Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake Recipe

Sometimes I just crave a flavor combination and I must cook something with it. Last week, I was trying to decide what to make for dinner and chicken-bacon-ranch kept popping into my mind. I thought of that flavor combination and I could just taste it. Pizza would be a simple solution, but we didn’t have all of the ingredients and I wanted to mix things up a bit.

I did a quick recipe search online and found a few ideas I liked, tweaking them a bit to create a Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake that didn’t require jarred sauces,included yummy onions, and wasn’t completely overwhelmed by cheese. My family enjoyed this recipe and my husband and I kept reaching for seconds (and thirds). This even made the cut for lunch the next day, which is a big endorsement at our house!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake (Click to Print)

1/2 lb of bacon, cooked and crumbled. Save the grease.
1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 packet of dry ranch seasoning or about 2 tablespoons
1/2 of a red onion, chopped
1 lb bow tie (or other small pasta of choice), cooked and drained
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained, or 2 fresh tomatoes diced
1 1/2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
1 recipe White Sauce (click to view).I use mozzerella cheese in my white sauce for this recipe.

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook bacon on stove top until crispy. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease.
3. While bacon cooks, bring water to a boil, then cook pasta. After pasta cooks, drain and set aside.
4. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and coat with 1 to 1/2 tablespoons of ranch seasoning.
5. Saute chicken in skillet until browned and cooked through.
6. Remove chicken and add red onions to the pan. Cook until soft..
7. Cook one recipe of Bechamel sauce, adding remaining ranch seasoning to the sauce.
8. Combine bacon, chicken, onions, pasta, tomatoes, and white sauce in a 8×8 pan and stir.
9. Top with colby jack cheese.
10. Bake for 30 minutes.