This easy recipe is a great option for any busy weeknight and potlucks, too! It's the perfect comfort food and one of our favorite dinner recipes.
Next time try this creamy Frito chicken casserole or chicken spaghetti!
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- Takes less than 30 minutes
- Make ahead and/or freeze
- Use up leftover chicken
Easy chicken bacon ranch casserole is full of tender chunks of chicken, crispy bacon, and penne - all stirred together in a creamy, cheesy sauce that's flavored with Ranch dressing mix.
It's a hearty comfort food that will have the family licking their plates! Perfect for that ultra busy weeknight dinner.
🧾 Ingredients
Any pasta will work in this easy casserole - farfalle (bowtie pasta), penne, rotini, shells, etc. I like to use a pasta shape that will hold the sauce!
Also, although I use boneless skinless chicken breast you could use boneless thighs.
Make sure it's cooked ahead of time - I like to use a rotisserie chicken when I'm in a hurry.
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
Step one
- Cook pasta until tender.
- Drain and add it to a large bowl with the cooked chicken, part of the bacon, and chiles.
Step two
- Warm the cream cheese over medium heat or in the microwave until it is soft.
- Add the Ranch seasoning packet and other sauce ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl and whisk smooth.
- Whisk the cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, and Ranch seasoning together until smooth.
Step three
- Stir the sauce into the pasta mixture.
- Layer the pasta and shredded Cheddar cheese in a 13x9-inch baking dish that's been greased or sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
- Top with cheese and bacon.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until hot all the way through and cheese is melted.
- Sprinkle with chopped green onion and serve.
Make this keto
If you're on a low carb diet you can easily make this chicken bacon ranch recipe low carb. Just substitute the pasta with either lightly cooked zucchini "noodles" or cauliflowerettes.
The carbs will drop to about 3 or 4 net carbs per serving.
🥄 Equipment
You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium bowl
- Whisk
- 13x9-inch baking dish
🎥 Video
🥫 Storage
You can assemble cheesy chicken bacon Ranch casserole up to three days ahead of time, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and keep in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
You can also freeze this before or after baking. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then bake as directed. It's a great freezer meal!
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to five days or freeze for up to three months.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: Shred the cheese from a block. The pre-shredded Cheddar cheese in bags has a cellulose powder mixed with it to keep it from sticking together - and it will keep it from melting properly.
- Make chicken bacon ranch pasta quick and easy with precooked chicken from the store. Pick up rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken strips.
- Cooked and diced pork roast works well, too.
- Use chicken thighs instead of breast.
- A rotisserie chicken will make this a super quick weeknight dinner.
- Use a aluminum casserole dish for freezing if you are making this ahead of time.
- Use leftover turkey or ham.
- Add cooked broccoli or peas - it's a great way to sneak in veggies for extra nutrition.
- Substitute Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack for the Cheddar cheese.
👩🍳 FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this easy dinner recipe.
Yes! Since this recipe uses cream of chicken soup it can be frozen without worrying about the sauce separating.
Yes! You can use cooked, boneless chicken thighs in this recipe if you prefer.
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📞 The last word
- I honestly liked this better the next day!
- You may need to add a little milk or evaporated milk if it doesn't seem like there's enough liquid in the sauce.
I love easy weeknight dinners!
There's nothing like knowing your day has been out of control but you've got dinnertime covered with a yummy dish the entire family will love.
My family loved this hearty casserole! It went in the "family favorite recipes" file pretty quick!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole with Pasta
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked
- 16 ounces penne pasta
- 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup chiles
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 21 ounces cream of chicken soup, don't dilute
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 ounce Ranch seasoning mix
- ¼ cup green onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Oil a 13x9-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Cook and dice the chicken.
- Cook the pasta until tender; drain.
- Cook the bacon until crisp; crumble.
- Mix the chicken, pasta, ¾ths of the bacon, and chiles together in a large bowl.
- Shred the Mozzarella and Cheddar and mix together.
- Whisk the cream of chicken soup, cream cheese, and Ranch seasoning together.
- Stir into the pasta mixture.
- Add a layer of the pasta mixture to the baking dish.
- Cover with ½ of the cheese.
- Add another layer of the pasta mixture.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cover with the remaining cheese.
- Sprinkle with the remaining bacon.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated all the way through.
Notes
- Make this quick and easy with precooked chicken from the store. Either pick up rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken strips.
- Cooked and diced pork roast works well, too.
- Use chicken thighs instead of breast.
- Use leftover turkey or ham.
- Add cooked broccoli or peas for extra nutrition.
- Substitute Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack for the Cheddar cheese.
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published April 26, 2021. Last updated August 26, 2021 for minor tweaks in the instructions and readability.
Lynne
It took me more than two hours to make this. Don’t be deceived by the timing on this. I thought it would be a quick easy meal. Wrong!
Marye
mmm.... It takes 10 minutes for chicken breast to cook on one burner, the pasta cooks on another, and the bacon on a third. After that you just need to dice the chicken, drain the pasta and follow the rest of the instructions. It may take 5 or 10 minutes more than stated, depending on several things...but this recipe cannot take two hours unless you get super sidetracked... or you're cooking over a candle.