This, my dear readers is the Chicken Bacon Ranch Potato Bake. It was made because of a crazy potato situation but I’ll tell you more about that later. The sauce made for this one pan dish is perfect along with the soft potatoes, yummy chicken, and crispy bacon. It’s a perfect, easy meal!
This One Pan Dinner will be a regular rotation because it’s so delicious!!
Simple to make Chicken Bacon Ranch Potato Bake
Last week, I came across a SUPER great deal on a 20lb bag of potatoes. 99 cents!!! Yesssssss, you read that right. (Where I live, that’s a screaming deal!). So, of course, I HAD to pick up a bag (cough*ormaybetwo*cough).
Now, guess who has a boatload of potatoes that need to be used!?!?! So my lovelies, out of desperation, this is one of the many recipes I came up with. I’m sure there will be plenty more to follow!
What’s needed for this one pan dish
The most excellent thing about this Chicken Bacon Potato recipe is that it has everything that comfort food lovers fantasize about.
- Chicken: You want leftover or rotisserie chicken. As long as it’s cooked, you’re good to go!
- Potatoes: I used Russets because I like the starch factor with these ones. But use what you have on hand.
- Bacon: A nice smoked bacon is perfect. I wouldn’t use a maple-flavored, as it might clash with the other flavors. You also want it cooked to your texture preference.
- Ranch Dressing: Use the regular Ranch Salad Dressing. The liquid kind, not the powdered packets.
- Sour cream: Just plain old sour cream.
- Onion
- Cheddar (or your favorite cheese): I think cheddar goes the best with these ingredients, but that’s my jam. If you love a different cheese that melts really nicely, use that one!
- Seasonings
How Do I Make This Chicken Ranch Dish?
Just start by washing the potatoes, dry them slightly, and dice them up. No need for peeling or perfectionism.
Throw them in a bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients, reserving some of the cheese and bacon for garnish at the end.
Put it in the oven, covered, and let it do it’s thing!
Easy peasy right???
IF you have left over chicken (or even turkey), cut that in to bite-size pieces as well. If you don’t have any leftover chicken, then the packaged chicken strips (no breading) that you can buy at the store will do just as well.
Cooks Tips and Substitutions
I usually have a lot of chicken on hand that leads to leftovers, so that’s what I use for this dish. If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can certainly substitute cooked turkey as well.
A rotisserie chicken would be awesome for this dish. If you end up with some chicken left on it after making this dish, make sure you save the bones from the bird so you can make homemade chicken soup/broth in the future! (Gotta save those pennies right??)
Pre-cooked bacon is easy to come by, you can purchase it at most grocery stores in the deli department. However, if you have some thawed and ready to go, it’s super easy just to microwave a few strips to cook them through. If you have none of those on hand and you have REAL bacon bits hanging around, those will do for a sub-in.
However, don’t use fake bacon bits. For the love of all things pure and good and chemical free, just don’t. lol
This dish isn’t fancy but it’s a super-easy one-pan dish sort of thing. So what it lacks in plate staging prettiness, it makes up in convenience, wholesomeness, and FLAVOR. I love one-pan dishes because their easy to make in no time, like my Sausage Boursin Pasta and Sausage and Mushroom Pie.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes!! You can double this recipe to feed more people – just use a bigger baking dish of course, and maybe increase the baking time.
You’ll be able to tell when things are ready – try piercing a chunk of potato with a fork. If it goes in easily, you’re ready to serve!
See? SUPER easy! By the way, if you end up with leftovers from this Chicken Bacon Ranch Potato Bake, storing it is simple. It will stay in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, covered in an air-tight container.
Did you make this Chicken Ranch Potato Bake recipe? Did you switch it up with different ingredients? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below! Thanks so much for stopping by The Salty Pot today, and I hope you enjoy this super yummy recipe!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Potato Bake
This Chicken Bacon Ranch Potato Bake is an incredibly easy and super tasty one pan dish using leftovers and pantry items!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs potatoes, cut into a 1/2" dice
- 2 c chicken, cooked, diced/shredded
- ½ c ranch dressing
- ½ c sour cream
- ¼ c onion
- 1 c cheddar, shredded
- 5 slices crumbled bacon
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp dill, dried
- as desired salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- In a bowl, combine all the ingredients, reserving half the cheddar and bacon for garnish.
- Transfer to a greased 11x7 or 9" round casserole dish with high sides.
- Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and soft.
- Remove the foil and sprinkle the remaining bacon and cheddar over the top and bake until the cheese is melted.
- Let cook for approximately 5 minutes and then serve!
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving:Calories: 489Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 519mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 4gSugar: 4gProtein: 23g
***DON’T FORGET TO SAVE THIS CHICKEN RANCH POTATO BAKE PIN TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD TO SAVE FOR LATER!!***
Dorothy Roland says
Can this dish be made with cooked bake potatoes, I have four that was not eaten
Jackie says
Making this right now—it’s baked for 45 min & the potatoes are nowhere near done…I cut them small too. Are you supposed to cover this while baking?
TheSaltyPot says
Hi Jackie. I’m really sorry to hear that you were having problems with this dish! I honestly don’t have any idea why those potatoes would not be done at 45 minutes, especially if you cut them small. Covering it would have helped, but I’ve never had any issues with the potatoes cooking without a cover.
I would suggest using a cover next time because as you know, all ovens differ slightly. I’m just perplexed that in 45 minutes, your potatoes weren’t close to being cooked. Even if I put a chopped potato on a sheet pan, it’s usually done 35 – 40 minutes.
Do you have an oven thermometer?
Susan says
Is the 1/2 cup of ranch dressing…..
Dry
or
Bottled
?
Thanks!!!!
TheSaltyPot says
Hi Susan! Thanks for writing in and I’m sorry I didn’t reply earlier!
It’s 1/2 cup bottled! Hope that helps!
Emily says
I cut my potato pieces up pretty small and they took well over an hour to cook. Almost 2 hours! What kind of potatoes did you use?
TheSaltyPot says
Wholy mackeral Emily! Two hours? I usually default to russets because they’re a starchier type potato and it’s usually what I have on hand. Maybe it was your oven temp? That’s so weird!
Ginny says
What size baking dish and how many serving is this?
TheSaltyPot says
Hi Ginny!
It will serve 2 – 3 ppl as a main dish, and 4 – 5 as a side dish. I used a 9″ pie dish. 🙂
Jancee says
Do you think i could use frozen hashbrowns instead of diced potatoes?
TheSaltyPot says
Hey Jancee! You know, that’s a good question. I think you could, but I’d just really watch the bake time. Regular potatoes take a lot longer to cook through, and hashbrowns are already cooked, or parcooked. The fact they’re frozen would extend the cooking time, but if you were going to try it, I think I’d bake the dish for about 25 – 30 minutes and then check it. Please let me know if you try it and how it worked out because if it worked for you, then I might do another post using your suggestions!!