When I was little I used to think casseroles were boring adult foods that mom’s made. I am sure for some recipes, I wasn’t wrong lol, but as I became an adult and started to make my own meals, I realized how versatile casseroles could be and actually kind of fun.
A family friend of mine unexpectedly died several years ago and ever since we have what we call “family dinner” every Wednesday night. It’s a themed potluck dinner that has allowed us to all come together and continue to support each other through hard times. When the pandemic started we postponed family dinner thinking we would see each other in a few weeks. Obviously we were VERY wrong.
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We had over a year hiatus and just recently started the tradition back up. Being back together has been great. It’s a much needed get-together in the middle of the week to get us through. Wine, food, and laughs are the best medicine. During the year away, my dad passed and I sometimes wonder if family dinner would have been a blessing during that time or just made me miss him more since he loved it so much.
It’s been so nice to be able to play around in the kitchen again. Normally, I am just cooking for me, so I find it so fun to cook for a crowd. This second we back, we went simple for the start of summer and had a BBQ theme. We have ventured around the world’s cuisine in the past (even Africa), but I think we need a bit of time before being creative again lol.
We had the normal culprits of food you would find at a barbeque…burgers, hot dogs, ribs..so I wanted to make a side dish that still followed the theme. I ended up making a Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole.
Now these get-together’s are on a weekday, so obviously I needed a fast recipe that did not take a lot dishes that I would have to clean ladder.
I started by boiling two pots of water. One big enough to fit 1 pound of chicken breast and 1 to fit 12 ounces of pasta (I used penne). While those were warming up, I wanted to brown the white onion. I used precut (you will notice a theme: lazy) and sautéed until brown. I really wanted them to be fully cooked in the casserole.
I had all three burners at once going. Once the chicken’s pot had water boiling, I added the chicken so I could easily shred later on. I would say a good rule of thumb is to allow the chicken to boil for at least 10 minutes. After that make sure to remove a chicken, cut into it and see if the pink is gone. If not, throw back in and test every 5 minutes.
While the pasta, chicken, and onions were on the stove, I microwaved the bacon. Some people might have negative opinions on microwaveable bacon, but I think it’s great…especially when being mixed into a bigger dish where even a bacon lover wouldn’t notice a texture difference. Oh and again…it’s simple for this LAZY gal. I even nixed the mixing bowl for this recipe. The casserole dish would be the bowl and the serving dish.
I layered everything into the dish, added the freshy drained pasta, and added ranch and BBQ sauce. I mixed real good and put in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to meld the different flavors together.
When I was throwing in the different ingredients, I kept thinking of the scene in Friends where Joey eat Rachel’s trifle, “What’s not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Good.” However, I think this was actually great and didn’t taste like feet! lol Everyone got seconds and I came home with no leftovers, so I am going to say that is a win!
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Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb Boneless Chicken Breast
- 12 oz Dry Pasta
- 8 oz Diced White Onion
- 12 oz Microwave Ready Bacon
- 2 cups Cheddar Cheese
- 1 can Rotel tomatoes (drained)
- 1.5 cups Ranch
- 1.5 cups BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Fill 2 pots with water and turn on high heat on the stove. One will be for the chicken and one will be for the pasta (follow the instructions on the package).
- Once the water for the chicken is boiling, add all of it and set a timer for 10 minutes. Check for pinkness and put back in for 5 minutes increments until completely cooked.
- Meanwhile on a third burner, add the white onions to a pan and brown
- Next, start microwaving the bacon according to the instructions on the package and set aside
- Once the onion and bacon are done cooking, add the to the casserole dish
- Next add 1 cup of cheese and the Rotel tomatoes
- Once the chicken is fully cooked, shred with two forks and add to casserole dish
- Add the pasta
- Add the ranch and BBQ sauce
- Mix together well in casserole dish
- Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes
- Pull out and add final cup of cheddar cheese to top (do not mix)
- Bake for 5 more minutes at 350°F
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