Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Shells made chicken breast meat, homemade ranch seasoning, chicken and bacon in a quick and easy ranch alfredo sauce.
Stuffed Shells are a weeknight dinner we’ve been enjoying a lot, especially since trying our favorites, the Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Shells.
Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Shells
Shells are a versatile pasta we’ve been using to give us new ways to enjoy our favorite flavors and dishes. We love pasta and the kids love the fact that all the “stuff is inside the seashell” so we’ve been working on fun ways to get new flavors into to the mix.
This recipe is a more kid friendly version of my Chicken Bacon Ranch Lasagna Roll Ups. The flavors of chicken bacon ranch take me back to high school lunches with Subway Sandwiches. The flavor combination almost seems like a classic now, especially with pasta! A year or so ago I also made Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad and Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake because we genuinely love the flavor combinations THAT MUCH.
Shortcut Options:
In this recipe I use some of my homemade ranch seasoning and I make alfredo sauce from scratch but you can certainly skip these steps and make this dish a 30 minute meal.
- Using cut up chicken (canned, rotisserie or previously cooked)
- Pre-cooked bacon, chopped up or even a bag of bacon crumbles
- Shredded jack/mozzarella cheese
- Jarred Alfredo Sauce
- Packet of ranch seasoning mix
You just have to simply cook the pasta and put the ingredients together in the oven. I still like my homemade ranch seasoning more though 😉
Thinking of some other stuffed shells ideas?
- Pepperoni Pizza stuffed shells with marinara sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella.
- Taco Stuffed Shells with taco meat, salsa, cheese and shells, or if you want an easier option there is Cheesy Taco Pasta.
- Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Shells with chicken nuggets, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Can Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Shells be made ahead?
The concern with re-heating pasta is always that the pasta will absorb any additional liquids as it is sitting in the refrigerator. In order to make this dish ahead of time I normally cook and stuff the pasta shells, then store the sauce next to it. Once ready to cook, microwave the sauce at half power until melted (you may need to thin a bit with milk or water), then cover the pasta and bake.
If baking from frozen add and additional 5-10 minutes to the cooking time.
Tools Used in the making of these Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Shells:
Jumbo Pasta Shells: Make sure you buy these and not the large ones. Also, husbands may inadvertently think “large” is the right size…not saying mine did that! 😉
Ranch Seasoning: I used my homemade recipe, but you can use this packaged one if you prefer.
Baking Pan: Easy to use, doesn’t warp, freezes well and has high enough sides you don’t have to tent it when you add the foil.
Alfredo Sauce: I use homemade, but if you are in a rush and want to swap it out for pre-made I highly recommend this mix.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 2 cups whole milk (1 and 2 % okay too)
- 6 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons ranch dressing mix (this links to the recipe on my site), divided
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 24 Jumbo Pasta Shells , cooked one minute shy of the box directions
- 2 cups chicken breast , cooked and chopped*
- 8 ounces bacon , cooked and crumbled
- 2 cups jack cheese , shredded or chopped into small cubes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large pot add in the butter and garlic and melt together on medium heat.
- Add in the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of the ranch mix and whisk well until combined.
- While whisking slowly add in the milk.
- Add in the Parmesan cheese and black pepper and whisk until just melted then turn off the heat.
- Using a large cutting board lay out your pasta noodles.
- In a medium sized bowl add the chicken, bacon, cheese and remaining ranch mix.
- Scoop it into the pasta shells.
- Top each shell with cubes of cheese.
- Pour about half the sauce around the shells.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese.
- Serve with the remaining sauce.
Nutrition
I have read this recipe 3 times and can’t find what what you put the shells in to bake them.. it says to stuff the shells and put them in the oven.. what type of baking pan, etc.
Can you clarify for me please?
When you’ve completed Steps 2 through 7, that mixture you created is scooped into the shells, (Step #8).
A regular 9 x 13 baking dish approximately 2 inches deep will work fine for you!
So do you cook the pasta first?
24 Jumbo Pasta Shells , cooked one minute shy of the box directions
This recipe is delicious! It might just be my new favorite meal! It was pretty easy to make, and my 6 year old (who is a super picky eater) really loved it too. My husband put a few dashes of Frank’s Red Hot on top of his. That added a little zing, but I think it tastes delicious just the way it is.
I love when a picky eater is won over. Such a huge win!
Can cooked, rotisserie chicken be substituted for cooked ground chicken?
I really love your recipes, made a lot of Asian ones that were outstanding.
Thanks, Denise. Of course you can use rotisserie chicken. Definitely a time saver too!
I made this today – followed your recipe to the tee. It was nice, BUT – I did find it lacking in some “pizzazz” flavor.
Would I make it again? yes – but would maybe add some red pepper flakes to give the flavor a bit more zing to it. would I stuff shells again? don’t know – would probably use the filling as a topping for either rice or pasta.
Made a vegetarian version of this without the chicken turned out great (added some more asparagus/bell peppers/peas instead)!! I would totally make it again! With the recipe as is I didn’t find the spice/zest level enough so I added ~1 tablespoon of taco seasoning, ~1 tablespoon red pepper, ~1 tablespoon of red chili powder and more ground black pepper and salt. Super yummy!
Thanks for the suggestions, Sanjna.
I’m missing something. It says to add the chicken, bacon, cheese and remaining ranch mix. Which cheese? The parmesan is in the sauce and the pepperjack goes on top for baking. I’m excited to try this but got confused with the cheese issue.
Thanks for catching that! The cheese cubes are added on top once the shells are filled. But you could always add shredded cheese to the mix if you want it extra cheesy and still top with the cube of cheese. I hope you enjoy it!
Is this missing a step? Step 7 says to add chicken, bacon, cheese, and ranch mix in a medium bowl, then step 8 says to take off heat.
Thanks for catching that. You’ll scoop the chicken, bacon, cheese and ranch mix into the shells. Hope this clears up any confusion.
Enjoy!
i just made this for my family, BIG HIT!!! and enough frlor left overs for lunch. this is a keeper.
How awesome!!
I made this for dinner, I loved it and so did my sister!!
So glad you both enjoyed it!
Delicious! I used rotisserie chicken but the rest was cooked from scratch. Ranch mix recipe is fantastic! Flavors in the finished dish were excellent. I only used half the sauce and froze the other half for another time. I did bake it covered for 20 minutes, then removed the foil and baked for another 10 minutes. Topped it off with some freshly chopped parsley and it was a big hit. Will definitely make again. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Andrea!
This is one of our favorite flavor combos!
Awesome…enjoy!
These would be a big hit at our house. The combination of flavors can’t be beat!
I hope you all enjoy it!
OH MY GOSH!!! These look so decadent!!
Thank you Allyson!
Stuffed shells entered my life a few years ago and haven’t left since. These look amazing!
Thank you so much! I love that the options are endless too!
I love pasta shells so much!
They’re so good, aren’t they?!
My kids love chicken, bacon, ranch pizza. I bet this will be a huge hit!
Always a fantastic combination!
We are huge fans of stuffed pasta shells! These look so cheesy and delicious! I can’t wait to make them soon!
Thank you Anna!