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!
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.
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). This pasta salad is so easy and quick to make you’ll love adding it to your menus.
While this recipe is absolutely delicious cold, you can certainly microwave the bowl and serve it warm for dinner too. This recipe is not only for the bbq and summer. The cheddar cheese will melt and help meld all the flavors together.
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!).
Looking for more pasta salad recipes?
- Italian Antipasto Pasta Salad
- Easy Greek Pasta Salad
- Mexican Avocado BLT Pasta Salad
- 10 Minute Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
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
- 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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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!!
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!