This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Cheesy Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta combines lots of my favorite flavors, such as bacon and ranch, into a creamy, cheesy, comforting chicken and pasta baked casserole.
This Cheesy Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta is a budget-friendly, family-friendly, and delicious recipe. It is also an excellent way to use leftover chicken and leftover bacon (Is there ever any leftover bacon?), and feed a crowd.
It is one of our favorite family dishes, along with other chicken casseroles like King Ranch Chicken Casserole, Chicken Broccoli Cheese Quinoa Casserole, and my Easy Chicken Pot Pie Casserole. For vegetarians, they may like Chile Relleno Casserole.
What’s not to love? It has all of our favorite flavors including bacon and ranch and chicken all combined with cheesy pasta! Gotta have the cheese!
Serve it with a salad and breadsticks and you have a complete meal. Almost a complete meal….unless you want to add a glass of wine with that. You can’t go wrong with this pasta.
It is always a crowd-pleaser because well because, first of all, it is pasta! People love pasta, especially if it has cheese and bacon. When I told my husband I had fixed a chicken and pasta casserole, he was a little hesitant, that is until he saw it and tasted it. Then he said it tasted fantastic and asked me to make it again.
I used penne pasta, but you could use any pasta you have in your pantry.
Take this to your next party, get together, or potluck and you will be the hit of the party. Or just make it for your next weeknight supper or Sunday supper for your family and they will love it.
Be sure to try and swing back by to leave a comment to let me know how you liked it!
If you like this, check out my Cheesy Bacon Ranch Hash Brown Casserole too!
Thanks for visiting Flavor Mosaic! If you like this recipe, subscribe via email and have them delivered directly to your inbox. Don’t forget to stay in touch by following Flavor Mosaic on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 12 ounce box penne pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper optional
- 1-1/2 cups heavy cream or half and half
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 package ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix
- 1/2 cup parmesan shredded
- 2 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded
- 8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 12 ounce package frozen peas, thawed
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Prepare pasta according to package directions. Rinse and drain. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add minced garlic and crushed red pepper, if desired. Add the flour and stir in with the butter. Add the heavy cream and chicken broth and continue stirring until thickened. Stir in half a package of the ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
- Place pasta in bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Top with chicken, bacon, and peas. Pour sauce over the top. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
If you love this recipe, try my popular Pumpkin Praline Bread Pudding!
If you like this recipe, you may also like Chicken Tetrazzini with Asiago Cream Sauce.
If you like this recipe, you love my Five-Cheese, Fifteen-Minute Mac ‘n’ Cheese.
If you like this recipe, try my Bacon Pasta Salad Primavera recipe.
Another pasta recipe you might like is my Jalapeno Popper Pasta Salad.
And who doesn’t love Baked Ziti.
While you are here, don’t miss my Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells.
This post may be included in one of these fantastic link parties and The Weekend Potluck #107.
Lauren Parsley says
This looks amazing. I pinned it so I can try it one of these days. 🙂
Michele says
Hi Lauren. Thank you for visiting and pinning!
kim says
at what point do you add the flour?
thanks
Michele says
Hi Kim,
Thank you for letting me know. I updated the instructions. Add the flour after the butter and garlic and crushed red pepper.
kim says
thank you! honestly looks fantastic!
Britni says
You’re right, pasta + bacon and cheese is always a winner. This sounds incredible. Thanks for sharing on the weekend re-Treat Link Party! Hope to see you again tomorrow.
Britni @ Play. Party. Pin.
Michele says
Hi Britni. Thanks for visiting. I will try to post there again next week.
Heather Lampman says
Where’s the “Ranch”?
Michele says
Hi Heather,
Thank you for pointing that out. It was inadvertently left out. I updated the recipe to add 1/2 a packet of the Ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix.
Have a great day.
Kim says
What would you recommend as a substitution for the peas. My family is not a fan. Also, only 1/2 pkg. of ranch??? Since I will be adding more meat (2 is not enough for our family of 4), do you think I could add a whole pkg.?
cyndie says
I made this for dinner tonight and it turned out amazing. I was thinking of substituting broccoli florets instead of peas next time.
