Ah, comfort food, there is nothing better. Easy pasta casserole loaded with chicken, tomatoes, corn, red onion, and lots of cheese! This chicken, cheesy goodness is baked with BBQ ranch sauce for a full flavor experience.
It’s comfort food time!! (Clap…clap…clap!)
Now that the weather is getting cooler for many of you, it’s time to pull out all those favorite casserole. macaroni and cheese and soup recipes. You know, all the best foods meant to warm your soul as much as your body.
This BBQ Ranch Chicken Casserole is definitely one of those dishes. It’s warm, cheesy, satisfying and scrumdelicious! All the flavors in this casserole compliment each other perfectly and did I mention…cheeeesy?! I love Monterrey Jack cheese, it’s so nice melted in pasta, sandwiches or even over plain chicken. The cheesier the dish, the better…don’t you agree?
And let me tell you, whoever invented BBQ ranch is a genius! Can’t tell you exactly when was the first time I tried it but it sure was a great day. Such a simple idea of combining the two but the result is something extra special. If you haven’t tried it yet, you are missing out. So run to your kitchen right now and try it. (I’ll wait…)
Told ya!!
DON’T MISS THE QUICK DEMO VIDEO!
BBQ Ranch Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts about 1 lb
- 1 lb dry pasta
- 1 cup sweet corn
- 3 Roma tomatoes chopped
- 1/3 cup red onion diced
- 1 1/2 cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese
- 1 cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese for topping
- salt
- fresh cracked peppercorns
- 1 1/4 cups ranch dressing
- 3/4 cup BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Cook pasta just until it is nearly done but do not overcook. Set aside.
- Cook chicken with a little salt until completely done. Let cool until it can be handled, chop and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a casserole dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine diced tomatoes, diced onion, corn, cooked pasta and chopped chicken. Add some salt and cracked peppercorn, mix well.
- Whisk ranch and BBQ together and add it to the mixing bowl. Mix until evenly distributed.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of Monterrey Jack cheese and mix well.
- Transfer the mixture into the casserole dish and spread it evenly. Top with remaining cheese all over and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Recipe from Lyuba @ willcookforsmiles.com All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to share this recipe, please simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
Check out these great recipes from other bloggers:
Chicken Supreme Pasta Bake from Inside BruCrew Life
Southwest Chicken Casserole from Fit Foodie Finds
White Chicken Enchilada Casserole from Chew Out Loud
Easy Chicken Fajita Casserole from Back for Seconds
More Great Pasta Dishes From Me:
Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Skillet
Antipasto Pasta Salad
Shrimp and Veggie Pesto Pasta
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Janelle
August 29, 2014 at 11:16 amI wish you would allow us to pin your recipes without hassle. I try it on my bloglovin…no picture. I can’t pin on your site. So I’m through trying. I really love your recipes too! I DO not have the time to hunt around trying to pin one blog. I have to love the recipes I pin. I’m sorry I won’t be pinning yours anymore.
Janelle
Samantha @ Five Heart Home
August 30, 2014 at 8:52 amHi Janelle! Just a suggestion, but do you have a Pin It button on your toolbar? This would allow you to pin just about any photo from any site, even if there aren’t individual Pin It buttons on photos that you would like to pin. 🙂 If you’re interested in doing so, just Google “how to install a Pin It button to your browser” and there should be easy tutorials to walk you through the process step-by-step. Hope that helps…I just don’t want you to miss out on any of Lyuba’s good recipes! 🙂
lyuba
September 1, 2014 at 7:51 pmHi Janelle!
I’m sorry, I’ve had issues with bloglovin showing my photos and I can’t get it to work. I do have a “social media share bar” right at the top of the post, before the words begin. You can use that pin button if you don’t want to install the plug in on your browser. I’m sorry you feel like I’m discouraging you from pinning, I would never do that! I absolutely love it when people pin my recipes!
lesley
September 1, 2014 at 4:36 pmDo you follow her on pinterest?
I personally use the pin it button on my toolbar ,as Samantha mentioned above. It is very easy to use.
lesley
September 1, 2014 at 4:38 pmI can pin directly from the pin it on this page with no problem
lyuba
September 1, 2014 at 7:52 pmThank you, Lesley and Samantha!
Hana
August 30, 2014 at 1:07 amFound your post on this lovely comfort food on IG, this looks delicious!
am planning to make this soon! ^^
lyuba
August 30, 2014 at 7:30 amThank you so much, Hana!!
