Bacon and pasta salad
A super-easy pasta salad, which is perfect for summer picnics or BBQs. Pasta is tossed with bacon, Parmesan, carrots, celery and red onion in a ranch dressing.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 450g farfalle pasta
- 250ml ranch dressing
- 6 rashers streaky bacon
- 40g grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 stick celery, diced
- 1 red onion, diced
Method
Prep:15min ›
Cook:25min ›
Extra time:2hr30min chilling ›
Ready in:3hr10min
- Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the pasta and return to the boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool, at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the bacon in a large, deep frying pan and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon on a kitchen towel-lined plate, let cool and chop.
- In a large salad bowl, stir together the ranch dressing, bacon, Parmesan cheese, carrot, celery and red onion until well combined. Lightly stir in the chilled pasta to coat with dressing and refrigerate 2 hours to blend flavours before serving.
Cook's note
Lettuce or cabbage can also be substituted for the pasta in this recipe for a lighter summer salad with crunch.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(56)
Reviews in English (43)
Easy and delicious! I did however use half the amount of pasta called for... As for the dressing I chose to use "No-Mayonnaise Ranch Dressing" from this site. I cut down on the red onion and instead of celery I used sweet peas. Using shredded Parmesan was a nice change from Cheddar and we loved the combination of "bacon and ranch"! Overall, very good after being chilled for a few hours. - 24 Mar 2011 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
Made this for Memorial Day picnic. I omitted the carrot and the parmesan cheese. Added a little bell pepper and a few sliced black olives. Substituted cheddar cheese for the parmesan. I was afraid the bacon would get soggy mixed in with the dressing, so I layered the cheese and the bacon on top of the pasta mixture just before serving for a nice presentation. I made this the night before and the pasta absorbed a lot of the dressing, so be liberal with it. I ended up using a full bottle. Everyone loved it. Not a smidgeon left. - 02 Jun 2010 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
I'm not a fan of pasta salads but thought the idea of using Ranch Dressing was intreguing. We really liked this!! I followed exactly and agree you may need to add more Ranch as mine absorbed much of the dressing. I will also double the bacon next time and liked the idea of others to add it before serving (although it was fine as is for us). Thank you!! - 09 Jun 2010 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)