Chicken Bacon Pasta
This Chicken Bacon Pasta is easy to prep in about 10 minutes. You don’t need the stove for this no-boil pasta recipe, everything is baked in a casserole dish in the oven to serve easily.
We love a no-cook, one-pan pasta recipe. This Chicken Bacon Pasta is especially simple because you combine all of the ingredients in a casserole dish and bake it in the oven until the noodles are tender. It’s the best weeknight recipe because the cleanup is just one dish! Bonus, it features high quality Borden® Cheese; your versatile go-to cheese for delicious recipes, snacks, and meals that bring the family together.
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Our family requests this dish on busy weeknights when getting dinner on the table feels impossible. But this chicken bacon ranch pasta recipe is the solution, with 10 minutes, dinner is ready to bake! We add delicious ranch seasoning to flavor the cheddar cream cheese sauce for a pasta that makes it taste homemade from start to finish.
If you love a comforting pasta try our no-boil Broccoli Pasta Bake or Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- No-boil pasta bake recipe. Just combine everything in the baking dish and bake until ready to serve.
- Minimal cleanup meal. With just one dish, you can have dinner ready to serve the whole family. And cleaning up takes only 10 minutes!
- Great recipe for leftover or rotisserie chicken. Have the grocery store do the work for you! We love using rotisserie chicken for this bacon chicken ranch pasta.
Ingredients
Scroll Down for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Recipe Card Below
- Plain or garlic herb whipped cream cheese: Makes the sauce nice and creamy with herby flavor.
- Pasta: We love using rotini, penne, cellentani, or fusilli shapes.
- Shredded medium or sharp cheddar Borden® Cheese: Made with quality ingredients for over 150 years, Borden® Cheese is 100% farmer-owned and crafted with real milk from American dairy farms. It’s takes this casserole to the next level!
- Olive oil: Helps to prevent the pasta from becoming too dry, prevents sticking and adds flavor
- Chicken broth (regular or low sodium): The cooking liquid to bind the sauce and make it the right consistency.
- Heavy cream: Adds creaminess and richness to the sauce.
- Ranch seasoning: A key seasoning that adds so much flavor to every bite.
- Shredded or cubed chicken: We like to use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken.
- Cooked and crumbled bacon: Adds smokiness to the pasta recipe.
- Garnish options: sliced green onions, snipped parsley, extra cheese, extra cooked bacon.
Tools You’ll Need
How to make cheesy bacon chicken pasta
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- In a 13×9-inch baking dish, place whipped cream cheese in the center. Distribute the uncooked pasta and 1 1/2 cups of the shredded Borden cheddar cheese around the cream cheese.
- Sprinkle on ranch seasoning, salt, and black pepper and drizzle olive oil evenly over the entire dish components.
- Pour chicken stock over the mixture. Tent and seal tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Carefully remove the foil. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the bacon then add the remaining bacon to the top of the baked pasta along with the cooked chicken and heavy cream. Stir until well combined. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and reserved bacon on top.
- Return to the oven, and bake another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese has started to brown and it’s bubbling at the edges of the baking dish.
- Rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish as desired.
expert tips
- Be sure to layer the ingredients in the casserole dish correctly. This will make sauce the right consistency to coat the noodles nicely.
- If your sauce is too thick, warm some chicken stock in the microwave and add to the sauce. Drizzle in some hot chicken stock and mix until the sauce is the right consistency.
- Use a rotisserie chicken as a store-bought shortcut. This is our secret to cutting the prep time down to 10 minutes. It’s ideal for any busy weeknight.
- Try our different pasta shapes. Be sure it’s a shorter pasta shape so it cooks quickly and evenly in the oven and also coats int he sauce nicely. We love rotini, penne, cellentani, or fusilli shapes.
- Add vegetables to the chicken and bacon pasta bake. We also love to add broccoli florets, spinach, peas, or green beans for added vegetable flavor.
storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven for a couple of minutes until warmed through.
Freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge then reheat in the oven or microwave until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend using a mixture of herby cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese for the perfect, rich sauce.
Cook the bacon separately in a pan then let it cool and crumble it into pieces. Sprinkle the cooked bacon over the finished pasta dish for a rich smoky flavor.
Yes, it’s a great recipe to use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken from the night before.
It’s best to assemble and bake the pasta right before serving. You can bake the dish fully and keep it warm in a 200ºF oven for an hour or so, then stir to coat right before serving to guests,
More Easy Pasta Recipes
This post was created in partnership with Borden Cheese. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Cheesy Chicken Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 7.5 ounce container plain or garlic herb whipped cream cheese
- 10-12 ounces pasta rotini, penne, cellentani, or fusilli
- 2 cups shredded medium or sharp cheddar Borden cheese divided
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups chicken broth regular or low sodium
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons ranch seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups cooked shredded or cubed chicken
- 1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon divided
- Garnish options: sliced green onions, snipped parsley, extra cheese, extra cooked bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- In a 13×9-inch baking dish, place whipped cream cheese in the center. Distribute the uncooked pasta and 1 1/2 cups of the shredded Borden cheddar cheese around the cream cheese.
- Sprinkle on ranch seasoning, salt, and black pepper and drizzle olive oil evenly over the entire dish components.
- Pour chicken stock over the mixture. Tent and seal tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Carefully remove the foil. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the bacon then add the remaining bacon to the top of the baked pasta along with the cooked chicken and heavy cream. Stir until well combined. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and reserved bacon on top.
- Return to the oven, and bake another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese has started to brown and it's bubbling at the edges of the baking dish.
- Rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish as desired.
Video
Notes
Expert Tips
- Be sure to layer the ingredients in the casserole dish correctly. This will make sauce the right consistency to coat the noodles nicely.
- If your sauce is too thick, warm some chicken stock in the microwave and add to the sauce. Drizzle in some hot chicken stock and mix until the sauce is the right consistency.
- Use a rotisserie chicken as a store-bought shortcut. This is our secret to cutting the prep time down to 10 minutes. It’s ideal for any busy weeknight.
- Try our different pasta shapes. Be sure it’s a shorter pasta shape so it cooks quickly and evenly in the oven and also coats int he sauce nicely. We love rotini, penne, cellentani, or fusilli shapes.
- Add vegetables to the chicken and bacon pasta bake. We also love to add broccoli florets, spinach, peas, or green beans for added vegetable flavor.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven for a couple of minutes until warmed through. Freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge then reheat in the oven or microwave until warmed through.Nutrition
About Laura
Taught by some of the best, cooking and entertaining has always been my favorite hobby. Food is my love language! The conception of Dinner in 321 came from my family talks that sharing our dinners would help others learn new skills, tasty recipes, and make cooking fun! Read more…
Laura, at what point do you stir in the cream cheese?
The cream cheese goes in at the beginning and it’s stirred all together after it bakes the first time. 🙂
I tried this recipe after seeing it on instagram and it did not disappoint! Very easy to make and flavorful for a simple dinner! It was a nice alternative to an alfredo if you want something different.
Awwww!! That makes my heart so happy to hear!! Thank you SO much!!!🥰 I’m so happy you made it and liked it so much!!