This easy bacon ranch pasta salad combines tri-color rotini, crispy bacon, cheddar, peas, tomatoes, and black olives in a creamy ranch dressing. It’s a simple make-ahead side for BBQs, potlucks, picnics, or family dinners. Just add a little extra ranch before serving if the pasta absorbs the dressing.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Pasta: Colorful tri-color rotini is the perfect pasta choice for this recipe! You can also make it with regular rotini or your favorite short pasta shape.
- Ranch Dressing: Mix up a batch of my homemade ranch dressing for the best, freshest flavor. In a pinch, this recipe also works fine with bottled ranch dressing as the sauce, such as Hidden Valley Ranch.
- Bacon: Crispy bacon is key, so I’ll show you how to bake bacon in the oven quickly and easily. You can also cook it in a skillet on the stovetop if that’s easier for you.
- Veggies: Black olives, cherry tomatoes, and thawed frozen peas all pair wonderfully with the ranch dressing. You can leave out any of these that you don’t enjoy.
- Cheese: Bacon and ranch go best with cheddar! For the best flavor, shred cheese from a block rather than buying the pre-shredded stuff.
How To Make Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
1. Preheat the oven, and place the bacon on a sheet pan lined with foil.
2. Bake the bacon for 15 minutes, or until crispy. Chop into small pieces.
3. Cook the pasta.
4. Assemble the Salad: Add cold pasta to a large bowl along with bacon, cheese, and veggies.
5. Pour ranch dressing over the salad.
6. Stir and Chill: Mix well to combine, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Tip!
Save time by multi-tasking! You can cook the pasta on the stovetop while the bacon is crisping up in the oven.
My Best Tip for Making It Ahead
If you’re preparing this pasta salad in advance, reserve a little ranch dressing and some of the cooked bacon. The pasta absorbs dressing as it chills, while the bacon gradually softens. Stir in the extra ranch and add the reserved bacon just before serving to keep the salad creamy and give it a fresher, crispier finish.
Storing Tips
Store bacon ranch pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. The pasta may absorb some dressing as it sits, so stir in a spoonful of extra ranch before serving. Keep it chilled and do not leave it at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when the temperature is above 90°F (32°C).
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Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Recipe Video
Equipment
- Half sheet pan
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (228 g) tricolor rotini pasta uncooked
- 8 slices bacon uncooked
- ½ cup (75 g) peas frozen and thawed, or fresh and blanched
- 6 ounces (170 g) cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
- ⅓ cup (55 g) black olives pitted and sliced
- 4 ounces (113 g) shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup (240 g) ranch dressing homemade or store-bought
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain thoroughly before adding it to the salad.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), or 320°F (160°C) for a fan oven. Line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil and lay the bacon slices on the pan.
- Bake the bacon for about 15 minutes or until crispy. Remove and chop into small pieces.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled pasta, chopped bacon, peas, cherry tomatoes, black olives, cheddar cheese, and parsley.
- Pour the ranch dressing over the ingredients and toss until everything is evenly coated.
- Cover and chill the salad in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes:
- Cooking the pasta: Cook to your desired doneness. Rinsing with cold water stops the cooking process and cools it quickly for salad use.
- Chilling: For best flavor, chill the salad for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors meld.
- Optional vegetables: Try adding chopped red bell pepper, diced red onion, or shredded carrots for variety.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 5 days.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
What To Serve With Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Are you looking for more summer BBQ meal ideas?
- For your main dish, make perfectly juicy grilled burgers, or try something a bit more fancy, like my grilled salmon kabobs, huli huli chicken, or marinated and grilled carne asada.
- Try other easy summer sides, like cowboy pasta salad, fruit salad with honey lime dressing, classic creamy broccoli salad, or creamy deviled egg potato salad.
- For dessert, make a no-bake treat! My lemon icebox cake is a favorite, along with no bake Oreo pie, orange jello salad, and no bake cheesecake.
More Summer Salad Recipes
All Pasta Salads →
Recipe FAQs
Why do I need to rinse the pasta?
For this creamy pasta salad, rinse the pasta under cold water. This is for a couple of reasons! One, the cold water stops the cooking process so that the pasta doesn’t overcook. Two, water removes starch from the pasta so that it won’t stick together. Finally, rinsing helps to cool the pasta down quickly.
What is the best type of pasta for pasta salad?
I like the color that comes from using tri-color rotini, but any short pasta shape with some texture will work just fine. Try this recipe with medium shells, farfalle, elbows, or fusilli. Curly, twisty pasta shapes like rotini do a great job of holding on to all of the delicious dressing and ingredients.
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