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The star of the show – our Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad! Here in the Midwest, we love a good pasta salad at our cookouts and this one has a creamy ranch dressing paired with cheddar and bacon!
Summer just isn’t summer without pasta salad!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Is The Vibe.
Here in the Midwest, we basically just try to survive through the winter. It’s summer when we really shine.
Our Midwestern roots take hold and all of the pasta salads and potato salads come out to play.
Very happy to dust off my pasta salad making capabilities to share this Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad with you.
Sure to be the star of any show thanks to that creamy, drippy, herby ranch dressing that coats everything!
Of course, the crispy bacon, shredded cheddar, and bites of chicken don’t hurt anything either.
A smash burger, a pile of pasta salad, maybe a margarita on the rocks…ah, summer.
Why You’ll Love This One:
- Creamy ranch dressing hugs every noodle.
- Juicy chicken for protein (leftovers or rotisserie = hero move).
- Crispy bacon because, well, obviously.
- Fresh veggies for crunch and color.
- Cheddar cheese because we’re living our best lives.
It’s all of our favorite things in one bowl!
Ingredient Notes:
Pasta – This pasta salad starts with some small shaped pasta. We used Farfalle but pretty much any other type works too such as macaroni, rigatoni, rotini, fusilli, etc.
Chicken – We often prepare shredded cooked chicken in advance to use in recipes like this. Try our crockpot shredded chicken! You could also get a rotisserie chicken from the store to use here.
Bacon – Try our easy air fryer bacon recipe.
Cheddar – Freshly grated cheddar is going to offer the best flavor and texture. You an use mild or sharp. Pre-shredded is okay too if you don’t want to grate it yourself!
Dressing – We’re going the extra step and mixing up the dressing ourselves, but we’re still using a packet because yum. Bottled dressing will totally work or try the homemade dressing from our buttermilk chicken tenders!
Chives – We also add some fresh chives to the salad for extra flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions for Chicken Pasta Salad:
While the pasta boils, stir together the mayo, buttermilk, and packet of ranch in a large bowl.
Drain the pasta, run it under cold water and toss it with the ranch dressing to coat.
Add the chicken, cheddar, bacon, and chives to the bowl and stir to combine.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Helpful Tip!
Storage Instructions:
This pasta salad should last in the fridge, tightly covered, for 3-5 days.
This will depend on how fresh the other ingredients are – if you’re using leftover chicken that’s already been sitting around for a few days, you’ll definitely want to consider that when deciding how long this pasta salad will keep.
I would not recommend trying to freeze this chicken pasta salad recipe. The mayo based ranch dressing won’t hold up well and the pasta will probably get a little mushy after being frozen.
Serving Suggestions:
While you can certainly serve this chicken bacon ranch pasta salad up anytime of the year, summer is when it really shines!
We love this for a backyard BBQ sort of situation and often pair it with our pulled pork or grilled teriyaki chicken.
Of course, it’s also tasty with turkey meatloaf, crispy baked chicken drumsticks, and Italian beef.
MORE PASTA SALAD RECIPES!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound small shaped pasta such as rotini or farfelle
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons ranch seasoning 1 packet
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
- 8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 4 chopped green onions
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Instructions
- Boil the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and run under cold water to cool.
- Add the mayonnaise, buttermilk, and ranch seasoning to a small bowl and whisk well to combine.
- Pour the dressing over the bowl of drained pasta. Add the chicken, cheddar, bacon, green onions, and seasoned salt to the bowl and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Lu says
Why don’t you make it easier to pin on Pinterest?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Lu! There are pin buttons on the side of the screen on desktop, that you can hover over on mobile, and in the recipe card regardless of the device.
Jeff Orrender says
What is the serving size
Karly says
The nutrition information was calculated based on 10 servings, but I did not measure the servings by volume.
Stacy says
Do I have to use buttermilk or can I just use plain milk?
Karly says
You can use regular milk.
C Monk says
Can something else be used instead of mayonnaise
Karly says
It’s just a ranch dressing that’s being made, so you could use whatever you normally would for ranch.
Barbara Ellenberg says
Fantastic combination of ingredients. Our family thoroughly enjoyed on Mother’s Day.
Sarah says
I’m such a sucker for anything and everything ranch! Adding this to this weeks menu!
Codrut Turcanu says
My mother in law likes bacon, so will handle her this recipe, thanks!
Elizabeth @ Confessions of a Baking Queen says
This is naughty! Like you said Satan! Haha but bad in the best way possible. As in I think I’d have numerous servings!!
Catherine says
This pasta salad looks amazing, you had me at bacon!! 😀
Karly says
The bacon gets everyone. 😉
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
My family will love this pasta salad! It looks easy and delicious!
Judy says
To save a bunch of $$ make the dry ranch mix yourself. I triple it and keep it in a pint quilted Mason jar in the cabinet. Also, I buy cans of dry buttermilk powder either from the grocery store or Amazon. With the ranch dressing I mix the mayo and sour cream real well and add milk 1Tbsp. at a time til I get the right consistency.
When using the powder for baking I add the correct amount of powder to dry ingredients and either milk or water with the liquids.