Cheese and bacon chicken ranch casserole

This idea for a quick and easy dinner is perfect all year round. The chicken cheese and bacon ranch casserole is full of pasta and kids love it too! I don't know if there's anything better than pasta and sauce. It's such a quick and easy dinner, and I'll tell you a secret: I didn't even cook chicken. I used the chicken that was left over in the freezer. I cook my whole tender chicken slow cooked, let everything cool, chop it, and then use food saver so I can store it in the freezer. It's the only way to keep it super fresh, so I can extract cooked meat at any time. Just look for a whole chicken sale at the supermarket and get a few. It really is such a time saver!

This cheese and bacon chicken ranch casserole is a hearty dinner recipe that everyone will love! For this cheese chicken casserole, you'll need seashell type pasta, butter, flour, garlic, cream, ranch dressing, pre-cooked shredded chicken, shredded cheese, cooked bacon, salt, and pepper. This is a fairly flexible recipe. You can use any grated cheese you have on hand, replace chicken with shredded turkey, use turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, and so on. This is one of those great recipes to clean the fridge!

This is a layered casserole with four main components: ranch cream sauce, grated cheese, chicken and pasta. Here's how to make this simple chicken casserole:

Prepare the ranch cream sauce (detailed instructions on how to make a cream sauce in the following section). Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Grease a 9×13 inch saucepan and assemble the chicken ranch casserole. Cook the chicken ranch casserole with cheese and bacon until the cheese has melted and gurgles around the edges.

There are many readers who write that they feel overwhelmed by the idea of making a cream sauce. But don't worry, we'll help you! Cream sauce is one of the easiest things you can learn to do. Once you know the basics, you can create anything you want. Start with a little butter (olive is fine if you absolutely must, but butter is best), then add your own flavorings. Garlic is a must for this chicken ranch casserole and you can go as light or heavy as you want. Onions are another great addition and if you're keeping a white sauce, add a pinch or two of nutmeg. It sounds crazy, but it really enriches the sauce. Well, beat everything together and add an equal amount of flour. So if you used 2 tablespoons of butter, go ahead and start with 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of flour and beat for 30-60 seconds. This will cook the taste of flour. 

Immediately add the liquid while continuing to beat. This is a great chance to pull out your ranch seasoning: I used chili and lime flavor and it's great, but there's also classic basil and cucumber if you want to try something less spicy. Instead of cream, you can use any milk, cream or half and half (or a combination of these). The cream will make a thicker and tastier sauce, but we always use milk to be a little healthier. Blend everything while adding salt and pepper and the mixture should start to boil. Lower it because we do not want to burn it and let it simmer until it reaches the desired thickness. 

Obviously! Any short, sturdy pasta will do. I don't recommend using a long, thin paste for this chicken ranch casserole since it won't stand up to thick cream sauce or shredded chicken. But something like penne or butterflies will work well. If you can't find the ranch condiment where you live, you can make your own homemade ranch seasoning instead. But other than making your own topping, I'm not aware of a ranch substitute you can use in this cheese chicken casserole. The ranch is a fundamental ingredient! When cooking pasta shells, be sure to salt the water before adding dry pasta to it. You want the pasta itself to have some flavor, otherwise this chicken ranch casserole will taste a little flat. 

You also need to make sure to drain the pasta very well before adding it to the saucepan. If there is too much water left on the pasta, the ranch cream sauce will dilute, which is not what you want. Just before serving this chicken and bacon ranch casserole, I like to sprinkle fresh parsley on top for a touch of flavor. You can use other herbs as well (pretty much any fresh grass will complement the ranch flavor).

Ingredients

8 ounces (226 g) small shell paste

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 cup cream 

1/4 cup Chipotle Lime Ranch or any other flavor

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken

Salt and pepper

1 cup chopped mozzarella

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 slices of bacon, sliced cooked and chopped

Parsley for garnish

For the pan

1 tablespoon butter

1 clove of garlic

Guidelines

Preheat the oven to 350 C degrees. Heat a small pot over medium heat. Add the butter and stir in the garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant and incorporate the flour. Continue beating the mixture for 30-60 seconds to cook the flour. Continuing to whip, pour the cream. Add the ranch and season with salt, about 1/2 teaspoon or to taste. Cook until the sauce begins to simmer and thicken, about 2-5 minutes. If it does not boil over low heat and does not thicken, raise the flame a little until it does. Do not boil or burn. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Remove the sauce from the heat. Drain the pasta. Mix the two cheeses. In a 9×13-inch saucepan or pan, rub the butter and garlic clove anywhere. Add half of the pasta and garnish with half of the chicken. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Pour half of the sauce over and sprinkle with half of the cheeses. Repeat with the last half of the ingredients and at the end garnish with bacon. Cook for 20 minutes or until it is hot and the cheeses have melted. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with parsley and serve!

Note

Instead of cream you can use any milk, half and half or a combination. It should be kept covered in the refrigerator.