This is a dreamy dinner that screams comfort food. The chicken is made in the crockpot on high in just 4 hours. It makes plenty of sauce that gets tossed with the penne. Top with with some chopped parsley and fresh crumbled bacon for a restaurant style dinner at home! I hope you love this Creamy Bacon Ranch Chicken and Penne!!!!
*note: The sauce seems to almost look broken as it cooks. BUT, hang in there because at the end, after a stir, this was the most amazing and creamy chicken! This is definitely a WOW dinner.
Creamy Bacon Ranch Chicken and Penne
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken thighs, bone in and skin on (Use 4 lbs if you want less sauce for pasta)
- 1 T.olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temp cut in cubes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 package Ranch Dressing Mix (You are using the dry mix in this recipe!)
- 1 pound penne, cooked and drained
- chopped parsley, for garnish
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil.
- Saute onion.
- Add chicken and brown both sides in oil.
- Remove chicken to plate and drain excess oil.
- Pour in the chicken broth.
- Stir in the ranch dressing mix powder.
- Top with cubes of cream cheese.
- Add chicken back in.
- Cook on high 4 hours. I stirred mine every hour or so to help the sauce along and combine the cream cheese into the sauce. Don;t be worried if sauce looks funky, it will come together in the end!
- Remove from sauce and shred chicken, discarding skin/bones.
- Toss chicken and the remaining sauce with the penne.
- Top with parsley and bacon.
Lynn says
How many servings does the recipe for creamy bacon ranch chicken pasta make? And what are the serving sizes? Is there a weight watcher point calculation for this recipe? Could it be made with chicken breast as well to lower the points?