This is a very flavorful bacon ranch pasta salad with a creamy dressing mixed into it. If you bring this dish to a cookout, be prepared for the other guests to ask for your recipe. And as for leftovers, you won’t have many of those, if any.
You guys might have noticed that I use a lot of bacon in my recipes, but I have a good reason for that. It’s bacon! Don’t you like BACON? Oh, come on! Add some pasta to that crumbled bacon, and you can’t lose with that combination.
This pasta salad recipe is great because you probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already, it’s easy to make, and it’s packed with flavor. There is something about the combination of ranch seasoning with bacon that is out of this world.
How Many Ingredients Will I Need for Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad?
Not many, and as I said before, you probably have most of them in your kitchen. I used tri-color rotini pasta, but you can substitute another type of pasta as long as it’s not spaghetti and it’s small in size. You can use really small pasta shells, too. This is a pasta salad recipe, so you’ll need bite-sized pasta.
You’ll need bacon. Lots of crispy bacon. Also, mayonnaise, sour cream, seasonings such as garlic powder, dry ranch dressing, black olives, milk, dijon mustard, sun-dried tomatoes, green peas, and cheddar cheese.
Can I Make Substitutions in This Pasta Salad Ranch Recipe?
You sure can! I have made this same recipe but added chicken, making this bacon ranch chicken pasta salad. Adding chicken or shrimp completes the meal, and the pasta salad is no longer a side dish. Although even without adding chicken or shrimp, it’s a pretty filling dish.
It’s not just chicken. You can add tuna fish, too. I made this pasta salad last week with tuna fish, and the leftovers did not last long. And it was for only 2 people.
The great thing about this recipe is that it’s versatile. If you don’t have sun-dried tomatoes, diced tomatoes will work, for example. Or you can use cherry tomatoes. Or grape tomatoes. If you don’t have frozen peas in the freezer, just open a can of peas. Or make the pasta salad with other veggies. Brocolli would work out well! Oh, and you can add diced hardboiled eggs, too.
You can throw together a homemade ranch dressing, but I use a packet of dry ranch dressing. Either way, with milk, it comes out like a creamy ranch dressing. If you don’t want to use cheddar cheese, you can use Feta cheese. I use shredded cheddar cheese, but you can use chopped/diced cheddar cheese for this recipe. 1 cup of cheese added to the bacon ranch pasta salad should do the trick.
This pasta salad is a fun dish because you can use your imagination It’s perfect for the summertime, and I don’t know about y’all, but we do a lot of grilling around here This pasta salad is an ideal pairing for your next barbecue And about that chicken. You can grill some chicken pieces and serve them with the pasta salad Easy peasy.
You can use bacon bits (don’t use bacon bits), but freshly cooked bacon is much, much better You can even throw the bacon in an air fryer for 8 minutes, then crumble it up for this pasta bacon ranch pasta salad. Or, you add chopped up artichoke hearts.
Ingredients That You Have to Cook for This Pasta Salad with Bacon
Only the pasta and bacon need to be cooked in this recipe If you add chicken or shrimp, then they will have to be cooked After the pasta and bacon are cooked, you just throw everything together in a large bowl.
As for garnishes, you can chop up a green onion or add a couple of slices of lemon to the top of the pasta salad.
What Pairs Well with This Pasta Ranch Salad Recipe?
You can eat this dish on its own. Bacon pasta ranch salad is that filling But you can serve them with some delicious fall-off-the-bone ribs Or with bacon-wrapped tenderloin with honey glaze This pasta dish would go well with fried chicken or smothered chicken.
You can serve it with anything from hamburgers, to hotdogs, to lobster tails.
What’s so Special About This Pasta Salad with Ranch Dressing Recipe?
As mentioned before, it’s a very versatile recipe I like pasta, and this recipe features just about everything that mixes well with pasta. And the dijon mustard gives it a little kick.
The mayonnaise, sour cream, and dry ranch seasoning make this dish out of this world. Oh, and the sun-dried tomatoes. I’ve been using those in quite a few recipes lately. And bacon, I mentioned the bacon I will never not mention bacon.
I use fresh cracked pepper, but you can use regular pepper. As for the onion, purple onion adds to the color, but tend to use whatever I have on hand. I’m not fancy:)
If you like salads as I do, this bacon pasta salad recipe will become a regular at your home, too. The peas add some color to the pasta salad and some deliciousness, too.
Oh, and you can freeze pasta salad, and that always helps. I typically am cooking for just two people over here, so the freezer comes in handy. And we eat a lot of salads. Pasta salad is probably my favorite. Well, spinach salad is another favorite around here. OK, shrimp salad is good, too. I think I’ll stop with the salad contest now:)
What really makes this bacon pasta salad recipe unique is that you can add whatever you like to it. You don’t have to run to the store for one item. Geez, don’t you hate that?
I don’t know about y’all, but all this yapping about food is making me hongry. Let’s do this!
Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
Serves: 10
Prep: 15
Cook: 15
Total: 30
Ingredients:
- 1 (12 oz) package of tri-color rotini pasta
- 10 slices of bacon
- 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 1 packet of dry ranch seasoning
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1 red onion, diced
- 5 tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (about 6 pieces of tomato from the jar)
- 10-ounce bag of frozen peas, defrosted
- 1 can (4.25 ounces) of sliced black olives
- 1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook rotini pasta at a boil for about 8 minutes, and drain.
- While the pasta is cooking, place chopped bacon (or use whole slices) in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until brown and crispy. Drain and chop if it hasn’t been chopped before cooking.
- In a large bowl, mix the mayo (I use light mayonnaise), sour cream, ranch dressing mix, milk, and garlic powder together.
- Add the rotini pasta, diced onion, crumbled bacon, Dijon mustard, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, and cheese to the bowl with the mayo mixture. Toss well.
- You can serve it immediately or put it in a container in your fridge for an hour before serving.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition facts:
Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces tri-color rotini pasta
- 10 slices bacon crumbled
- .5 cup mayonnaise
- .5 cup sour cream
- 1 packet ranch seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- .5 cup milk
- 1 whole red onion diced
- 5 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes about 6 small pieces from the jar, chopped
- 10 ounces green peas defrosted
- 4.25 ounces black olives sliced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded or diced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook rotini pasta at a boil for about 8 minutes, and drain.
- While the pasta is cooking, place chopped bacon (or use whole slices) in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until brown and crispy. Drain and chop if it hasn't been chopped before cooking.
- In a large bowl, mix the mayo (I use light mayonnaise), sour cream, ranch dressing mix, milk, and garlic powder together.
- Add the rotini pasta, diced onion, crumbled bacon, Dijon mustard, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, and cheese to the bowl with the mayo mixture. Toss well.
- You can serve it immediately or put it in a container in your fridge for an hour before serving.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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