I Just Wanted a Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole with No Pasta!

There’s a reason they call casseroles comfort food, because they have stuff like pasta and potatoes and carb-y goodness like that. They make us all warm and cozy inside.

And fat.

So where there’s a will there’s a way when it comes to this girl and making low carb gluten free casseroles.

I had a lot of cooked chicken leftover the other day from when I made my fast and easy low carb Mexican chicken casserole, and I needed to find a creative way to use it up. So I went to Pinterest to find a recipe.

Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole after casserole started popping up in my feed. Oh, my gosh, it all looked so good. But then I clicked on them and every single one I found had pasta in it. I was bummed.

So then I decided to get creative and find a way to make a bacon chicken ranch casserole that was gluten free and low carb.

Anatomy of a Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole Recipe

I know I could have done the obvious and substituted zoodles for the pasta noodles, (you totally could!) but I didn’t have any zucchini on hand. Plus, I didn’t want to put a whole lot of effort into getting dinner on the table. I only had a small window of time before I had to go back to work.

So I decided to up the amount of chicken and bacon, and add broccoli as my filler in place of the pasta. I didn’t want to skimp on the sauce just because there was no pasta, so I made an extra creamy ranch-y sauce for everybody to swim in.

You’re seriously going to have to exert some self-control during the prep phase. I nibbled on the bacon and sucked down I don’t know how much ranch sauce.

It was good from beginning to end. Tonight as I’m writing this, there’s not even any leftovers and my son wants me to make it again tomorrow.

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Let’s Make us Some Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole!

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Steam 2 cups of broccoli florets until tender. Set aside.

Fry one pound of bacon until extra crispy. I’ve found the best way to get the crispiest bacon and keep it from curling is to use a cast iron bacon press. It also keeps the grease from spattering everywhere. Best invention ever!

Crumble the bacon while trying not to eat any of it. I failed miserably on this step. 🙁

P.S. Don’t get rid of that grease! Pour it into a measuring cup and save it for the next step.

Add 4 ounces softened cream cheese, 1 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp bacon grease, 1/4 cup chicken broth, 1 tsp parsley, 3/4 tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder and 1/8 thyme and mix well. Next, stir in the bacon.

Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Add broccoli and four cups cooked chicken and stir.

Pour in the ranch mixture and stir well. Bake for 2o minutes. Remove from oven, and top with 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, if desired. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy the bacon-y ranch-y goodness!

Protein 30.5, Fat 41.8, Fiber 1.8, Carbs 5.1