Recipe for potato salad that I love. Sun-dried tomatoes and feta make it unique.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 3 ¾ cups uncooked rotini pasta
- 4 thick-cut bacon slices
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ cups 2% milk
- ½ cup reserved pasta water (Optional)
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 5 teaspoons dry ranch dressing mix
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (Optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; cook rotini at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain rotini, saving 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- Meanwhile, place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. Leave rendered bacon grease in the skillet.
- Sprinkle chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning. Add to the skillet with the bacon grease and cook until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove cooked chicken from skillet and set aside.
- Rinse out skillet. Melt down 2 tablespoon butter in the skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes. Slowly add in milk, whisking until sauce is smooth. Add pasta water ,1 tablespoon at a time, if the sauce is too thick.
- Stir softened cream cheese into sauce until well combined. Mix in remaining 5 teaspoons of ranch seasoning and season with salt. Mix until well combined. Add cooked pasta and chicken back into the skillet and mix until well coated with sauce.
- Finely chop cooked bacon. Mix into pasta dish. Serve garnished with chopped parsley if desired.
Reviews
We made this exactly as written and it was okay. Both kids (11&14) said it was good but needs some tweaking. They said less ranch and less cream cheese. We used all our reserved starchy water and it could have thinned even more even after I added a splash more of milk. So we’ll try this again with 2/3 package cream cheese, some extra milk (half cup?) and 4 tsp sauce ranch and a dash of ground pepper. We topped with fresh garden parsley and finely grated parmesan.
As I typically do I made this EXACTLY as written to try before suggesting or making any changes, otherwise I’m not reviewing THIS recipe! The amount of cream cheese dominated the flavor. The sauce had a nice thickness, but the ranch seasoning and bacon were drowned out. If I were to make this again, which I doubt will happen, I would experiment with some spices.
This was delicious. A definite keeper. Next time I’ll have a picture
I made half recipe. There’s just two of us. Added peas. Would add some pepper next time.
I cut it in half because there’s only 2 of us, but very delicious I did add some pepper.
My family loved this dish. I used a rotisserie chicken and bacon crumbles from Costco. I fried the bacon crumbles in some butter to crisp them up a bit and to make up for the lack of bacon fat. I also used an 8oz. tub of cream cheese spread, the kind with “garden vegetables”, because that is what I had on hand. I believe it enhanced the flavor overall. This would make a fast and tasty potluck dish. I will make this again, soon.
We loved this recipe! Only thing I changed was inadvertently using a spicy ranch dressing and was that ever a “good goof!” I kept the measurement low because I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but for us, it added a mild “South of the Border” quality to the dish that was great. Next time I may add some green peas or little broccoli florets. It was easy to make and satisfyingly filling. I’m definitely a “happy camper!”
Was a very easy dish to make! I didn’t have Rotini so I used mini Penne, and I used Ranch Dips packets, which I used what was called for and another whole packet. Will definitely make it again!
Very Delicious! Very easy
OMG! Yummy! The only thing I left out was salt, didn’t need it.
I made some changes. I cut the serving size by half. I didn’t have any cream cheese and left it out. My chicken was still partially frozen so I couldn’t preslice. After chicken was cooked I cut it up in bite size. Still wasn’t enough chicken. I didn’t get any chicken. I used penne pasta instead of rotini. I cooked the pasta in low sodium chicken both for more flavor (used no salt). I added diced zucchini and squash in the pan with the butter before adding the flour. The sauce looked dry so I used 1 cup of milk instead of cutting in half. I also used a full ranch seasonings pouch again for flavor. It turned out great! I will be making this again.
I have a family of 8 and everyone loves it. I triple the recipe and leave the bacon on the side for the ones who don’t like it. I have made this 3 times and will continue to make it.
So good and so easy made with staples already in the kitchen
This was so delicious and so easy. Followed recipe exactly (expcept used gluten free pasta and flour) and opted out of the parsley. Will definitely become a staple for dinner.
I put my own spin on it! I used whole milk (because that’s what I had already) I used chicken broth instead of pasta water (because just why would you do that) and I added 2 tablespoons of Parmesan garlic sauce!
I ended up adding another half cup of milk, because it was still too thick. Otherwise, it was lovely. Very creamy
Super great and very yummy!!
Absolutely wonderful. Made it for my guy and we both loved it. Will make it again
This takes exactly 30 minutes to make. Easy, quick, and so much flavor! Seasoning the chicken with the ranch and then cooking it in the bacon grease really made it shine. Such a great dish to get on the table in a hurry, yet full of flavor!