The perfect summer pasta salad, Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is great for BBQs, Pot Lucks and easy transportable lunches. Pasta tossed with juicy chicken, crispy bacon, tangy olives and sweet tomatoes and corn, with a creamy and herby ranch dressing. Make a big batch – I promise it won’t last long!
I love a pasta salad, especially during the warmer months. Perfect for meal prep, I love to make a big pasta salad to have for lunches during the week. Pasta salads also make a great side dish for al fresco dining like BBQs and Pot Luck garden parties. If you like this Ranch Pasta Salad then I know you will love my BLT Pasta Salad and my Chicken Sweetcorn Pasta Salad.
Easy Homemade Ranch Dressing
For this Ranch Pasta Salad with chicken and bacon you can use your favourite Ranch dressing, whether that is store bought or homemade. But I have included my super easy homemade Ranch Dressing recipe.
Homemade Ranch Dressing
- Mayonnaise
- Greek Yoghurt
- Fresh or Dried Herbs – Parsley, Dill, Chives
- Garlic and Onion Granules
- Lemon Juice
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Salt
Simply mix all the ingredients together and season to taste with salt and additional lemon juice – the full quantities are included in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
The beauty of this recipe is you can easily customise it to your tastes or depending on what ingredients you have. You can use only yoghurt (no mayo) for a tangier dressing, or swap both the yoghurt and mayo for vegan mayonnaise if you need this recipe to be dairy and/or egg free.
Homemade ranch works equally well with either fresh or frozen herbs – just adjust the quantity (1 tablespoon of fresh herbs or 1 teaspoon dried.)
Ingredients
- Cooked Chicken Breast – cook your own or use leftover or rotisserie chicken.
- Bacon – I like crispy streaky bacon. You can swap for turkey or plant based bacon.
- Pasta – a small shape works best. I like these pasta shells or macaroni best for Ranch Pasta Salad.
- Ranch Dressing – make your own with my easy recipe or use your favourite.
- Cherry Tomato
- Olives – I like tangy black olives. You can easily omit them if you prefer.
- Sweetcorn – I use canned.
- Red Onion – or spring/green onion.
- Chives – optional, for garnish.
Serving and Storing
I love to make a big batch of Ranch Pasta Salad to keep in the fridge for lunches through the week.
Pasta salad is always a great crowd pleaser and makes an excellent side dish for grilled meats or BBQs.
This recipe serves 4 as a main meal or 6-8 as a side dish.
Swap out the olives for avocado, or add in some diced bell pepper or diced cucumber. Add shredded lettuce, spinach or rocket/arugula for extra greens.
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad will keep well in the fridge for 3 days.
More Pasta Salad Recipes:
- Grinder Pasta Salad
- Chicken Sweetcorn Pasta Salad
- Mediterranean Tuna Pasta Salad
- BLT Pasta Salad
- Lemon & Dill Prawn Pasta Salad
I hope you like this recipe as much as I do!
Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment if you make it.
Your feedback is really important and helps me keep making recipes you love!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Pasta Pot
Ingredients
- 1 Cooked Chicken Breast - or 1 cup rotisserie chicken
- 6 slices Crispy Cooked Streaky Bacon
- 300 grams Pasta Shells - 5 cups
- 200 grams Cherry Tomato, halved - 1 ⅓ cups
- 140 grams Sweetcorn - 1 cup
- 1 Red Onion, diced
- 100 grams Black Olives, sliced - ¾ cup
- 1 tbsp Chopped Fresh Chives - optional, to garnish
Ranch Dressing (or use ¾ cup of your preferred prepared Ranch Dressing)
- 6 tbsp Mayonnaise
- 4 tbsp Greek Yoghurt
- 1 tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley - or 1 tsp dried
- Chopped Fresh Chives - or 1 tsp dried
- Chopped Fresh Dill - or 1 tsp dried
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar - or white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool and stop the cooking process.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients – slice the olives and tomatoes in half and dice the red onion. Add to a large mixing bowl and stir in the cooked pasta.
- Dice the cooked chicken breast and crispy bacon and add to the salad ingredients. (see notes for chicken and bacon cooking instructions).
- To prepare the Ranch Dressing, add all the ingredients to a small bowl or jug and whisk to combine. Add additional salt and lemon juice to taste if required.
- Pour the Ranch Dressing over the pasta salad ingredients (you may not need to use it all so pour half at a time). Stir to combine and garnish with additional chopped chives.
Notes
- line a baking sheet with greaseproof or baking paper. Lay out the bacon rashers evenly and place in a COLD oven.
- Turn the oven temperature to 200c/180fan/400f/gas 6 and cook for about 20-25 minutes, until bacon reaches your desired level of crispy. You can also cook the bacon in a pan on the hob.
- When the bacon is cooked, allow it to cool on some kitchen paper then finely dice.
Nutrition