Michele says
I’m so glad you made it, and liked it. Broccoli go great in it. Thanks for letting me know.
Vicki says
Just making this now. I also doubled the amount of chicken. I left the recipe as is, but wonder if I should have doubled the sauce recipe?
Michelle says
I made this last night it was fantastic !!! When I told my husband what I was making he was less then enthused . But when he ate it he absolutely loved it he had 3 huge bowls ! I had to make two adjustments I used broccoli instead of pees and cheddar cheese for the topping but even with the few changes it was delicious thank you so much will be saving this recipe!
Michele says
Hi Michelle, thank you so much for making it. I’m so happy you and your boyfriend loved it! I totally believe in customizing recipes to your taste preferences and based on ingredients you have on hand. I bet this tasted fantastic with the broccoli and cheddar cheese on top. Thank you for sharing.
Christy says
I have made this for many new mammas or families needing a dish and it’s easy to carry as well as double so you have one for yourself! Always a crowd pleasers for all ages! Only problem is that the directions say 10 min prep. Even if you already have the bacon and chicken made it takes me 30 min to prepare the rest so this is not an easy weeknight meal. Just be prepared to leave yourself at least an hour and a half if making it all fresh.
Michele says
Hi Christy,
I’m so glad you like the recipe and have made it several times. I agree it is a great dish for families and easy to double. It is also a great recipe to use up leftover cooked chicken and cooked bacon.
The recipe is written assuming that the chicken and bacon are already cooked before you start preparing this recipe, often cooked ahead of time, maybe for a previous day’s meal. Therefore, that time to cook the chicken and the bacon is not included in the cook time for this recipe, as the ingredients call for those items to already be cooked. Also, the prep time is not the time to prepare the whole meal. The total time specifies 40 minutes, assuming that you are starting with cooked chicken and bacon. If you were to cook the chicken and bacon at the time you want to start making this meal, yes it would take longer.
Brianna says
How thick is the sauce supposed to be?
Michele says
It may start out thin but keep stirring and it should thicken up.
Joanne says
Hi Michele! I wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’ve made it many times and is always a family pleaser. Thanks again for sharing!
Michele says
Hi Joanne, thank you so much for letting me know. You have no idea how happy that makes me. Please feel free to share my recipes with your friends on social media.
Mo K says
So yummy! I didn’t use as many peas (about 1/2 — so 6 oz. which was plenty) and hubby commented how the peas were a stroke of genius, really adding to the flavor profile and mouthfeel of this superb dish! I added a little more garlic since we LOVE it so much, a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to the sauce. Will definitely be making again, and glad that we have leftovers for a couple of nights this week. Thanks for sharing it, Michele, and also thanks to the other commenters with suggestions on other veggies to try and changing up the types of cheese. 🙂
Michele says
Thank you so much for letting me know you liked it. That is great. I love this recipe. It is so versatile you can customize it to your taste.
Tory says
Hi! I was wondering if you use rotisserie chicken about how much would you use? Thanks!
Amber says
Do u keep in on low for sauce? Doesn’t seem to be thinking and do I add ranch after it thickens
Michele says
Hi Amber, yes, you keep the heat on low. It takes a little time to thicken. I added the Ranch after it thickened.
Victoria says
Can you substitute ranch dressing instead of the ranch seasoning packet?
Michele says
Hi Victoria, the ranch seasoning packet is a dry seasoning mix vs an already mixed up dressing. It is also a more concentrated flavor. I have not tried making the substitution. If you were to try this, I would recommend reducing the amount of heavy cream by the amount of the ranch dressing you add. Since I have not tried this, substitution I can’t guarantee results.
Shelby says
our go to recipe that all my kids love and we love it too. so yummy
Michele says
Hi Shelby,
I’m so glad you loved it. Thanks for letting me and other readers know. Please feel free to share on social media.
Michele