Crack Chicken Pasta Salad – Plain Chicken

Crack Chicken Pasta Salad – creamy, cheesy, and loaded with bacon and ranch flavor! This easy cold chicken pasta salad with rotisserie chicken, penne, and fresh veggies is perfect for potlucks, picnics, tailgates, and meal prep. A must-try for easy lunches and summer pasta salad recipes!

Delicious Chicken Pasta Salad

This Crack Chicken Pasta Salad is one of those recipes that disappears fast. It’s creamy, cheesy, loaded with bacon, and packed with that classic ranch flavor everyone loves. The combination of tender penne, juicy rotisserie chicken, crisp celery, and fresh tomatoes gives it the perfect mix of flavor and texture. It’s a great cold chicken pasta salad for potlucks, tailgates, picnics, or even easy lunches during the week. You can make it ahead, stash it in the fridge, and it only gets better as it chills.

How to Make Crack Chicken Pasta Salad

This recipe is easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water over high heat until it’s al dente. Drain it and let it cool so the dressing doesn’t get too loose when you mix everything together. While the pasta cools, chop your chicken, bacon, celery, green onion, and tomatoes so everything is ready to go.

In a large bowl, combine the cooled pasta with all of the mix-ins. You’ll already see how hearty this pasta salad is before the dressing even goes in.

For the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mayo, and ranch seasoning until smooth and creamy. Pour it over the pasta mixture and toss everything until well coated. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours so the flavors can come together. Give it a good stir before serving.

Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

• Cook the pasta just to al dente so it doesn’t get mushy after sitting in the dressing.
• You can swap penne for any short pasta that holds dressing well. Rotini, bowtie (farfalle), shells, elbow macaroni, or rigatoni all work great and keep every bite creamy and flavorful.
• Rotisserie chicken works great in this recipe, but leftover chicken breasts or chicken thighs are just as good.
• Here is our recipe for Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix made with buttermilk powder, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, chives, dill, salt, and pepper: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix/
  • I highly recommend using our homemade ranch dressing mix recipe to control the sodium in this dish. 
  • If you are sensitive to ranch seasoning, ajust the amount to your personal preference.
• Add-ins like spinach, bell peppers, or red onion can change things up.
• If you like a tangier flavor, add a splash of vinegar or a little dijon mustard to the dressing.
• Taste before serving and adjust salt and pepper if needed.
• Serve cold for the best texture and flavor.

Storage Tips

• Make it ahead of time and store in the fridgefor up to 3 days.
  • Reserve some of the dressing if making in advance. Add the reserved dressing right before serving. This helps keep the pasta from drying out.

What to Serve with Crack Chicken Pasta Salad

This pasta salad has been on repeat at our house. We love all of the flavors! This dish is pretty hearty on its own, but it pairs well with simple sides. 

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