Samantha @ Five Heart Home
August 30, 2014 at 8:52 amThis looks amazing, Lyuba! It’s still 99-degrees in Texas, but I’m definitely feeling ready to move on to comfort food! 🙂
lyuba
September 1, 2014 at 7:53 pmThank you so much, Samantha! It’s still pretty scorching here, in FL, so I crank up the AC 😉
I am so ready too
Liz
August 31, 2014 at 10:59 amAll your recipes are the best. Thanks so much.
lyuba
August 31, 2014 at 1:47 pmAwe! Thank you so much, Liz!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea
August 31, 2014 at 2:54 pmI have two grandchildren in my life who crave crave ranch dressing on everything. I can’t believe how perfect this recipe is. I pinned it and printed it. It’s on my hit list.
lyuba
September 1, 2014 at 8:01 pmI understand your grandchildren 😉 I love ranch!!
Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy it!!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
August 31, 2014 at 3:39 pmI have yet to find a recipe that I don’t like or a photo that is less than perfect. You are so talented I always look forward to your posts and recipes.
lyuba
September 1, 2014 at 8:05 pmYou’re going to make me cry, Marisa! Thank you!!
[email protected]
September 1, 2014 at 5:54 pmLooks amazing Lyuba, comfort food at its best!
lyuba
September 1, 2014 at 8:05 pmThank you so much, Mike!!
Kisha
October 9, 2014 at 10:48 amHi Lyuba,
Do you cook the chicken before you put it in the oven?
lyuba
October 9, 2014 at 8:51 pmHi Kisha! Yes, you should cook the chicken before adding it to the casserole mixture.
rachel
December 14, 2014 at 6:54 pmMade this tonight. The only change I made was I did canned diced tomatoes instead of the roma tomatoes since they are out of season right now. It was really good. Next time I will add some tortilla chips on top to give it a little crunch. Thanks for the recipe!!
carol
March 4, 2015 at 6:34 pmHi, I absolutely loved this recipe I made it with potatoes instead or noodles just dice them up, boil, then use and follow the rest of the recipe.turned out amazing!
jen
May 30, 2015 at 1:47 pmI have everything but tomato’s and want to make tonight. Any opinion on using rotel?
Tawnia
February 18, 2016 at 6:50 pmYou should be able to used canned tomatoes just be wary of the salt and make sure you taste before you add any 🙂 We live very rural and I often have to replace fresh tomatoes with tinned! 🙂
Julie
August 13, 2015 at 5:30 pmWhat is the calorie count per serving on this dish? Thanks!
lyuba
August 24, 2015 at 11:21 amHi, Julie! I’m so sorry but I don’t have a way to calculate calories here.
I hope you make it and like it anyway 🙂
Nancy
December 12, 2015 at 6:06 pmThis is a seriously good casserole. We live in Florida and it’s 80 degrees but this was just what we needed tonight. Thanks for a great recipe!!!
lyuba
December 12, 2015 at 8:52 pmI’m so glad you liked it, Nancy! Thank you 🙂
(I hear you about this weather, December and it’s been 75-80.)
Sarah
December 22, 2015 at 6:46 pmMade this Tonight, delish! Used rotel, juices and all and it came out fab. Thank you for the recipe
lyuba
December 22, 2015 at 6:50 pmWonderful to hear! I’m do glad you like it 🙂
D
December 30, 2015 at 6:19 pmSince I’m not a big fan of barbecue & ranch I was a little skeptical about mixing the two.I made this tonight and it came out great.It even has a bit of spice with the barbecue.I did however use green beans instead of corn since I didn’t have corn,and I also added a bit of mozzarella on top.Great dish!!! On my way to seconds now,I just wanted to comment before I forgot… 🙂
lyuba
December 30, 2015 at 8:50 pmWow, that’s a great compliment! Thank you, I’m so happy you liked it!
Happy New Year!
Alex
January 17, 2016 at 10:51 pmHow would I go about making this in the crockpot?
lyuba
February 10, 2016 at 9:40 pmHi there! To be honest, I don’t cook in my crock pot very often and I’ve never made a pasta dish in it. But, from the crock pot recipes that I’ve seen around, it seems that you would cook pasta and chicken separately and assemble the casserole in the crock pot instead of casserole dish. You can cook it on low for 2-3 of hours or on high for 30-45 minutes. Best of luck, I hope it helps!
