This Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is easy, delicious, healthy, and an entire meal in one bowl - I love salads that can be eaten as a main course! With a tangy creamy ranch dressing and vermicelli noodles, this salad is a unique and tasty summer salad!
This cold pasta salad recipe is popular in the summer, but great any time of the year for family gatherings or bringing along to a potluck dinner or summer barbecue. This was inspired by my Thai Chicken Noodle Salad on this site and pairs well with Bread Machine Italian Breadsticks.
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🥘Ingredients
You'll need the following simple ingredients for this easy pasta salad recipe:
- 8-10 slices of bacon, chopped
- 3-4 chicken breasts, chopped
- 16 oz Vermicelli noodles
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- ½ red onion
Salad dressing:
- 1.5-ounces dry Ranch dressing mix (about 1 ½ packages) * I use Hidden Valley
- ½ cup milk * I use 1 %
- ¾ cup mayo
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp water
- 3 tsp Italian dressing
🔪Instructions
Prep: Cook chicken and bacon and set aside (See Top Tip re: bacon)
Cook pasta until al dente, as per package directions, drain, and rinse with cold
water.
Whisk all salad dressing ingredients together in a small bowl
Add all salad ingredients, cooked pasta, and homemade ranch dressing together in a large mixing bowl. * You can cut the chicken into cubes/chunks and slice some to put on top, if desired. Or simply cut all the chicken into small bite-sized pieces and mix well.
Garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired.
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Chicken - you can use chicken breast or leftover rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or crispy chicken strips.
- Bell Peppers - use any color you prefer- yellow, red pepper, or green peppers
- Bacon - you can use bacon or turkey bacon or chicken bacon
- Pasta - you can use any type of thin noodle you prefer, including angel hair pasta. Alternatively, you could use rotini pasta or another type of pasta.
- Tomatoes - you can use any type of tomato, including Roma tomatoes, grape or cherry tomatoes
- Onions - you can use green onions instead of red onions
- Add-ins-you can add in black olives
🍽Equipment
You will need a whisk, a large salad bowl, and a pot for cooking for this chicken bacon pasta salad. You can grill the chicken, cook it in a skillet on the stovetop or in the air fryer. An instant-read thermometer is also the ideal piece of equipment for (affiliate links).
🌡️Storage
Store leftover pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.
If you want to make this creamy pasta salad in advance, keep the vegetables, dressing, meat, and pasta in separate containers. Combine just before serving.
These ingredients don't stand up to freezing.
👪 Serving Size
This yummy pasta salad recipe makes 8 servings. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
🔢WW Points
You can reduce the ww points in this bacon ranch chicken pasta salad recipe by using turkey bacon and a lower point pasta or use spaghetti squash. I like to use smart pasta.
💭Top tip
The quickest, easiest, and least messy way to cook bacon is to buy the pre-cooked bacon at Costco. You can take slices out individually and they only take a couple of minutes in the microwave. The best part is no greasy mess!
🦺Food safety
- Cook chicken breast to an internal minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
- Never leave cooking food unattended
So if you're looking for a great summer salad for summer bbqs or potlucks, make this Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad!
And if you're looking for more pasta salads, check out my Macaroni Salad with Tuna (4 Ingredients), my Easy Japanese Cold Noodle Salad, or my Easy Spicy Peanut Pasta Salad (with leftover spaghetti noodles).
📋 Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8-10 slices bacon
- 3-4 chicken breasts
- 16 oz Vermicelli noodles
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 cucumber *Long English cucumber
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- ½ red onion
Salad dressing
- 1.5 ounces dry Ranch dressing mix (about 1 ½ packages) * I use Hidden Valley
- ½ cup milk * I use 1 % milk
- ¾ cup mayonnaise * I use Hellman's ½ the fat
- 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoon white vinegar
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon water
- 3 teaspoon Italian dressing
Instructions
- Cook chicken and bacon and set aside (See Top Tip re: bacon)
- Cook pasta as per package directions, drain and cool.
- Whisk all salad dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Add all salad ingredients with ranch dressing together in a large bowl, and mix well. * You can cut the chicken into cubes/chunks and slice some to put on top, if desired. Or simply cut all the chicken into small bite-sized pieces.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired.
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