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Quick, easy, and cheesy! This chicken bacon ranch mac & cheese is packed with flavor and is a great way to use left over chicken. It is a breeze to make in the Instant Pot and so tasty!
Is there any dish more delicious, universally pleasing, or kid-friendly than mac and cheese?
We love our creamy baked mac and cheese, but sometimes you just don’t want to boil pasta or turn on the oven.
Enter this Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac and Cheese. It’s ultra creamy and super cheesy.
When mac and cheese meets ranch and bacon… you know it’s going to be good.
This recipe is my go-to when I want something cozy, kid-friendly, and fast. It’s loaded with juicy chicken, smoky bacon, plenty of pasta, and that dreamy ranch flavor we all secretly (or not-so-secretly) love. And thanks to the Instant Pot, it all cooks up in one pot with minimal cleanup.
Dinner heroes wear many forms, and sometimes they look like cheesy noodles in a big ol’ bowl.
If you love ranch, try our crock pot pork chops made with ranch!
3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Everything cooks in one pot. Less mess, less stress.
- Crowd-pleasing flavor. Chicken, bacon, ranch, and cheese. Do I need to say more?
- Weeknight magic. It’s on the table in about 30 minutes.
Ingredients:
Macaroni – You can use any small pasta if you don’t have or want to use elbow macaroni. Shells, bow-tie, penne, rotini, etc.
Velveeta – Makes for an ultra thick and creamy pasta. See notes below to swap this for real cheese.
Cream – Cream makes for a thicker, creamier sauce. You may use milk instead.
Cheddar – Freshly grated for the best consistency. This is going to add extra flavor and oomph to the cheese sauce.
Chicken – We use leftover, shredded chicken in this recipe. You could even used canned chicken, if that’s what you’ve got.
Bacon – Freshly fried and crumbled.
Ranch – Use a packet of ranch seasoning here. The perfect use for it!
Helpful Tip!
Don’t want to use Velveeta?
To make this without Velveeta, cut cook time to 3 minutes. Release pressure, set to sauté, and add in one can of evaporated milk. Increase the 2 cups of shredded cheddar to 4 cups and add in 1 cup of shredded monterey jack. Stir the cheese in a handful at a time until smooth and creamy. Proceed with the chicken, bacon, and ranch, as directed.
This method comes from our pressure cooker mac and cheese that has smoked sausage in it.
How To:
Cook: Add the pasta, butter, and water to your instant pot and set the valve to seal and set the pressure to high for four minutes.
Cheese: Once the four minutes are up turn the valve to release the steam. When the pin drops, carefully remove the lid. Stir the pasta to loosen it up.
Add the Velveeta and the heavy cream and stir until the Velveeta is melted, then add the ranch seasoning and stir well to combine. Finally, add the shredded cheddar cheese and stir again until it has melted and is smooth.
Finish: Once all of the cheese is melted and stirred together, finish by adding the chicken, bacon, and ranch seasoning. Stir again to make sure everything is consistent and dish it up! Garnish with additional crumbled bacon or green onion/parsley to really top it off!
Homemade Ranch Seasoning
Don’t want to use a packet of ranch seasoning?
Mix together 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, 1 teaspoon dried chives, and 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper.
Use this as a replacement for the 2 tablespoons of ranch seasoning.
Karly’s Tips & Tricks
- Recipe was made using a 6 quart Instant Pot Duo. The time to pressure was 12 minutes.
- I used semolina pasta in this recipe. Gluten free and whole wheat pasta may require different cook times.
- If you don’t already have bacon pre-cooked and ready to go, you can use the Instant Pot to cook it before making the macaroni. Set it to sauté and drain the fat when finished.
- You can store this in the refrigerator for a couple of days in an airtight container. Try stirring in a couple tablespoons of cream or milk before heating to make it creamy again.
Tried it? Loved it?
Don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a quick review! It helps other folks find the recipe and lets me know what you think. Plus, I just really like hearing how dinner turned out. 😊
Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces Velveeta cut into small cubes or slices
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream see note
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
- 2 tablespoons dry ranch seasoning
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- Add the pasta, 4 cups of water, and butter to the pot.
- Place the lid on the pressure cooker, set the valve to seal, and set the pressure to high for 4 minutes.
- When the timer completes, carefully turn the valve to release the steam. When the pin has dropped, remove the lid.
- Stir the pasta to loosen it up then add the Velveeta and cream. Stir until the Velveeta is nearly melted and then stir in the cheddar, a handful at a time, until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Stir in the chicken, bacon, and ranch.
- If sauce is too thick, add additional cream or milk to reach your desired consistency.
- Serve garnished with additional crumbled bacon, sliced green onion, or chopped parsley, if desired.
Dan Miller says
If I do the velveeta substitution, do I still use the heavy cream or does the evaporated milk replace it? Been doing a number of your recipes as of late and enjoying them. Thank you
Karly says
Great question! You can add the cream (or swap milk) to thin the sauce out to get it how you want it, but you may not need it at all. Once you’ve got the mac and cheese done without the cream, taste and decide if you want to add it. 🙂
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
Kelsey Reddick says
I think something is going on with the recipe card, it doesn’t have all of the steps from the post.
Karly says
Hmm, it all seems to be there on my end. Can you tell me what is missing? There should be 7 steps.
Meagan says
It’s missing the water in the ingredient list 🙂
Karly says
Water is often left out of the ingredients list and just included in the instructions. I tend to go back and forth with it…I believe the ‘proper’ way to write a recipe is to NOT include it in the ingredients list, so I try to follow that format. 🙂