This recipe for chicken bacon ranch casserole is absolutely delicious. It’s a simple recipe to follow and make for your friends or family.
My goodness gracious do I love anything that involves chicken, bacon, and ranch. Whoever came up with this combination is a culinary genius in my mind. I’m serious…LOL…the flavors just go so well together. That’s why I absolutely adore and crave this chicken bacon ranch casserole recipe.
What I love about this specific recipe is that it’s real simple to follow. Compared to some other recipes for chicken bacon ranch casserole, this one is pretty effortless. You’ll do a lot of prep and precooking with the bacon and chicken. That’s going to save time for the actual baking in the oven itself.
You don’t have to worry that just because it’s a “quicker” recipe with a shorter cook time, that the flavor is going to be sacrificed. I found that this recipe for chicken bacon ranch casserole actually is one of my favorites to make. That’s because I can’t really taste the difference between the time it takes to bake this one, which is around 15 minutes, with the other recipes that have a hour or more of baking!
So if you’ve seen chicken bacon ranch casserole recipes floating around the internet but haven’t given one a try, I suggest you start with this one. See how it turns out and if your friends or family enjoyed it. I’m confident anyone who tastes this is going to absolutely love it!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 packet dry Ranch dressing mix
- 8 oz. pasta (I used Shells)
- 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- Salt/Pepper to taste
- 1 jar Alfredo sauce (14.5 oz)
Directions:
- Start by getting your oven preheated at 375 degrees Fahrenheit and greasing a 9 x 9 baking dish.
- Take a large skillet and heat it up over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it’s brown and crispy.
- Drain the bacon fat and place the bacon slices on paper towels to absorb any other grease.
- Grab a gallon sized Ziploc bag and add in the olive oil, diced chicken (which is still raw at this point), and the Ranch mix.
- Shake up the bag so all the chicken gets evenly coated with the Ranch mix.
- Add the chicken to the skillet and cook it until it’s no longer pink. Set the chicken aside once it reaches this cooked stage.
- Boil water in a large enough pot, and cook the pasta until it’s al dente (not fully cooked but almost there, it’ll have a little bite to it)
- Drain the water and add the al dente pasta to the greased baking dish from earlier.
- Now add in the cooked chicken and the Alfredo sauce to the pasta.
- Sprinkle the Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese, bacon, and some salt & pepper on top of the Alfredo sauce and place it into the oven.
- Bake the casserole in the oven until it’s bubbly and all the cheese is melted – it’ll take about 15 minutes.
- Take it out of the oven and serve it to your friends and/or family.
Original recipe from: thecookinchicks.com
