Creamy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Favorite Family Recipes

Creamy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

This Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad comes together faster than you can make one of those boxed “Suddenly Salad” things. This recipe makes a huge bowl and it tastes so much better with fresh ingredients. Why cut corners when it doesn’t really even save you time or money? This is one of my favorite salads to bring to neighborhood picnics, church potlucks, summer bbqs, or just a weeknight family dinner. This salad is hearty enough to serve as a main dish, or serve it anytime you’re barbecuing or grilling out. It’s perfect alongside Easy Smoked Ribs, our Grilled Pork Tenderloin or this Honey Barbecue Chicken recipe.

Ingredients in this Pasta Salad

The beauty of this creamy pasta salad is you can add or subtract ingredients depending on what you have on hand or what your kids will eat. It’s the perfect side dish no matter what. But here’s what we start with:

Pasta – Get creative with a pasta shape. You can use Cavatappi noodles, macaroni, rotini pasta, penne, bowties, small shells, etc.Ranch seasoning mix – Using a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix makes for a deliciously creamy ranch dressing. Mayonnaise – or Miracle Whip if that’s your preference.Sour cream – you can use reduced fat if desired.Milk – for an extra creamy ranch dressing, use whole milk in this recipe.Bacon – cooked and crumbled or chopped into bite size pieces. You can also use real bacon bits too.Green peas – Frozen green peas, thawed are the best for this recipe.Cheddar cheese – use a block to cut into cubesCarrots – shreddedCherry tomatoes – Cut the tomatoes in half or use grape tomatoes.Salt and pepper, to taste.

Additional Ingredients for this Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe

Now’s the time to empty out your produce drawer in the refrigerator! Feel free to add any veggies you like in this salad. Here are some suggestions:

Chopped green onionRed, yellow, or orange pepperRed onionsGarlic powderOnion powderChopped fresh dillChivesCeleryBlack olivesBroccoliFor added protein you can include chopped chicken to this recipe

Suggestions for Pasta Salad

Gather all your ingredients for your dressing and salad while the noodles cook and assemble it in just minutes. Pasta salad recipes like this one are super quick to make and feeds a crowd!Assemble the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then in a small bowl, you can mix up the dressing mixture. Be sure to make this salad ahead of time so that it has time to cool in the fridge. If I plan ahead, I try to make pasta salads the day before because it gives the flavors time to mix together and settle.Rinse the cooked pasta in cold water to stop the cooking process and give the noodles a chance to get cold enough to add to the rest of the salad ingredients.If you are in a time crunch, pop the cooked noodles into the freezer for a few minutes before adding them to the rest of the ingredients. Just make sure the noodles have time to cool completely. When you cook the bacon, chop it up beforehand and then cook it in little pieces so you don’t have to worry about crumbling it afterward. It speeds up the process a little bit.

How to Make a Healthier Version

For a lower calorie version of this salad, try using Greek yogurt in place of the mayonnaise and sour cream (which I have tried, and it is delicious). You can also use low-fat cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream. Another healthy substitution is turkey bacon instead of regular. My son actually likes turkey bacon more than regular bacon!

More Perfect Pasta Salads

Pasta salads are a perfect summer supper or side dish to grilled chicken, burgers, steak, you name it. Try some of our very favorite recipes:

Creamy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Favorite Family Recipes