Ranch Pasta Salad
Ranch pasta salad is a favorite at any barbecue or neighborhood gathering. This creamy pasta salad is chock full of fresh vegetables, rich cheese and savory ham that is a hearty warm-weather lunch or a light summer supper.
Pasta salad doesn’t have to be the tired stuff of bad salad bars anymore.
Think of the pasta as a blank canvas for flavorful ingredients you can toss in.
Ranch pasta salad is one of our favorite creamy pasta salads because of the fresh extras against the tangy ranch dressing.
Crunchy raw or steamed broccoli, carrots and chopped bell peppers add a rainbow of color and texture.
Some protein from diced ham and cubed cheddar and you’ve got a complete meal.
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need:
- Sour cream– Full fat will give you the best mouth feel and taste. If you’d like you could sub plain Greek yogurt for a little extra protein.
- Mayonnaise– Full fat real mayonnaise and not mayonnaise style dressing or Miracle Whip.
- Ranch dressing mix– A 1 ounce package of your favorite kind, or use two tablespoons of our homemade ranch seasoning.
- Pasta– Rotini or another similarly sized pasta like penne. Cook it al dente, drain it, and run it under cold water.
- Carrots– Roughly chopped matchstick carrots or 2 whole carrots grated.
- Broccoli– Lightly steamed florets.
- Ham– Diced.
- Cheese– Cubed cheddar cheese.
- Bell pepper– Half a yellow bell pepper and half a red bell pepper. Remove the seeds and dice them.
- Salt and pepper– To taste.
How to Make
Ranch pasta salad is so easy to make.
Just stir the sour cream, mayonnaise, and ranch dressing mix together in a bowl.
Set the dressing aside.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
Drain it and rinse the pasta with cold water.
Chop the veggies, ham, and cheese into bite sized pieces.
Stir the veggies into the pasta and then stir in about ¾ of the dressing.
Add additional dressing if it is too dry.
Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Enjoy!
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Give it a good stir before serving it again.
Tips and Tricks
- Drizzle the rinsed pasta with a bit of olive oil so it doesn’t stick.
- Feel free to skip any of the veggies you don’t like.
- Not a ham fan? Substitute crisp, crumbled bacon again.
- Want to keep it vegetarian? Skip the meat all together and toss in chickpeas or roasted cauliflower.
Other Pasta Salad Recipes
Ranch pasta salad is the perfect recipe to serve to ranch lovers for light dinners, lunches, or summer sides.
Make it and enjoy!
Looking for other pasta salad recipes?
Try these:
- Muffuletta Pasta Salad
- Pizza Pasta Salad
- Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad
- Deviled Egg Pasta Salad
- Shrimp Scampi Pasta Salad
- Spinach Dip Pasta Salad
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
- Creamy Italian Pasta Salad With Chicken
If you’ve tried this RANCH PASTA SALAD, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Ranch Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream can substitute Greek yogurt to reduce fat and up the protein content
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1 oz pkt ranch dressing mix plus extra, to taste, if desired
- 1 lb rotini pasta cooked, drained, and run under cold water to cool
- 3/4 cup roughly chopped matchstick carrots can substitute 2 grated whole carrots
- 1 1/2- 2 cups lightly steamed (tender crisp) broccoli florets
- 1 cup diced ham
- 1 cup cubed cheddar cheese
- 1/2 large yellow bell pepper seeded & diced
- 1/2 large red bell pepper seeded & diced
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, and ranch dressing mix. Set aside.1 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 1 oz pkt ranch dressing mix
- Add the pasta to a large mixing bowl, then pour the dressing overtop. Gently toss until evenly coated.1 lb rotini pasta
- Add the veggies, ham, and cheese to the bowl then stir everything together gently until evenly incorporated.3/4 cup roughly chopped matchstick carrots, 1 1/2- 2 cups lightly steamed (tender crisp) broccoli florets, 1 cup diced ham, 1 cup cubed cheddar cheese, 1/2 large yellow bell pepper, 1/2 large red bell pepper
- Refrigerate, covered, for at least an hour before serving.
- Season with salt and pepper, to enjoy, then stir well, serve, and enjoy!salt & pepper
Notes
- Drizzle the rinsed pasta with a bit of olive oil so it doesn't stick.
- Feel free to skip any of the veggies you don't like.
- Not a ham fan? Substitute crisp, crumbled bacon again.
- Want to keep it vegetarian? Skip the meat all together and toss in chickpeas or roasted cauliflower.
Nutrition
Great salad with great flavors, Meaghan. I too bucked the traditional “cold weather” food recently with a pasta salad. The calendar may say autumn, but I’m just not ready to say goodbye to summer. And with the flavors of a BLT…can’t go wrong there!
I like to go against the grain. I’m also a big fan of soups, and will fix them even in the dead of Summer.
Welcome to Fiesta Friday Meaghan, and thanks for bringing us this wonderful pasta salad. I like your greek yogurt addition to the pasta. Great ideas for future pastas too, I especially like the Ranch BLT one. Enjoy your weekend!
I love sneaking Greek yogurt into things! More protein for the boys, less calories for me :) I’d call that a win-win.
This looks delicious, I am definitely pinning this to try! :) All of your salads look very good!
Thanks, April! I hope you’ll enjoy them just as much as we did.
I love the veggies in here: were you being sneaky, or do your 4 boys actually enjoy broccoli?
I’m very, very fortunate in that the three older sons are pretty agreeable to any veggie. Son # 4 does require a bit of cajoling with things like carrots and celery, but anything else is pretty much a go! Also, this was broccoli coated with a teensy, tiny bit of mayo. Son # 4 regularly request mayo toast and sandwiches and can’t ever figure out why he keeps getting denied! :)
This looks so good. A must try, for sure. Thank you
Thanks, BJ :)
Thank you for all of the delicious shares! Happy Fiesta Friday!