Three of my favorite words when it comes to food: Chicken, Ranch, and Bacon. That pretty much describes my favorite pizza as well. I saw a different Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Pasta Bake recipe that I wanted to try out and I have to say it was pretty good! My husband had the leftovers the next day for work, and said he thought it was even better the next day. So next time, I might consider making it a day in advance and then just baking it in the oven when we are ready to eat!
My kids enjoyed the meal as well. You can’t go wrong with pasta, chicken, ranch, and bacon though – it is a no brainer! I used Turkey Bacon, because that is the only bacon I actually like. I know – people LOVE bacon, but I am not one of them. I LOVE turkey bacon, but not “real” bacon. I’ll eat it occasionally, but don’t go out of my way for it. Turkey bacon is another story though, I really like the stuff (I am weird, I know… We like tofu and eggplant burgers too)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb shredded or cubed chicken
- 8oz Pasta (I used whole wheat Penne)
- 1/2 diced red onion
- garlic to taste
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup cooked and chopped bacon (regular or turkey)
- 1 cup Spinach
- 1 12oz can evaporated milk
- 2 1/2 cups cheese – I used a mix of Cheddar and Jack
- 1/2 cup Ranch dressing
Directions:
Heat oven to 350
Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box. While boiling your pasta, cook your chicken with the red onion and garlic, adding a bit of olive oil, if needed. Add the tomatoes, bacon, and spinach into the pan, and cook until spinach just starts to wilt – should look like this:
Set the chicken aside and in a sauce pan, combine the condensed milk, ranch, and 2 cups of the cheese in the pan. Heat until cheese just melts. like this:
Once pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and put back into the pan. Add in the Chicken mixture and the cheese sauce. Toss to combine. You could then just eat it like this, or pour into a 13×9 pan. Top with the rest of the cheese. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!
YUM!
Ingredients
- 1 lb shredded or cubed chicken
- 8oz Pasta (I used whole wheat Penne)
- 1/2 diced red onion
- garlic to taste
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup cooked and chopped bacon (regular or turkey)
- 1 cup Spinach
- 1 12oz can evaporated milk
- 2 1/2 cups cheese - I used a mix of Cheddar and Jack
- 1/2 cup Ranch dressing
Instructions
- Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box.
- While boiling your pasta, cook your chicken with the red onion and garlic, adding a bit of olive oil, if needed.
- Add the tomatoes, bacon, and spinach into the pan, and cook until spinach just starts to wilt
- Set the chicken aside and in a sauce pan, combine the condensed milk, ranch, and 2 cups of the cheese in the pan.
- Heat until cheese just melts
- Once pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and put back into the pan.
- Add in the Chicken mixture and the cheese sauce.
- Toss to combine.
- You could then just eat it like this, or pour into a 13x9 pan.
- Top with the rest of the cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Serve and Enjoy!
