The Suddenly Salad bacon ranch pasta salad is a great side dish to bring to a picnic or to serve as a side dish.
Make Suddenly Salad Ranch & Bacon Salad at home
If you aren’t familiar with the Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad packages, you are missing out on an easy way to make pasta salads. The Suddenly salad pasta salads are easy to fix and tasty. Suddenly Salad boxes come with flavoring packages. This copycat suddenly salad recipe for Ranch & Bacon comes with a festive mix of vegetable blend and seasoning and imitation bacon bits. However, you can make this pasta salad at home without using the prepackaged mix. Pasta salads are ideal for picnics or a potluck. I get requests for this pasta salad for every get-together and cookout.
Pasta Salads Aren’t Dainty
It might be true that real men don’t eat quiche or salads, especially if salads conjure up images of dainty lunches for ladies. However, pasta salads are robust combinations of pasta, vegetables, and often cheese and meat, bound together by a distinctively-flavored dressing. Pasta salads are decidedly macho and the men in your life will love them.
Pasta Salad is not Italian
Pasta, of course, is associated with Italy where they take their pasta very seriously. But pasta salad is actually more American than Italian. Italians generally prefer their pasta hot and served as a separate course. Pasta salad is relatively new in the US as far as culinary trends go. It only really became popular starting in the 1980s when there was a mayonnaise-based macaroni salad that could be found in every deli and became tiresome.
Three Rules for Making a Pasta Salad
- Don’t overcook the pasta.
- Rinse the cooked pasta in cold water. Normally you wouldn’t do this with pasta, but it’s necessary when preparing a pasta salad to keep the pasta from cooking further. Cool the pasta completely before making the salad.
- Choose your brand of pasta carefully. Although pasta is cheap, spend a few extra pennies on a name brand that you trust.
Variations on this pasta salad
Thanks for my readers who sent in some good ideas like this one.
If you think that using mayo makes the dish too heavy, swap the mayo out for sour cream and a few splashes of milk. This makes the salad creamier and lighter.
Want Some More Copykat Pasta Salad Recipes to Try?
Barbara’s Pasta Salad
Fresh Broccoli Cheese Pasta Salad
Ponderosa Steakhouse Seafood Penne Pasta Salad
Taste of Texas Shrimp and Pasta Salad
You can make this Suddenly Salad Ranch & Bacon Salad in your kitchen. Pasta, mayonnaise and a few extra ingredients create a very flavorful pasta salad. And, the crispy bacon adds a nice flavor. This is a great knock-off recipe – in fact, it’s even better than the box!
Suddenly Salad Ranch Bacon Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry shell pasta
- 8 ounces green peas
- 2/3 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch ranch dressing mix
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 2 tablespoons bacon bits
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Bring water to a rolling boil in a saucepan. Add shell pasta and carrot shreds, allow them to boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Drain into a strainer and rinse under cold water.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the peas, the entire packet of ranch dressing mix, bacon bits, onion powder, and mayonnaise. Add pasta and carrots. Stir together until everything is coated with mayo-seasoning mixture. Chill and serve.
Rebecca Currie says
Going to try this… I was going to just use ranch dressing instead of the packet and mayo………………… I probably will still.
AMBER says
This recipe is sooo good! I won’t buy the box again. How long does it stay good for?
Stephanie says
This has never lasted for more than 4 or 5 days at my house.
Tabitha says
I used mayo the last time and thought it was too heavy. So this time I used sour cream and a few splashes of milk and it was creamier and lighter then using the mayo. So much better.Very yummy.
evixir says
Thanks so much for this. A few years ago they started packaging this product with the tiny shell pasta instead of the medium shell pasta (cheaper for them, same price for us) so I have boycotted them, but loved the flavor and will give this a try.
Willis Blackhorn says
try using ranch instead of mayo
Ladyofanairman says
WOW! This is a great knock off recipe–in fact, it is better than the box! I found the young peas in a can to be a little to soft, though. Next time, I will try the frozen peas for more cripsness. But it is GREAT!
Ashley says
i only used mayo and the sauce
Anonymous says
Thanks for sharing this recipe. My family loves this salad, and they were out of it at Shop Rite todaY!
Happy barbequeing!