This Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole is all you need on a busy weeknight. We’re talking creamy, cheesy, rice casserole loaded with ranch, chicken, and bacon!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Creamy, dreamy, oozing deliciousness with cheese pulls a mile long – these are the things that dance through my head in the last few hours of a long work day. The day I cooked up this casserole I knew I needed something quick and easy, a recipe that can be thrown into a pot and left to do its thing while I do mine.
I have to admit I use ranch seasoning as a secret flavor bomb, and this recipe is the best way to test it out if you’ve never played around with this ingredient before.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken breast – This recipe is best with boneless breast cut into bite sized pieces. Of course you can use chicken thighs instead if that’s what you have on hand.
- Olive oil – We’ll be tossing this with the chicken and ranch to help the seasoning stick to the meat.
- Ranch seasoning – Ranch seasoning offers more flavor concentration than its liquid counterpart.
- White rice – Make sure your rice is uncooked as we want it to absorb all the flavors of this dish as it cooks. I used short grain for this recipe.
- Onion – I used a small white onion for this dish, its flavor is mild and slightly sweet and cooks well.
- Garlic – I used freshly minced garlic. Garlic from the bottle will work just fine, but be sure to remember that 1 1/2 teaspoon equals one fresh clove.
- Bacon – Cook the bacon before hand and chop finely.
- Chicken broth – This dish gets its salt from both the ranch and the bacon, so opt for low sodium or no sodium broth.
- Half and half – The key to our creamy and dreamy end result. If you’re looking to cut calories milk will work as a substitute.
- Cheddar cheese – Use a cheese that melts well. Mozzarella is another good option but I wanted a bit more color in my dish.
- Parsley – Lots of parsley, freshly chopped and saved to sprinkle on right at the end.
How To Make Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
- Prepare your oven: preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Season the chicken: In a medium sized bowl, toss the bite sized chicken, olive oil, and 2 tbsp ranch seasoning till the chicken is well coated. Set aside.
- Combine the casserole: In a 9 x 13 – inch casserole dish combine the rice, onion, garlic, half of the bacon, chicken broth, half and half, and the remainder of the ranch seasoning. Add the chicken and stir it all together.
- Finish the casserole – Top with the remaining bacon and cheddar cheese before covering with aluminum foil and baking for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes uncovered or until the rice is cooked through. Once finished, garnish with lots of parsley and serve!
Leftovers
Store in an airtight container for 3 – 4 days in the fridge. If freezing ensure that your dish is wrapped in both plastic wrap and aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Be sure that your dish has fully cooled before it is placed in either the freezer or fridge.
How To Make This Casserole Ahead
Some special steps need to be taken for those who want to prepare this casserole ahead of time and freeze till later use. Since this dish uses uncooked rice, it must be taken out of the freezer a day before it’s cooked. Place it in the fridge and allow to thaw for a day. The dish must be thawed entirely before it is put in the oven.
Tips For Making The Best Casserole
- If you’re looking to add some veggies to the dish frozen broccoli, green beans, peas, or corn are all delicious additions.
- Brown rice can be substituted for white rice in this recipe. To do so you’ll want to increase your liquids by a half a cup in total and increase the covered cooking time from 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Be sure to check the rice before pulling the dish from the oven to make sure it’s fully cooked.
- If you’d prefer to turn this recipe into a pasta bake, follow the guidelines in this recipe while still using the ingredients listed above.
Craving More Casseroles? Try These:
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Deconstructed Stuffed Pepper Casserole
- Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole
- Chicken Alfredo Bake
- Mighty Moussaka
- Chicken On The Ritz
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Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts boneless and skinless, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp ranch dressing mix (1 packet or 1 oz)
- 1 ½ cups white rice uncooked, I used a short grain rice
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 8 slices bacon fried and chopped
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added
- ½ cup half and half *
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 tbsp parsley fresh, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.
- In a medium size bowl toss the chicken together with the olive oil and 2 tbsp of the ranch seasoning mix; set aside.
- In a 9×13-inch casserole dish combine the rice, onion, garlic, half of the bacon, chicken broth, half and half and the remaining tbsp of ranch seasoning mix. Add the chicken and stir everything together.
- Top with remaining bacon and cheddar cheese. Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked through.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Half and Half: Half and half has 12 percent fat content. Heavy cream can also be used. It is also called heavy whipping cream because it’s whipping cream with a milk fat content between 36 and 40 percent.
- CHICKEN: I prefer chicken breast in this casserole dish, but boneless skinless thighs can be used as well.
- RICE: I prefer a short grain rice in this casserole because I like a stickier rice for a casserole dish, but a longer grain rice would work as well. Also brown rice can be used as well, but the cooking time would be a bit longer.
This was super yummy!! And easy to make! The only issue is it was really greasy\liquid-y! What did i do wrong? Should I have done it longer?
The rice should have absorbed most of the liquid, not sure why it would be greasy, perhaps the bacon wasn’t fried enough?
My kids don’t like Ranch. Is there something else that I could use in place of the Ranch? Maybe Italian? Thanks
Yeah you could use Italian seasoning, honestly you can use whatever seasoning you like.
Whole family loved this casserole! New favorite
This was a good one. I used heavy whipping cream and regular chicken broth because that’s what I had on hand. Other then that, I followed recipe exactly. Very flavorful and chicken was really tender.
If I am making this 1 day ahead, can I cook it completely, store it in the fridge and then warm it up in the oven at about 300 for 20 – 30 minutes? Or do I put it all together and put it in the fridge and then pull it out and cook it the next day? What do you recommend?
I’d go with option 2!
We really loved this casserole! Flavours are bold and just enough to kick it up with the garlic and ranch. Lots of leftovers for tomorrow!
I love all of your recipes and can’t wait to try this one (you had me at RANCH). If I want to replace the raw chicken with already-cooked rotisserie chicken, wound this change the cooking time? Would I simply replace one with the other and follow recipe as-is, or add/stir in rotisserie chicken at the end? Thanks in advance!
Our picky teenage girls loved it! That says a lot! They requested it again for this weeks dinners.
Could you use liquid ranch dressing instead of powder…hate to go out during covid
Yes definitely! Good call staying home 👍
Hi.. I would like to know if it’s possible to do that recipe in the instant pot? Thank you…
We haven’t tried that yet, but this recipe looks like it would be great!
I have this casserole ready for the oven tonight. Can’t wait! I have a bag of baby spinach I need to use so I’m going to chop and add it, too. Also, didn’t have any short grain rice so I’m using Jasmine. Sure hope this doesn’t spoil the flavor. Otherwise I followed the directions as written.
That will work out just fine! Enjoy 🙂
Looking forward to trying this! Can it be made with brown rice? If so, any changes to the recipe.
Add an extra 1/2 cup chicken broth! Enjoy 🙂
Delicious. Easy to prep. I popped in the oven and worked while it cooked. Good tips from the chef and other comments.
This recipe is awesome!! I made the mistake of not buying enough ranch dressing in the packet. But I think it was a good thing. I think the packet only had a TBSP in it. I did add a little of the already made in the bottle and it was perfect. I added s little more cheese to it as well. But the flavors were really good. I’m glad there will be leftovers. Thank you sharing your recipe
The more cheese the merrier 🙂 We’re happy it turned out so well for you!
I will be making this for a culinary challenged person who will have difficulty with the cooking process. Can I cook this the night before without the cheese topping, remove and refrigerate overnight, then the next day add the cheese and new foil and give to them to do a single oven re-heat cook? That way, there won’t be any question of is it or is it not done.
For sure! That will be perfect.