Chicken Ranch Pasta Salad
This Chicken Ranch Pasta Salad is perfect for a BBQ, a picnic or lunch. Loaded with chicken, bacon, tomatoes, olives , all smothered in a creamy ranch, mayo and sour cream dressing. This will be your "go to" pasta salad this summer!
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Cook Time15 minutes mins
Total Time30 minutes mins
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken, chicken ranch pasta salad, pasta salad, summer picnic
Servings: 8
Calories: 543kcal
For Dressing
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- ¼ cup chives chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper or to taste
For Pasta Salad
- 10 ounce pasta I used Rigati, which is a smaller version of Rigatoni
- 6 slices bacon chopped and fried
- 2 chicken breasts cooked and diced (about 2 cups), I used all the breast from a Rotisserie chicken
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- ¼ cup black olives sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
In a medium size bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain in a colander and rinse it under cold water to stop it from cooking any further.
Transfer the pasta to a large bowl. Add the bacon, chicken breast, celery, black olives and cherry tomatoes then add the prepared dressing. Toss well.
- I usually chop the bacon into small pieces before frying, I find it easier to fry this way vs frying the whole slices and then chopping it. Also I find it may fry faster this way.
- I used chicken breasts but feel free to use dark or white meat in this salad, totally up to you.
- I prefer chill this salad for a couple hours before serving.
- You can only really store this dish in the fridge, so unfortunately freezing ahead of time won't work. Seal in an airtight container and this dish will keep for 3 - 5 days in the fridge.
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 543kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 19g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 697mg | Potassium: 318mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 314IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg