A creamy, cheesy chicken dinner, packed with an easy ranch cream sauce, bacon and all the right spices. This gluten free chicken bacon ranch casserole is the perfect comfort food!

Homemade Ranch

Do you stop in your tracks when you see an ingredient list that’s longer than 6 or 7 ingredients? Me too. But this recipe for gluten free chicken bacon ranch casserole is only a bit longer than usual because we’re making our own ranch dressing instead of opening up a bottle.

And we’re making our own ranch dressing because, well, it’s so much better that way, and it happens to be ridiculously easy. No slicing, no dicing.

Just pour buttermilk, sour cream and white vinegar in a bowl with some dried herbs and spices, and give it a good whisk. Then, use that as a quick marinade to cook the chicken while we boil the pasta and make a super simple roux-thickened ranch-style sauce.

Make-ahead options

Add some crisp bacon and shredded cheddar cheese, and you’ve got a killer casserole that satisfies everyone’s comfort food-cravings. You can make the ranch dressing up to a week in advance (as long as your ingredients are fresh), and even cook the chicken up to 3 days ahead of time.

I’ve even made the roux-thickened ranch sauce 1 day ahead of time—or even the whole casserole the day before. Just pop it in the oven and dinner’s served.

Make it your own

In baking, you must follow the recipe precisely to the letter. But this is cooking, and you have a whole lot more freedom.

If you have another way of cooking chicken breasts that you prefer, go for it. The most important thing is to use the proper flour blend (or flour, as explained in the recipe ingredients) and technique to make the roux, and measure those ingredients properly.

Other than that, if you have another favorite small dried pasta you’d prefer, use that. You don’t like cheddar but you love Monterey Jack cheese? Use it. Don’t care for bacon (say what?), leave it out.

Now I personally think that everything savory tastes better with some chopped parsley scattered on top. But if your kids fear the green, leave that out, too.

But one thing’s for sure. Make this creamy, dreamy chicken casserole once, and it will surely find its way into your regular dinner rotation. 🍴