I have made a good handful of pasta salad recipes over the years and this one might win the title for my favorite pasta salad, ever.
This Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is best within a couple hours of making it, in my opinion.
However, some of my girlfriends make this and their families prefer it the next day!
If you make it the day before, the pasta will soak up more of the liquid and flavors.
So if you are making it ahead, you will want to add additional sour cream, mayo or ranch dressing before serving.
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 8 people 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 cups fusilli noodles, uncooked
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Ruffles potato chips
- 1 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup real bacon bits
Instructions
- Cook fusilli according to instructions on the package.
- Rinse cooked pasta with cold water to cool it down.
- Dump cold pasta into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the mayo and ranch dressing to the bowl. Stir until pasta is completely coated in dressing.
- Add the shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, real bacon bits, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder to the bowl. Stir well.
- Wait to add the crumbled potato chips to the salad until right before serving or they will become soggy. Stir well.
- Serve and enjoy!