BLT Pasta Salad — 🥗🥓🍅🥬 EASY, ready in 15 minutes, feeds a crowd, and PERFECT for potlucks and parties! Creamy ranch dressing perfectly coats the pasta and BACON making this a guaranteed family FAVORITE! A great side dish or serve it as a simple main dish for lunch or for busy weeknight dinners.
Table of Contents
This BLT pasta salad screams summertime picnics, potlucks, and casual backyard get-togethers from Memorial Day to Fourth of July to Labor Day.
It’s easy, ready in 15 minutes, feeds a crowd, and has all the flavors of a traditional BLT minus the bread. Insert pasta.
I love the romaine lettuce that’s woven through the tender pasta, along with juicy cherry tomatoes, crisp bacon, and green onions.
Everything is tossed in zesty, creamy ranch dressing that’s spiked with a hint of barbecue sauce. The dressing is perfect and ties this family-friendly bow tie pasta salad together.
Love Ranch Dressing on Your Pasta Salad?
Make this Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad next! It’s made with rotini pasta that’s coated in a creamy ranch dressing and tossed with bacon, peas, cheddar cheese, and more!
Ingredients in BLT Pasta Salad
To make this ranch BLT pasta salad recipe, you’ll need:
- Bowtie pasta
- Romaine lettuce
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cooked bacon
- Green onions
- Ranch dressing
- Barbecue sauce
- Black pepper
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make BLT Pasta Salad with Ranch
Making BLT pasta salad with ranch dressing is quick and easy! Here are the basic steps:
- Cook the bow tie pasta according to package directions, drain, and add to a large bowl.
- Then, add the lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, green onions, and toss to combine.
- In a separate bowl, add the ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, and pepper and stir to combine.
- Evenly drizzle over the bacon ranch pasta salad. If necessary, add additional ranch as desired to evenly coat the BLT pasta salad.
Recipe FAQs
You can use any type of bacon you’d like — turkey bacon, regular bacon, and any flavored bacon is fine. To save time, I use precooked bacon that I simply zap in the microwave for a minute before dicing, but you can make it the old-fashioned way if you prefer.
If you cook the bacon yourself (i.e. don’t buy the pre-cooked stuff like I did), you may want to save some of the drippings and stir a tablespoon or two into the BLT pasta salad. Bacon lovers will go crazy for it!
Yep, feel free to use any pasta you have on hand. Whole wheat pasta would work well in this recipe too, I just didn’t have any.
Any kind you like! I typically use a sweet and smoky bbq sauce from Trader Joe’s, but Sweet Baby Ray’s would be great too.
What to Serve with BLT Pasta Salad
Storage and Make-Ahead Instructions
In the fridge: Because this BLT ranch pasta salad contains fresh tomatoes and lettuce, it’s best eaten within 24 hours of making it. After that, the veggies start to wilt and the pasta softens.
In the freezer: This recipe does not freeze well.
Make ahead: The pasta salad is best enjoyed fresh, as the lettuce wilts the longer it sits in the ranch dressing. If you want to make this easy pasta salad ahead of time, I suggest prepping the pasta and veggies and storing them separately in the fridge until you’re ready to make the salad.
Recipe Video
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BLT Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked farfalle (bowtie) pasta
- about 6 cups romaine lettuce
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup cooked bacon, diced small
- 4 green onions, sliced into thin rounds
- ½ cup ranch dressing, or more if desired
- 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and add to a large bowl.
- Add the lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, green onions, and toss to combine; set aside.
- To a small bowl, add the ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, salt, pepper, stir to combine, and evenly drizzle over the salad. If necessary, add additional ranch as desired to evenly coat the salad. Tip – Taste and if it tastes at all bland or like it's missing something, it could likely benefit from additional salt, so add a bit more, to taste.
- Serve immediately after dressed or you can chill it as desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Originally posted July 24, 2017 and reposted on September 1, 2022 with updated text.
great
What kind of BBQ sauce did you use?
It doesn’t matter really…generic or from Trader Joe’s, whatever I have on hand.
I’m thinking Italian dressing instead of Ranch. Yum!
That would probably be good too – very different in terms of taste and texture. We like the ranch here, but use what you think you will like.
Hi Averie, I made this tonight… Yum! Thank you soooooo much for this easy and delicious recipe. My husband liked it, too, which is always a big ‘score’ for me. Thanks again!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Glad hubby approved!
BLT and Ranch were made for each other!
You know it! :)
hey girl- this pasta looks so good! mmmmm
Thank you!
Although I am on a low-carb diet right now…that pasta salad looks beautiful.
Thanks!
I love that you put lettuce in it too! This salad looks so good!
You know me, always more veggies please :)
This pasta salad looks incredible!
Paige
https://thehappyflammily.com
Thanks so much!
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this salad! The juicy tomatoes, smoky bacon… and the addition of a touch of bbq sauce! I know this’ll be a favorite for Kailey!
I was literally just leaving a comment on your cucumber and avocado salad! We were commenting on each other’s blogs at the same time xoxo
And yes I know you guys love salads like this at your house :)
You can’t go wrong with BLT and I really like the idea of ranch dressing spiked with a little BBQ sauce! This looks like a great summer salad!