Chicken, Ranch and Bacon have come together to create the most amazing mix of ingredients that I order this combo almost every chance I get. Here is a delicious recipe that combines these ingredients into a very easy creamy pasta dish that your whole family will love.
Why You’ll Love This – That One Thing
We all want our meals to taste delicious, but it sure doesn’t hurt when the meal fills the house with amazing aromas from step 1. This recipe starts with one of our favorite ingredients: bacon! We had to move quickly, so we used pre-cooked bacon and just tore it into pieces. You might want to cook your bacon that day, or even the day before. Lots of options, but get that house smelling delicious right from the start.
Ingredients You’ll Need – Quick Snapshot
Here are the ingredients you will need (see quantities below):
- Bacon – You can use pre-cooked (like we did), fresh cooked or even bacon from the day before
- Chicken – Your choice! Chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or even rotisserie chicken
- Garlic Powder – Every recipe needs garlic!
- Pasta Noodles – We used gluten free macaroni, but you could easily substitute other gluten-free noodles or regular noodles such as cavatappi or rotini
- Chicken Broth – We used low sodium
- Cream Cheese – Adds such depth and creaminess to the dish
- Ranch Seasoning – Hidden Valley seasoning packet
- Parmesan Cheese – Grated makes a great topper for this dish
- Salt & Pepper – To taste
The Process
Making this dish is so easy! It boils (pardon the pun) down to a few very easy steps:
Cook (or in our case, re-heat) the bacon in a skillet.
Second, cook your chicken in the same skillet where you just cooked your bacon. This will give it a nice crust on the edges and make for the perfect bite. While you’re preparing your chicken, you can also cook your pasta noodles to the desired doneness.
Add the chicken broth, ranch seasoning, and softened cream cheese to the same skillet and cook until it turns into a cream sauce.
Add the noodles and bacon bits to the skillet with the sauce.
Toss to make a wonderfully creamy mixture.
Cut the chicken into thin slices to place on top of the pasta.
Chicken Ranch and Bacon Creamy Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz. of uncooked macaroni pasta
- 2 chicken breasts cut lenght-wise
- 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 strips of bacon cut into pieces
- 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
- 1 tbsp. Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
- grated parmesan cheese (to top)
Instructions
- Placed the uncooked pasta in a pot of boiling water and cook to al dente (see package for details). Drain and set aside.
- Cut the 6 slices of bacon (whether it is pre-cooked or uncooked) into small pieces.
- Cook it over medium heat until crispy. Use a fork to carefully remove the bacon pieces while leaving as much of the bacon grease in the pan.
- Cut the chicken breasts length-wise to create four thinner pieces of chicken breast.
- Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and salt/pepper.
- Add the chicken to the skillet with the bacon grease and cook for approximately 6 minutes per side until cooked thouroughly.
- Moved the cooked chicken to a cutting board.
- Add the 3/4 cup of chicken broth, 8 oz. of cream cheese (softened), and 1 tablespoon of Hidden Valley ranch seasoning to the skillet. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens. This happens quickly!
- Cut the chicken into thin strips.
- Add the pasta noodles and bacon to the sauce and toss together.
- Add the pasta mixture to a plate or bowl, top with pieces of the sliced chicken and some grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
Did You Know
Who came up with Chicken Ranch and Bacon? I found myself asking, “Where in the world did the combination of chicken, ranch, and bacon start?” The sad part is, it’s impossible to find the answer no matter where you look. The true story of the origin of the chicken, ranch, and bacon combo is a mystery. There are rumors that a person making a sandwich decided to change things up and add these combos to a sandwich. Maybe they ran out of mayo and wanted something creamy so they grabbed the ranch instead. Maybe it was just an accident and resulted in one of the greatest flavor trios of the century! Regardless of who invented it, I’m just glad they did!
What would our lives be like without this amazing combination of chicken, ranch and bacon? It’s the perfect combination of salty, savory, and tangy. Plus, it’s versatile! You can put it on a sandwich, a pizza, or even in a salad. It it truly a multi-dimensional set of flavors that can be used almost anywhere.
I have to admit, I’m a little obsessed with chicken, ranch and bacon. I’ve tried so many different variations, from wraps to quesadillas. But my favorite has to be this pasta dish that we call Chicken Ranch Bacon Creamy Pasta. I would have gone the route of a sandwich, but sandwiches just aren’t great leftover. This pasta fits that need also.
In conclusion, we may never know who exactly came up with the chicken, bacon, ranch combo. But one thing is for sure: they are a genius! I’m just glad that we live in a world where we can enjoy this delicious combination. 
Looks amazing!