dressings, and sauces. I spotted my bottle of caesar dressing wedged near the back of the fridge when inspiration struck: noodles. Pasta. Caesar salad, but in pasta form.
I’ve had that heavenly Caesar Pasta Salad from Cheddar’s many times before, but that’s served cold. It’s just a regular caesar sald but with penne pasta tossed in. I wanted a caesar pasta meal. Something served warm, and with no romaine (because…you know…e. Coli or whatever).
I decided to get some zucchini and just make zucchini noodles with the caesar dressing. Has anyone else noticed how tiny the zucchini have gotten? I get it, it’s a summer squash. But dang! Those zucchini are less than half the size they were a few months ago!
I added some chicken, bacon and parmesan cheese to this to round it out. I’ve been on a lazy spree when it’s come to crumbled bacon in dishes lately. I just grab a bag of the “real” chopped bacon from the salad dressing aisle and use it instead of baking or frying up my own. It’s just so much easier that way!
This ended up tasting incredible. I was quite proud of myself for the sudden throw-together type dish I made. I would recommend not salting the zucchini too much, because with the bacon, parmesan, and caesar dressing there’s plenty of salt to go around. Other than that, everything was perfect. Give it a whirl for those crazy weekdays when you don’t have any time to make dinner!
Chicken Caesar Zoodles
A simple one-pot meal with zucchini noodles, chicken, bacon, parmesan and caesar dressing.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked chicken, cubed
- 3-4 zucchini, spiralized
- 1 TBS. olive oil
- salt & pepper
- 1 cup caesar salad dressing
- 1/2 cup crumbled bacon
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
Directions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add zucchini noodles and lightly salt & pepper. Cook, tossing, for 2-3 minutes.
- Add cooked chicken, caesar dressing, and bacon. Toss and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender and everything is well coated. Stir in parmesan and let cook for another minute.
- Serve with parmesan cheese for topping.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add zucchini noodles and lightly salt & pepper. Cook, tossing, for 2-3 minutes.
Add cooked chicken, caesar dressing, and bacon. Toss and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender and everything is well coated. Stir in parmesan and let cook for another minute.
Serve with parmesan cheese for topping.
Zoodle me this. 🌿🌱🍃