Broccoli Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad – this delicious salad is loaded with veggies (broccoli, cherry tomatoes, sweet peas), sharp Cheddar cheese, pasta shells, and bacon! With so many veggies in this salad, you get both healthy food and comfort food all in one! The salad can easily be made gluten free by using gluten free pasta shells.
MY OTHER VIDEOSUse grape or cherry tomatoes and use them whole, uncut, – this will allow the salad to stay fresh longer in the refrigerator!
The salad is easy to put together, only 30 minutes from start to finish! It’s perfect for cook-outs, BBQ’s, parties, or as an easy weeknight dinner!
Broccoli Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups broccoli florets, blanched and chopped into smaller bites
- 10 slices bacon, cooked, drained of fat, and chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, whole
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup sweet peas, cooked
- 8 oz pasta shells, cooked
- 2/3 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 or 2 tablespoons dry Ranch mix, or more, to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combined chopped blanched broccoli, chopped cooked bacon, whole cherry tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, cooked sweet peas, cooked pasta shells.
- In a medium bowl, combine mayo and milk and add 1 or 2 tablespoons of dry Ranch mix. Mix well and taste to see if you need to add more dry Ranch mix to the dressing.
- Gradually add the salad dressing to the large bowl with the salad ingredients. Some people like lots of dressing on their salad, some don't - let your taste be your guide as far as how much dressing to add!
Just made this for the first time and it was delicious! Definitely recommend!!
So glad you liked it! Thank you for your comment!
I just now made this using a gluten free pasta and I must say, it is excellent. I didn’t use the shell form but rather fussili pasta. It tastes really good. I’m sure it will be even better in a few hours for our holiday gathering! It’s a very easy to follow recipe and I even blanched the broccoli. I love the blanched flavor so much better than completely raw! I guess you could leave it raw and save that step but why? when the flavor is so much better! I did the broccoli prep work last night so it had a chance to chill, and I did the bacon ahead of time, too. Makes assembling the dish faster and easier. THanks for sharing this recipe. I’ll use it more in the future I am sure.
What are your thoughts on using penne pasta instead of shells? I don’t think it would make much difference really but would like your thoughts on it.
Would it be absolutely terrible if I eliminated the milk??