Crack Chicken Pasta – chicken and bacon tossed in a quick homemade cheesy ranch sauce! Ready to eat in under 15 minutes. Such an easy weeknight meal!! Cooked chicken, bacon, butter, flour, milk, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing mix, and pasta. Everyone in the family loves this! Serve with a salad and some crusty garlic bread – so delicious! We make this all the time!
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Pin This RecipeChicken Pasta with Cheddar, Bacon & Ranch
This Crack Chicken Pasta is a weeknight favorite. Chicken and bacon tossed in a quick cheddar ranch sauce. OMG! SO good. The best part about this recipe is that it is super easy to make. I boiled the pasta and then used the same pot to make the cheese sauce and toss everything together. I took a shortcut and used half of a rotisserie chicken and this was done in minutes. We both loved it. How could we not since it has all the flavors of our beloved “Crack” Dip in it! Serve this with a salad and some bread for a delicious weeknight meal!
What does CRACK mean?
If a recipe has “crack” in the title it means that the recipe has cheddar, bacon, and ranch in the ingredients. It all started with my Crack Dip way back in 2007. I made the dip for a Titans football game. Everyone went crazy over it. We couldn’t stop eating it and said it was like crack. The name stuck.
According to the dictionary, the definition of crack is “of superior excellence or ability”. We think the flavor combination of cheddar, bacon, and ranch fits this definition! This recipe is most definitely of superior excellence!
How to Make Crack Chicken Pasta
As I said, this dish is super simple to make. In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside. In the same pot melt butter. Add flour and stir. Cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens. Stir in ranch dressing mix and cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Add chicken, bacon, and pasta. Stir to coat and enjoy!
- I used rotisserie chicken for the cooked chicken in this pasta dish.
- Here is our recipe for Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken: https://www.plainchicken.com/slow-cooker-rotisserie-chicken/
- Can substitute turkey bacon for pork bacon in this pasta.
- Can use any shape of pasta that you prefer. I like penne or bowtie pasta.
- Feel free to toss in some steamed broccoli for a full meal!
- Adjust the ranch dressing mix to your personal preference.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix/
What to Serve with Chicken Mac & Cheese with Bacon
This quick pasta is one of our all-time favorite recipes. I always have the ingredients on hand to whip up a batch at a moment’s notice. We usually serve the pasta with some broccoli or a salad and some rolls. Give this a try the next time you need a quick and easy meal to please the whole family!
Need more side dish ideas? Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this stovetop mac & cheese:
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Crack Chicken Pasta – Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 8- ounces penne pasta
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp ranch dressing mix
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅓ cup cooked chopped bacon
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken
Instructions:
- In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- In the same pot melt butter. Add flour and stir. Cook flour for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens.
- Stir in ranch dressing mix and cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Add chicken, bacon, and cooked pasta. Stir to coat.
Notes:
- I used rotisserie chicken for the cooked chicken in this pasta dish.
- Here is our recipe for Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken: https://www.plainchicken.com/slow-cooker-rotisserie-chicken/
- Can substitute turkey bacon for pork bacon in this pasta.
- Can use any shape of pasta that you prefer. I like penne or bowtie pasta.
- Adjust the ranch dressing mix to your personal preference.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix/
Steph
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Pin This Recipe
I just love pasta! Always tastes best with wine, specially if you chose the best quality! I'll try this soon. Thank you!
– Lilly Rason
Thanks for the wonderful recipes, time and time again. I've been cooking some dishes for my date lately and it's going on pretty well. You're a life-saver!
Best,
Mischna Ong
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Will this work with ranch dressing not dry seasoning?
This was a no go with my bunch. Too bad it looked very promising.It was eaten but will not be requested again.
Made this recipe last night and it was delicious! I doubled the recipe and I didn't have enough cheese so I added cream cheese and sour cream. I also added spicy mustard. Certainly a new favorite!
I made this for dinner tonight for my family and they loved it. I added mustard to it for taste and it came out awesome.
Made this tonight. It was amazing! Added the mustard (very little) and poured the whole packet of organic ranch dressing seasoning, and used about 3/4 block of mild cheddar cheese (8oz). Delicious! Salad and bread made it a perfect full meal. Thank you!
How did you all cook the chicken first? Boil it?
rotisserie chicken works fabulous with this!
Very yummy. Used homemade ranch seasoning and there is plenty of flavor.
This wasn't bad. I did have to add a squirt of liquid ranch to add a little more flavor & creaminess. My husband & 2 children LOVED it and said they would want me to make it again. So it's a keeper! Thanks!**I used a generic dry ranch seasoning packet (Surefine)- Anyone try the Hidden Valley packet, and have great success with this recipe?**
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I just made this tonight, I added some button mushrooms to the mix and mixed mild and sharp cheddar cheese. It was delicious!
The only thing I noticed, however, was that the sauce was a little clumpy, even after letting the flour cook a little bit and whisking everything pretty well… Wonder how to fix that?
Great recipe, thanks so much!
I made this tonight, substituting Chicken Chipotle Ranch brats from my local (awesome) meat market and bowtie pasta – YUM. Going on the repeat list! 🙂
How many people does it ?
How many people does it serve ?