Cheesy Ranch Chicken Pasta is so addictive, you won’t be able to have just one plate! Moist shredded chicken is paired with thick-cut crispy pieces of bacon and a creamy and cheesy ranch mixture on a bed of penne noodles for an amazing finish! If you are looking for more pasta ideas, make sure to check out my cheeseburger pasta and my mushroom and swiss pasta!
Easy One-Pot Cheesy Ranch Chicken Pasta
OK, so I know by now I have already sold you on why you would want to make cheesy ranch chicken pasta, but I am going to go ahead and add another thing. It all cooks in one pot! Just one. If you are like me, this is an amazing discovery. My kids love it and it cleans up easy which means I am winning. There is a little bit of prep work to be done but if you do that, I am here to tell you the rest of your week will be a breeze too.
Can I Make This Ahead of Time?
Yes! Here are some ways to make prepping and assembly easier.
- Shredded Chicken: You can buy your chicken cooked and pre-shredded but I prefer to make it ahead. Use this easy shredded chicken recipe for perfectly cooked and moist chicken every single time.
- Bacon: You can also buy pre-cooked bacon at the store but again, there is nothing better than the taste and crunch of perfectly cooked and crispy bacon. I always bake mine in the oven. Start by lining a large baking dish with tin foil and lay out the individual pieces of bacon. Bake them in the oven at 415° F for 18-20 minutes. Cook times will vary based on your oven heat.
- Ranch Seasoning: Make your own homemade ranch seasoning mix if you don’t have any on hand.
How to Make Cheesy Ranch Chicken Pasta
- Start with a small to medium-sized bowl.
- Add the chicken and the dry ranch seasoning and stir to combine making sure to coat all of the chicken well.
- Move to the Dutch oven and set it over medium heat. Add the broth, the dry penne noodles, and the chicken mixture. Stir to combine and bring everything to a boil.
- Reduce the heat down to low and cover. Allow this mixture to simmer 15-20 minutes.
- Stir it occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. (There will still be liquid in the pan when the noodles are finished cooking.)
- Add in the cream cheese and stir until it has completely melted into the mixture.
- Remove from heat and add the bacon and the shredded cheddar cheese. Stir everything together until it has completely melted.
Garnish with parsley and serve! Yup, it’s just that easy.
How to Store Cheesy Chicken Ranch Pasta
Store leftover pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I like to add a bit of milk or cream to the dish before reheating.
More Dinner Recipes
Cheesy Ranch Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded chicken, cooked
- 1 package (1 ounce) dry ranch seasoning mix*
- 8 ounces penne noodles, uncooked
- 3 ½ cups chicken broth
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine shredded chicken and dry ranch seasoning. (This is your chicken mixture.)
- To a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add the chicken broth, penne, and chicken mixture. Stir to combine and then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and then cover and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the pasta is cooked to your preference. There should still be some liquid in the pot when the pasta is done cooking.
- Add the cream cheese to the dutch oven and stir until most of the cream cheese has melted.
- Add the bacon and shredded cheddar cheese. Stir everything until cheese is fully melted.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Made this tonight. Doubled it for a family of 5. Husband that it’s a lot and 14 year old son. I wouldn’t double. It is so much (my son is happy about that). This is pretty good. Even for a doubled recipe I only use 1/2 ounce of ranch dressing. That was plenty. It was still a bit salty, but I used the shredded chicken I made the night before for tacos, so the extra salt probably came from that. Way more water then I expected, but as the author stated it will be Watery. Just go with it.
Pretty good, very tasty and feeling.
What is the nutritional values?
What if I don’t have a Dutch oven ?
Just use a regular large pot
This recipe is so good! It’ll get added to the rotation for sure. I added a couple extra things: 1/4 diced sun dried tomatoes, and about a cup of cream. So good!
Love those additions!
I made it for dinner. A win with my kids. Great pantry raid! I did use a homemade ranch mix. I use nutritional yeast in my blend and it worked great.
Made today for the first time. I made a couple of tweaks. First, I doubled the recipe – I don’t like using partial packages of things if I can help it, so a whole rotisserie chicken, whole box of pasta, two containers of chicken stock, whole block of cream cheese, two packets of seasoning. I did only use a half package of bacon and will use the rest later. I didn’t add the chicken with the pasta – I thought it would be weird to boil already cooked chicken for 20 minutes. I added the seasoning to the pasta and broth, and added the chicken at the end with the bacon.
Unless you prepped the bacon at a different time, start to finish was 55 minutes, not 20. It takes time to cook the bacon, bring the pasta up to a boil, etc. You can pull the chicken while the pasta is boiling to save that prep time. I pulled the chicken ahead and used the time the pasta was boiling to make salads.
I boiled the pasta for 15 minutes since I still wanted some bite to it. I was concerned at the end of the 15 minutes that it was too watery still, but it set up nicely once I added the chicken and cheese.
For next time, I’ll only use 1 ranch packet – to present a taste and too salty with the bacon – and add sautéed mushrooms.
This is so good! It’s just me and my husband now kids are all grown. I wished I had it 20 yrs. ago my kids would have devoured it. I’m going to try it with my grandchildren they will love it to. So delicious!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Can this b frozen
My son loved this. I tweaked a few things. I cooked my chicken in cubes in butter on stovetop. Did 10oz pasta and 4 cups broth and ranch to boil together. I used low sodium broth. Put in chicken after cream cheese. Next time I will use less ranch packet bc it is a little salty. Definately recommend using low sodium broth.
SO good. I added four cups of chicken broth with a little more pasta and the whole 8 oz of cream cheese. Kid approved!