Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad with just a handful of ingredients will be the most popular side dish at your summer BBQ events and picnics!
Pasta Salads are a classic dish for most summer BBQ’s or picnics because they are easy to make and take to any get together. Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta is sure to be a hit just like my BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad and Creamy Chicken Pasta Salad.
Why You’ll Love This Pasta Salad?
- Simple ingredients come together in no time for a flavorful dish.
- Perfect for summer BBQ’s, potlucks, or family get togethers.
Sabrina’s Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is a take on one of my favorite baked pastas, Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake. This is a cold chicken and bacon pasta recipe vs the warm baked version with all that delicious cheese. This pasta salad is so easy and quick to make you’ll love adding it to your menus.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts , boneless skinless
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 4 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
- 8 ounces bacon , cooked and crumbled
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , diced finely in ½ inch cubes
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- 1 pound cooked fusilli pasta
Instructions
- Cook the bacon until crispy.
- Butterfly the chicken breasts open, cutting them to be the same shape but half as thick.
- Add salt and pepper to the chicken breasts.
- Add canola oil to your large skillet and heat on high heat.
- Add to the pan and sear for 3-5 minutes.
- Flip the chicken and cook on the other side.
- Remove from the pan and let cool.
- Chop the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
- In a large bowl add the cream cheese and ranch dressing and mix well.
- Add the chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing and pasta.
- Toss together until well coated.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
Cook your bacon first. Then when you are cooking your chicken, instead of using the canola oil, you can sear the chicken in your leftover bacon grease. This will infuse the bacon flavor right into your chicken. Who doesn’t love the taste of extra bacon?
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Many pasta salads are made with mayo or with a mix of mayo and ranch dip dressing. This pasta salad is made with ranch dressing instead (even lite ranch tastes great in this recipe). The best part about this pasta salad is how incredibly easy it is to put together. Don’t question if that means it won’t be as delicious as a more difficult to make one. There really isn’t a weak link in this salad. Cream cheese? Cheddar Cheese? Chicken? Bacon? Pasta? Ranch?! It could only be better if served in a giant garlic bread boat (wow, I need to eat a vegetable to get these thoughts out of my head!).
Can this be made ahead of of time?
Yes, this pasta salad recipe is perfect to make-ahead because it tastes best after it’s been refrigerated. Make this cold salad the day before or in the morning when you’re serving this at night. Reserve some extra dressing just in case the salad dries out. I recommend not making this more than 24 hours ahead, to make sure it’s the best quality possible when you serve it.
Pairing Suggestions
This salad has everything you need to enjoy it as a light lunch or dinner all on it’s own. However, it is perfectly served as a side dish as well. Serve it up for a summer BBQ with friends and family with other BBQ classics like Grilled Chicken Wings or Ribeye Steak. More sides like Roasted Corn, Broccoli Salad and Potato Salad will have your guest leaving happy with full bellys.
How to Store
- Serve: Pasta Salad should be chilled in the refrigerator for about an hour before serving. Do not leave at room temperature for longer than two hours.
- Store: After serving, store in an airtight container for up to 4 days and stir well before serving.
- Freeze: Because of the dressing, this pasta salad doesn’t freeze well. If you have leftovers after about 4 days, it is best to toss it out and make an fresh salad.
Ideas to Serve
While this recipe is absolutely delicious cold, you can certainly microwave the bowl and serve it warm for dinner too. The cheddar cheese will melt and help meld all the flavors together. This recipe is not only for the BBQ’s and summer, serve it with some Garlic Herb Dinner Rolls on the colder nights.
Variations
- Chicken: You can make the chicken for your pasta in a variety of ways. Try shredding a Rotisserie Chicken, either store bought or made at home. You can also use Chicken Tenders or smoked chicken for more flavor to your pasta.
- Cheese: Swap out the cheddar cheese for cheddar Jack or Pepper Jack for some added spice. You can also mix in some Blue Cheese crumbles.
- Tex-Mex Style: Add in some corn, black beans and avocado. You can also do half salsa and half ranch to give your pasta salad a Tex-Mex flavor.
Related Recipes
More Tasty Pasta Salad Recipes
Photos used in previous version of this post
When I make it again I’ll definitely ad 3 cups of ranch and 8 oz of cream cheese. It was a little dry for us.
Sorry to hear it didn’t turn out how you expected. Three cups of ranch is a lot, so slowly add in a bit at a time until you get it to your liking. You might not need the entire three cups.
We have been making this for years. It’s a keeper recipe for sure. My son and husband love to take it for their lunches and we serve “chicken in a biskit” crackers with it. Thanks for the great recipe!
You’re welcome and thanks for the five star review.
It’s delicious!
Made it. It was great. It turned out so great , had it for a potluck function and all went.
I was so on board to make this until I saw cream cheese in recipe, I hate it, is there anything I could sub for cream cheese?
maybe a “nut based” cream cheese or a farmers cheese could work
I made this with my favorite spicy ranch instead of regular ranch. So yummy!
I made this but I added green onion and black olives. It was delicious! Highly recommend this recipe! ???
Yay!!
Was wondering if you could omit the chicken, was going to make this as a side dish to go with burgers. Would it change it too much to just leave the chicken out? Thanks
Feel free to leave out the chicken!
I tried this recipe today and added a saute’d onion (which I add to almost all recipes)
It was really good. Thank you for this recipe
You’re welcome, Cindi!
Very bland, dry and flavorless. I even added garlic powder, salt, pepper, white balsamic vinegar. Hubby said the cream cheese gave it a weird taste. Finally mixed some miracle whip and Dijon mustard with a little white balsamic. It’s better. Will add some diced yellow and red grape tomatoes right before serving. Made this for a potluck at work tomorrow. Hoping it will be ok tomorrow morning when I add the tomatoes. Would NOT make again.
Sorry it didn’t live up to your expectations.
This looks so good, I love pasta and then you add bacon and ranch Heaven. I do have a question. When I buy chicken I will boil or sometimes bake it, let cool completely and then freeze it for quick meals I do my hamburger the same way, saves so much time. But I was just wandering if I could use it that way instead of frying? Thanks for any help you can give me. 🙂 Have a wonderful day.
Yes, that would work too. 🙂 Anything to make life easier, right?!
Thought it tasted a little too plain so I added peas and some green onion and it turned out amazing.
Sounds like great additions!
Can this recipe be made the night before? Or is it better to mix before serving?
I like to mix it before serving but you can definitely make this ahead of time.
What if it is too thick do you add more ranch???
Did you adjust any of the other ingredient measurements?
Loved this recipe! I was looking for something different to take to a family BBQ. I’m told this is what I’ll be bringing to gatherings for the foreseeable future! Thank you, it was a big hit. The only thing I did different was shred the cheese.
So glad you enjoyed it!
What brand of ranch did you use?
I used Litehouse Ranch but any brand will do.
This looks so good! I might even make it super easy and buy chicken strips from the deli instead of making my own.
That’s a great shortcut suggestion!
I love any type of pasta and this one looks and sounds mighty awesome. Perfect for the warm weather ahead.
Pasta salad is one of my favorite things about summer and this one looks beyond good!
Thanks Ashlyn!
I need to make this for my next BBQ!
So many things I love in one salad!
Thanks Erin!
You literally put ALL my favorite things into a pasta salad. SOLD!
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!!
My kids love three food more than all of the others. They are chicken, bacon, and ranch! This will not last long at my house!
It’s always a win in my book when the kids love it too!
This pasta salad looks absolutely delicious!