Ranch Pasta Salad Stuffed Shells Recipe

This recipe is easy! Watch the video.

When the weather warms up, we love to get our family and friends together outdoors to hang out and enjoy some delicious food. Burgers, lemonade, and watermelon are classic and a given at a Garofalow grill out. These relaxed parties become potluck affairs with our friends and family bringing their favorite side dishes. I don’t like to stray too far from classic flavors when feeding a crowd, but I always like to shake it up a bit when it comes to presentation.

This BBQ season, I switched up the way I make a classic ranch pasta salad. My kids’ favorite BBQ side dish is getting a fun new twist. Instead of mixing everything up in a bowl, I’m stuffing bacon, cheese, chicken, veggies, and creamy Hidden Valley Avocado Ranch into jumbo pasta shells to make these ranch pasta salad stuffed shells. This turns pasta salad into a three-bite appetizer that you can eat with your hands—perfect for mingling.

Prep Time: 45 min

Servings: 10–12

Ingredients:

jumbo pasta shells: about 12 shells
cooked, shredded chicken: 1 cup
cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half: 1 cup
shredded cheddar cheese: 1 cup
frozen peas, thawed: 1 cup
bacon, crumbled: 4 slices
Hidden Valley Original Avocado Ranch Dressing: ½ cup
black pepper: ⅛ teaspoon

Directions:

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Step 1: Cook pasta shells according to directions on the package. Do not overcook them as they will get mushy and not hold their shape. Allow to cool completely.

Step 2: In a large bowl combine chicken, cheese, cherry tomatoes, peas, and bacon. Mix well.

Step 3: Add ½ cup of Hidden Valley Original Avocado Ranch Dressing and black pepper. Stir well to combine.

Step 4: Spoon approximately 2 tablespoons of the chicken salad mixture into the jumbo shells.

This recipe can easily be doubled depending on how many shells you want stuffed.

Sharon Garofalow is the blogger behind Cupcakes and Cutlery, a resource for cool gals looking to take care of their families and do it super stylishly. The site features quick and easy recipes, simple DIYs, plus fashion picks and home décor inspiration. Each do-it-yourself idea matches gorgeous design with simple execution (ain’t nobody got time for complicated). Sharon is mom to two energetic grade school boys, and has the most supportive, loving husband ever. She’s addicted to Scandal, the Hallmark channel and Salt and Pepper potato chips.