Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad – a quick and easy combination of favorite flavors like bacon, cheddar cheese and ranch dressing tossed with pasta and BBQ sauce to create a cold side that will become your new go-to pasta salad dish! Great for picnics and potlucks too!
After a long day and then trying to put dinner on the table, the last thing I want to think about is a complicated side dish. So I make this! It just doesn’t get any easier. You can’t go wrong with a mixture of pasta, bacon ranch dressing, and BBQ sauce to add amazing flavor. This dish takes about 10 minutes to make, the time it takes to boil pasta and fry up some bacon. How easy is that? The best part is that everyone loves it!
Reasons you will love this Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad:
- Quick and easy to make with mostly pantry ingredients
- Kids love this stuff…adults too!
- Versatile – change up the ingredients to use up leftovers
- Leftovers make a great next day lunch – store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days
To make the salad, get out a large bowl and pour in the cooked pasta. Add the bacon, red peppers, and cheese and toss until ingredients are evenly distributed. In a small bowl, mix the ranch dressing and the BBQ sauce until blended. Pour over the pasta mixture and toss until the pasta and other ingredients are coated with the sauce. Salt and pepper the Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad to taste. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour and serve cold.
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
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Prep Time: 2 minutes - Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad – a quick and easy combination of favorite flavors like bacon, cheddar cheese and ranch dressing tossed with pasta and BBQ sauce to create a cold side that will become your new go-to pasta salad dish! Great for picnics and potlucks too!
Ingredients
- 1 pound rotini pasta
- 6 slices crisp cooked bacon, chopped
- 1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 jar roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl pour in the cooked pasta. Add the bacon, red peppers, and cheese and toss until ingredients are evenly distributed.
- In a small bowl, mix the ranch dressing and the BBQ sauce until blended. Pour over the pasta mixture and toss until the pasta and other ingredients are coated with the sauce.
- Salt and pepper the Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad to taste.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour and serve cold.
Notes
Substitute light ranch dressing for reduced calories
Thanks so much for the compliment and the pin!! I made this for my grown up sons and they actually fought over who would get the last serving – must be the bacon!! Thanks for dropping by:) Hugs- Christine
My kids love pasta and cheddar! Since we don’t eat bacon, we usually use turkey instead. Thanks for sharing it with #OMHGWW and happy to co-host it with you 🙂
I am going to have to pin this recipe and make this for my husband. He LOVES bacon, BBQ sauce and pasta salad.