Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
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!
Sometimes I get so caught up in making the meat part of a meal that I totally forget about what I will serve with it. You know, the “sides”. Anyway, this happens to me too many times, so I keep lots of pasta and vegetables in the pantry to bail me out before anyone really notices. This is a pasta salad that I threw together from ingredients I had in the pantry and fridge and it turned out so delish that I want to share the recipe. I mean, can you really go wrong with a mixture of ranch dressing and BBQ sauce to add amazing flavor? This dish takes about 10 minutes to throw together, the time it takes to boil pasta and fry up some bacon. How easy is that?
Here is what you need to make this amazingly easy Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad –
1 pound rotini pasta, cooked and drained
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
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 - 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
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