This recipe is literally my husbands FAVORITE meal that I make. I used to dread cooking this meal because I would take the time to cook the bacon on the stove, season and cook the chicken, as the chaos of making the alfredo and boiling the pasta and cauliflower was cooking. It was just chaotic and I hated making it. However, I finally figured out an easier way to make it and now I never mind when he requests that for dinner! Almost every week I buy a couple pounds of chicken and cook it in my pressure cooker (or crock pot), shred it and then I have pre cooked meat for literally an endless amount of (QUICK) meals. It's the best and I highly recommend doing it! I found out with this recipe if I pre cook and shred the chicken beforehand (like earlier in the week) it's easy to just dump the ranch seasoning mix on it and shake it up in a container to coat it with the ranch flavor. And honestly, it actually makes the casserole have that ranch kick to it, whereas when I would coat the raw chicken in the seasoning and then cook it, I found that it didn't retain the same ranch flavor as intensely. But either way works!
Also, if you don't have an air fryer, I would HIGHLY recommend it. Bacon is one of my favorite things to make in it! seriously, I've never had better bacon. It cooks it perfectly every time. It's super convenient to just pop the bacon in the air fryer while you get started on the alfredo sauce, or while you're finishing prepping all of the ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 LB Pre cooked Shredded Chicken Breast
- 1 Head of Cauliflower
- 8oz Gluten Free Rice Pasta (or pasta of choice) I use this one:
- 1C Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 8 Slices of Bacon
- 1 Packet of Ranch Dressing Mix
Alfredo Sauce
- 1C Heavy Cream
- 4TBSP Salted Butter
- 1TBSP Flour
- 1/2C Parmesan Cheese
- 2TBSP Chopped Garlic
- Pepper to taste
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Boil water and add pasta
3. Cook bacon (I air fry mine for 7min at 400), crumble & set aside
4. Grate cheese & set aside
5. Add ranch seasoning packet to shredded chicken and shake to coat. Set aside
6. Chop cauliflower
7. After 6min add cauliflower to boiling pasta, cook for 4-5min or until cauliflower is tender (If you're using gluten free rice pasta the water will be cloudy when you add the cauliflower in, that's completely normal!)
8. Drain immediately and place back in pot. Set aside.
9. In saucepan add garlic and butter on med heat and simmer for 5min
10. Add cream and flour and simmer for 5 more minutes
11. Sauce should be thick, add parmesan cheese and pepper to taste
12. Add alfredo sauce, chicken, and HALF of the bacon to the pot with pasta and cauliflower. Stir gently
13. Pour into casserole dish
14. Top with 1C cheese and remaining bacon (I also added some parsley to mine)
15. Bake for 25-30min
16. Serve with your favorite side dish and enjoy!
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