Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

5 from 4 votes

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is the ULTIMATE summer pasta salad. So simple to make and absolutely bursting with flavour, after trying this recipe you won't make pasta salad any other way!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Chris Collins

Cost: £1 / $1

Equipment

Large Mixing/Serving Bowl & Spatula
Small Mixing Bowl (for dressing)
Frying Pan & Tongs (for chicken & bacon)
Sharp Knife & Chopping Board

Ingredients

9oz / 250g Short Cut Pasta

Sauce

1 cup / 250ml Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup / 125ml Sour Cream
handful of Fresh Parsley, finely diced (save some to garnish)
good squeeze of Lemon Juice
Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

Fillings

2 Chicken Breasts, cooked, cooled & chopped
8 rashers of Bacon, cooked, cooled & chopped
1/2 cup / 50g Cheddar Cheese, cubed (or more to preference)
2 Spring/Green Onions, finely diced
1 rib of Celery, finely diced

Instructions

Pop your pasta into salted boiling water and cook according to packet instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Meanwhile, combine your sauce ingredients in a bowl and taste test for seasoning.
In a large bowl, add your pasta and mix in your fillings and sauce. Cover and pop in the fridge or enjoy straight away!

Video

Notes

a) Seasoned Chicken - Ensure that you heavily season your chicken before cooking. The chicken is a large chunk of the salad, so ensure it's well seasoned or it'll be bland.

b) Shredded/Rotisserie Chicken - You can definitely sub shredded chicken instead of chopped. Leftover rotisserie chicken works perfectly for this recipe. Same as above, just make sure it's seasoned. About 2 cups will be fine.

c) Cold ingredients - It's important to make sure all your cooked ingredients (pasta, chicken and bacon) are completely cold before combining. If it's all warm, your cheese is gonna go soft, the sauce will turn greasy once it cools again and summer will be ruined forever. You've been warned ;)

d) Pepper - I like a good amount of pepper in the pasta salad as a nice kick of spice to balance of the richness of everything. Something to think about when taste testing.

e) Make Ahead - You can absolutely make this ahead of time! Just tightly cover and store in the fridge until needed (2-3 days, longer at your discretion). The sauce will thin slightly, I usually save a dollop and stir through just before serving so it's nice and creamy.

f) Subs & Extras:

Spring Onion - Sub for very finely diced red onion, work to preference. Chives also work great in this recipe.
Lemon Juice - Sub for Apple Cider Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar.
Dijon Mustard - in the dressing for an extra kick, won't need more than 1-2 tsp.
Baby Plum Tomatoes

g) Calories - Shared between 8 people.

Nutrition