There are some combinations that are just phenomenal together. For some reason chicken, bacon, and ranch is a winning mix of flavors. If you’ve ever had a chicken club with ranch then you know what heaven it the combo is. Now this great taste can be had in a pasta dish that makes enough for the whole family. Serve with a salad or a veggie side dish and you’ve got a very tasty dinner for a crowd- all with minimal effort on your part.

For this recipe you can use pre-made or leftover chicken, cut into small cubes. This would be an ideal use of the leftover from a roast chicken or you could use a rotisserie chicken fresh from the grocery for this as well. You’ll need 2 cups of cooked, cubed (or shredded) chicken for this recipe. You’ll also need to fry 6 slices of bacon and then cut them into small pieces. You can also use pre-cooked bacon for simplicity, but we like our homemade bacon better. After that the recipe comes together very easily.

You’ll also need to cook and drain 1 pound of penne beforehand and drain it. To coat the pasta combine in a large bowl the pasta, chicken, bacon, Alfredo pasta sauce, and ranch dressing.

Then pour the mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish or baking pan.

The final step before going into the oven is to add the mozzarella cheese on top. Then bake for 20 minutes. While the penne is baking is the perfect time to chop some parsley for garnish on top.

After 20 minutes remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle with the chopped parsley just before serving.

What you have when it’s ready is a bubbly, creamy, flavorful pasta dish fresh from the oven. It’s so good that everyone will want seconds. This chicken bacon ranch baked penne is definitely a dinner repeater that hits the spot when you’re looking for something hearty (but really easy) to make.