Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Creamy, cheesy and comforting! Loaded with Ranch chicken, homemade alfredo sauce and bacon. Can be made ahead of time!
Ranch chicken. Rotini pasta. Homemade alfredo sauce. And bacon. All baked to cheesy ooey gooey perfection. One bite of this and you will be hooked – I promise.
Now there are a few steps to this recipe but if you’re short of time, there’s a few shortcuts that can be taken here.
For starters, leftover rotisserie chicken would be a great way to repurpose leftovers. Store-bought alfredo sauce can also be substituted. And if you are counting your calories for the new year, you can make this sans bacon.
But let’s be real here. The bacon is always a must, am I right?
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Creamy, cheesy and comforting! Loaded with Ranch chicken, homemade alfredo sauce and bacon. Can be made ahead of time!
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs*, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Ranch Seasoning and Salad Dressing Mix, or more, to taste
- 8 ounces rotini
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the alfredo sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup heavy cream, or more, to taste
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9x9 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- To make the alfredo sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in heavy cream. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more heavy cream as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain excess fat; reserving 1 tablespoon in the skillet. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag, add chicken, 1 tablespoon olive oil and Ranch Seasoning, shaking to coat thoroughly. Add chicken to the skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 2-3 minutes on each side; set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Add pasta to the prepared baking dish and layer with chicken and alfredo sauce; sprinkle with cheeses and bacon. Place into oven and bake until bubbly and heated through, about 15-20 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
*Boneless, skinless chicken breasts can be substituted.
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WOW, this was YUMMY!! Thank you so much!!!
I made a double batch it was great. All the kids loved it as well as the adults…..score
I tried this recipe I used grated parmesan cheese it turned out great. Kids and hubby loved it.
Have made this a couple of times and the family loves it! The last time I made it I added broccoli florets in with the pasta in the last 5 minutes of cooking it just to add some veggies to the meal.
Chicken and bacon and ranch and pasta. All of my buzzwords have been hit and it’s official: I’m drooling. This looks SOOOO good. Cannot wait to try it out!
Have just made this. But i used creamy Ranch sauce, that i had in the fridge. Instead of ranch seasoning. Mixed a tablespoon of the sauce with the cooked bacon and chicken. Made my own white sauce using milk instead of cream. Then put another couple of tablespoons of the ranch sauce into my whitesauce.
Went down well.
I’ve made this a few times before we moved and had 7 months of chaos. We are finally back to cooking on a regular basis and I’m digging through recipies to start rotating through. I just remembered this one as we actually have bacon in the house and my husband got excited. He’s Indian so sometimes recipies the kids like bore him (but he’ll eat them anyway). This is NOT one of them. While this is absolutely healthier than most take out I do keep this on a longer rotation because it’s so rich I’m not sure it’s as healthy as other things I make. But it’ll still be on the menu pretty frequently! I love all of your recipies. We were in such chaos at Holiday time I forgot to ask for your cookbook as my gift! (Ok, I really consider the house my gift much to the hubby’s relief bc we feel like we are bleeding money, but yummy food is something else we can all enjoy) I think I’ll have to get it soon no matter what!
If using rotisserie chicken do I just coat that with oil and ranch seasoning and then layer it?
You can omit the olive oil and Ranch as it is already seasoned chicken.
We had this tonight. My husband who is often oblivious to what he is eating kept saying how good it was. I took the easy route and bought low fat Alfredo sauce and rotisserie chicken. I added some broccoli and cauliflower and followed the rest of the recipe. It was delicious and I will be making it again.
The only thing I don’t get is are you suppose to use the ranch seasoning and ranch dressing together or separately??
The Ranch Seasoning and Salad Dressing Mix is one ingredient.
Can u add vegetables like broccoli to it and tomatoes?
Yes, what a great idea!
I made this last night and LOVED it. My husband doesn’t like bacon (what a weirdo), but he said he would rank this in his top 5 favorite recipes. It was so worth the time it took to make—I’m excited about eating leftovers for lunch today!
This smells soooo good as it cooks! I did it as directed except used Panko chicken and baked it everything else the same as recipe. It’s in the oven now and I can’t wait to spring it on my husband for his Birthday 🙂 Thanks so much for this recipe <3
Used chicken breasts, 2 cups milk/1 tablespoon flour and bowtie pasta. This was damn delicious! Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper!
Can you use chicken breast instead?
Yes.
Beautiful, looks great!
My family loves this dish and so do I. It has become a weekday meal or should I say at least every two weeks. 🙂
The casserole looks really appetizing, I’m going to give it a try!
If halving all the ingredients (so I can make a personal one for myself), how long to cook this for in the oven?
I would still recommend keeping the same cooking time, but as always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
thiiissss WAS SOOOOO GOOOOOODDDDDD! UGH! SO DELICIOUS