30-minute BBQ Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta has all the flavors you love in an easy, one-pot dinner recipe!
Howdy, friends. It’s Dee from Meatloaf and Melodrama, and I’m sharing a super quick and easy one pot chicken dinner. One pot, one pan, one dish — it’s doesn’t really matter what you call them, but these are some of my favorite easy dinner recipes!
Not only are one-pot meals usually ready in less than 30 minutes, but they’re also super quick to clean up. Because really, who wants to spend extra time doing dishes? Not me! And since school starts next month — say it isn’t so — I know we will definitely be living on one dish meals!
The other day, I made a quick and easy One Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta, and the family devoured it in no time. My family loves anything with ranch dressing, so I figured they’d like it, but wow — They loved it! Since that dinner was so popular, I created a slightly different version — this easy one pot BBQ Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta.
Both of these easy chicken dinners have bacon, pasta and ranch dressing, but this one has tangy barbecue sauce mixed in with the ranch. And instead of using Monterey jack cheese, I used sharp cheddar. Friends, my family actually likes this version even better! You get the creamy coolness from the ranch and a little spice from the barbecue sauce. It’s just an amazing flavor combo!
I used my favorite homemade ranch dressing, but you can use your favorite brand or even your own version of ranch. I used store bought barbecue sauce since you don’t need much for this recipe. But if you have some homemade bbq sauce on hand, definitely use that.
I ended up serving this chicken bacon ranch pasta with extra dressing and sauce on the side so the kids could add as much flavor as they wanted. This dinner is definitely both kid and picky-eater approved! If you want to sneak in some veggies, try throwing in a cup of cooked corn or peas at the end. Enjoy!
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cubed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onions
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups mini penne pasta
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup Ranch dressing
- 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 slices cooked bacon crumbled
Ingredients
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- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add cubed chicken to the hot oil. Season with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, onions and Italian seasoning. Cook and stir chicken until no longer pink
- Add pasta and water to the skillet. Cover, and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until pasta is nearly al dente and water is mostly absorbed. (Follow cooking time listed on pasta instructions.)
- Remove cover, and reduce heat to medium. Stir in ranch dressing and barbecue sauce.
- Stir in cheese, and cook until cheese is melted.
- Stir in bacon, and top with additional bacon and cheese, if desired.
Want more one-pot pasta dishes? Try these!
Courtney Delaney says
The taste is amazing! I suggest being careful with pasta and water measurements, make sure the past is entirely cooked and add water to do so if need be. I let the water absorb and followed the next steps, my pasta was a little underdone. My own mistake though! Just thought I’d share so someone else doesn’t do the same! I would eat this again and again!
Mo K says
Made tonight! I was wondering what I was going to serve for dinner when I was scrolling through email and there was the recipe. Andi to the rescue, once again! :-) I knew I had to add some veggies so I threw a little bell pepper, onion, carrot and celery into my mini chopper and sauteed that first, then set aside. Then I proceeded with the recipe as written. It was amazingly yummy, hubby and I love it. The only slight tweak I’ll make next time is to cut back on the bbq sauce a bit, more like 2 TBSP or no more than 1/4 cup. Just our preference. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe from Dee!