Jackie
February 14, 2016 at 5:00 amHi
What brand of ranch dressing and BBQ sauce did you use in this recipe.
lyuba
February 17, 2016 at 10:05 pmFor the BBQ, I like two different brands, I like Jack Daniels and I like Sticky FIngers ones. Usually something a little sweet and tangy. For Ranch, I usually make my own but I do like Wishbone dressings.
I hope you like it 🙂 It’s really up to you here, what brands you and your family like best.
Tawnia
February 18, 2016 at 6:53 pmMaking this tonight – looks very yummy! Came across a PIN of it and it was exactly what I was looking for (thawed chicken breasts for a crockpot meal and lost track of time…lol
lyuba
February 18, 2016 at 11:12 pmI really hope you’ll like it!!
Thank you, Tawnia!
Elizabeth
March 15, 2016 at 12:35 pmHi, this looks delicious! What size casserole dish should I use? Also, I was thinking of buying some already shredded chicken. Do you know how many cups I could use for this recipe to come out to the correct amount? Thank you! I also was able to pin this w/o issue 🙂
lyuba
March 20, 2016 at 9:29 pmHi, Elizabeth! 2 to 2 1/2 quart casserole dish should work nicely. I would estimate 2 cups of shredded chicken. The two chicken breast above come out to a pound, so check the label on the cooked chicken. It also won’t hurt the recipe if you use a little more 🙂
I hope you enjoy it!
Cathy
August 25, 2016 at 1:57 pmIs this something I could make ahead and if so what steps do I do ahead, all or partial and if all how long would I need to cook from cold. Thanks this looks great!
lyuba
September 7, 2016 at 6:02 pmHi Cathy!
You can definitely make it ahead of time and refrigerate for a day or two. You can re-heat each potion individually, or the whole casserole. IF you will be re-heating the whole casserole, take it out of the refrigerator ahead of time and let the casserole dish warm up to room temperature. Then, reheat in the oven. I would suggest reheating it covered with aluminum foil.
I hope it works out!
Jeanne
August 29, 2016 at 9:11 amI think my college girls would like this recipe. However, I need to know if it could be made ahead in a tin disposable pan and frozen. This is the only way they would be able to enjoy it with their schedules, if I could make it for them and freeze it, to bake at a later date. Possible?
lyuba
September 7, 2016 at 5:59 pmHi Jeanne,
I believe that it would be possible, I’m just not familiar with freezing casseroles. You can definitely look up how to freeze pasta casseroles, I’m sure many people have done it. I wish you luck! Hope it all works out 🙂
inter
September 1, 2016 at 12:29 pmThe picture looked great. The reviews were stellar. So I figured, ok. But, 2+ cups of dressing for 1/2 box of pasta?!!! This is a receipe for salad dressing soup with noodles. The receipe does not match the picture, at all. So terrible we threw out the rest after struggling through one serving. It didn’t look right while I was putting it together, and I think it would be way better with 1 cup of dressing/bbq sauce.
lyuba
September 7, 2016 at 5:57 pmHi there,
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you well. I’ve actually had several people make it and noone mentioned any problems. I will remake this recipe exactly this week just to make sure that there is nothing off. Sorry again for your experience!
Katie
August 8, 2018 at 3:39 pmI know this is an old comment, but in case anyone else sees it and is worried – I used a full package of shells (don’t like rotini) and it was the right amount/consistency. I think the OP didn’t use enough pasta 🙂
lyuba
August 17, 2018 at 11:37 amThank you so much for letting me know! I really appreciate it 🙂
SophieEV
December 29, 2016 at 7:34 amThis is delicious! Thank you for this easy and tasty recipe!
We don’t have ranch dressing in France, so I made my own (adding the herbs to greek yogurt and milk), and it was really good! I had no idea you could mix BBQ sauce with ranch but it definitely is a good idea!
lyuba
January 5, 2017 at 12:53 pmWonderful!! I usually make my own ranch as well and if you are interested, I have a recipe for it here. Thank you so much, Sophie!
Outdoor BBQs & Furniture Melbourne
May 30, 2017 at 2:33 amA delicious ranch.
Outdoor BBQs & Furniture Melbourne
May 30, 2017 at 2:36 amAwesome dishes.
Emily Overton
March 1, 2018 at 12:36 pmI dropped the onions and added black beans and rotel for a more southwestern feel. So delish!
lyuba
March 1, 2018 at 3:28 pmOh nice! I’m so glad you liked it, Emily!
Vanessa Arnold
October 7, 2018 at 11:44 amMade 5 recipes this weekend to freeze. This one was the best!
lyuba
October 10, 2018 at 5:24 pmOh, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you, Vanessa!