A wholesome family meal that is rich, cheesy, creamy, and of course, comforting is finally here to make every weeknight absolutely special.
This fabulous pasta recipe is loaded with cheesy and bacon goodness with no expensive jarred sauces and complicated food processing needed. Flavored chicken, spaghetti noodles, homemade creamy sauce, and bacon crisps, all baked to perfection and combined to hook everyone up.
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
This awesome Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole is one of our family’s favorite dinner recipes. And, I promise that you simply cannot go wrong with this fascinating recipe if you need an easy-to-prepare dinner idea right away. How much can you argue if you’ve got all the goodness of tender chicken, perfectly-cooked pasta and bacon strips in one solid dish?
The Winning Run of Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
It’s basketball season once again, and I need to prepare a special family meal capable of feeding an army and creating lots of leftovers. Our son is attending two weeknight practices per week and playing in tournaments almost every weekend through the end of March.
With that being said, I always try to make a huge dinner casserole dish that will leave plenty of leftovers, so that on practice nights, I can heat something up for my family. This chicken bacon ranch casserole has become my go-to-dinner option during the busy months. No wonder this cheesy-bacon-chicken meal combination has captured the heart of my family more than other weeknight meals I often make for them.
If you’ve already heard of the term “crack chicken” then you know that it’s just a made up recipe name for the flavor combination of chicken, bacon, ranch, and cheese. It’s meant to be funny because the combination of flavors is so addicting and enticing, of course! And, although it is, I decided to name this pasta recipe Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole since the name crack chicken spaghetti sounds a little harsh for me.
What are the Best Sides to Serve with Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole?
Since this pasta recipe appears white, serving a steamed broccoli, carrots, sweet peas, or asparagus make this a fun, colorful plate. I suggest cooking these healthy vegetables, either boiled or steamed, but you can have them buttered if you want your sides to be more flavorful.
Try to make the vegetables taste bland because the side dishes should be complementary, and not to steal the attention away from the pasta casserole. Here are some of my recommended sides to match this creamy recipe:
- Garlic mushrooms
- Stir fried green beans
- Wheat bread
- Yellow zucchini
- Sweet corn
- Chopped olives
I think the vegetables should be half-cooked and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. I don’t feel like matching my chicken pasta recipe with leafy salad or potato salad would be a great idea. 🙂
First things first:
Before I get started with my recipe, I prepare my kitchen tools first that include:
- Instant Pot (intended for making shredded chicken meat)
- Boiling pot (for cooking the spaghetti noodles)
- Casserole Dish
- Large mixing bowl
- Jelly roll pan (intended for cooking the bacon)
- Parchment Paper
How Do I Make this Heavenly Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole?
This chicken bacon recipe just won’t get any easier for you as it’s a set-and-forget type of dinner meal. And, you can save time since you can prepare the casserole ahead of schedule, store it in the fridge and have it baked when you’re ready. You may create another batch and freeze it so that you can thaw and bake the second casserole later. Another busy mom tip!
To get this casserole whipped up, get a big mixing bowl, and combine all the ingredients except for bacon and cheese. Stir the ingredients well and pour into a casserole dish once you combine cream of chicken soup, chicken meat, Velveeta, pasta, dry ranch mix, chicken broth, and milk all together.
Lastly, top the casserole dish with bacon and cheese and then bake the pasta for 30 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven. There’s no need to cover the casserole, so just enjoy watching how the cheese toppings turn bubbly and mouth-watering while inside the oven.
Ingredients:
1 16 oz. package spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 10.75 oz. cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz. Velveeta cheese cubed
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth warmed up
1/2 cup milk
1 1.5 oz. package dry ranch mix
3 cups cooked chicken shredded or cubed (I make shredded chicken in the Instant Pot)
5-7 slices of bacon cooked and diced
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese grated
Directions for Making this Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray oil on a baking dish.
- Heat a medium-size skillet over medium high heat and cook bacon until brown (about 5-6 minutes). Drain excess fat with paper towel.
- In a large boiling pot with water and a small amount of salt, cook pasta noodles according to package instructions and then drain right after.
- Combine all of the ingredients minus the bacon and cheese over a large mixing bowl. Pour the contents into a casserole dish.
- Top casserole with cheese and bacon.
- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Recipe notes:
Skinless chicken breast can be replaced with boneless chicken thigh.
Cook chopped chicken breast over medium high heat with salt and pepper. Boiled chicken meat can also be used, but make sure to shred the chicken first before combining it with other ingredients.
As an alternative, leftover rotisserie chicken would be an excellent choice of chicken if you want more flavors at less effort.
I used a 10×8 casserole dish, but you could utilize a larger dish. Just make sure to keep an eye on the casserole while baking to avoid getting it burned.
Velveeta cheese can be substituted, but it might not be quite as creamy as suggested in this recipe.
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz. package spaghetti cooked and drained
- 2 10.75 oz. cans cream of chicken soup
- 16 oz. Velveeta cheese cubed
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth warmed up
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1.5 oz. package dry ranch mix
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded or cubed I make shredded chicken in the Instant Pot
- 5-7 slices of bacon cooked and diced
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients minus the bacon and cheese.
- Pour into a casserole dish.
- Top casserole with cheese and bacon.
- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes