Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole (Keto, Low Carb)
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4) cut into <1-inch chunks
- 4 strips bacon
- 12 ounces broccoli florets
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
Ranch dressing:
- 4 ounces mayonnaise (1/2 cup)
- 4 ounces sour cream (1/2 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prepare a 9x13 inch casserole baking dish.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all ranch dressing ingredients and stir until smooth. Set aside.
- In a wide pan over medium heat, cook bacon slices for 5 to 10 minutes until crispy, turning them occasionally. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain, reserving bacon grease on the pan. When cool, crumble into small pieces.
- Add chopped chicken to the pan with bacon grease. Saute for 5 to 10 minutes over medium to medium-high heat until cooked through, flipping and stirring frequently. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- While waiting for the bacon and chicken to cook, microwave the broccoli for 3-4 minutes or until tender.
- Directly in the baking dish: add chicken, broccoli, ranch dressing, about 2/3 of each cheese, and about 2/3 of the bacon. Stir everything until well-mixed. Top with remaining cheese and bacon.
- Bake at 375 F until heated through and bubbling, about 25 minutes.
NUTRITION
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 550 | |
| Total Fat 38g | 58% |
| Saturated Fat 13g | 65% |
| Trans Fat 0.3g | |
| Cholesterol 147mg | 49% |
| Sodium 840mg | 35% |
| Potassium 300mg | 9% |
| Total Carb 5.5g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.5g | 6% |
| Sugars 2.5g | |
| Protein 44g |
What’s not to love about casseroles? They’re great for transforming leftover ingredients, feed a lot of hungry people, and are hard to mess up. Similar to my zucchini lasagna, this casserole has plenty of my favorite things in it: chicken, broccoli, crispy bacon, ranch dressing, and a ton of cheese.
A good oven roasting helps bring all of these flavors together, yielding creamy bites of chicken and tender broccoli, punctuated with occasional bacon bits. The ranch flavor is definitely present, but not overpowering. Pretty much everything about this keto friendly casserole says delicious comfort food (same goes for these low carb chicken recipes).
Time saving tips when making this casserole
The easiest way you can save time is to buy premade ingredients or use leftovers. The recipe below provides all of the instructions to make this low carb casserole from scratch, but that certainly doesn’t mean you need to. That’s the beauty of this recipe — you can do as much or as little work as you’d like!
Here are some ideas:
- Skip prepping and cooking chicken by using leftover cubed chicken.
- Same goes for the bacon. Skip the fuss with frying bacon and just buy storebought bacon crumbles that are already cooked and ready to use.
- Don’t buy a whole head of broccoli. Pick up a package of pre-chopped broccoli florets. Or, use frozen broccoli florets — just make sure they’re well drained first.
- There’s no need to make your own ranch dressing as I do here (mine’s adapted from Ree Drummond). Just buy a jar of your favorite ranch dressing and use about 1 – 1.5 cups for this recipe.
Another way you can save time is by doing all the prep work the day before. Mix together the ranch dressing, cook the ingredients, and assemble the casserole. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
About an hour before you plan to serve, preheat the oven and take the casserole out of the fridge. Bake until heated through — it might take you an extra 5-10 minutes more than the time estimate provided in the recipe.
Reheating leftovers
Leftovers reheat okay in the microwave; overall the casserole still tastes great, but the ranch flavor is diminished and the cheese doesn’t taste as good.
I recommend reheating in the oven for best results — it just takes much longer. If your casserole leftovers are still in the baking pan, give it 30 minutes on the counter top to come to room temperature, then another 20-30 minutes in the oven at 375 F until heated through.
I made this tonight, and my husband and I loved it!! So yummy!! I added cauliflower to it and it was just perfect!! I’ll definitely be making this more often!
This was so yummy! I added more veggies and did a broccoli/cauliflower mix. Will make again. Wonderful use of leftover rotisserie chicken.
One of the best dishes I’ve made in a while!
Can you share what is considered a serving, that is, is it a 1/2c. or 1c, etc? Thanks!
I haven’t measured each serving in units of cups. This recipe makes a 9×13-inch casserole, divided into 6 servings. So each serving is roughly 4×4 inches in size.
I am not a fan of ranch dressing…. how strong is the ranch dressing taste? Or does anyone have a suggestion for what I could use instead?
It is not overpowering, but you can definitely taste it. Maybe you can replace it with Caesar dressing. Or if there’s a sauce you prefer (alfredo?), you can try that too.
I’ve used Classico’s garlic alfredo sauce to make my version of chicken casserole.
I use the sharpest shredded cheddar I can find and I like to throw in a good-sized handful of pearl onions and some saute’d mushrooms. That’s what I use as the base. Added seasonings can be latin, middle eastern, typical american style, whatever tweaks one’s fancy. Veggies in the bake are optional–I usually do them as a side.
What is the serving size? I know it makes 6 servings but what is the size for each?
Each serving is about 4 x 4 inches.
Can you use regular ranch dressing instead of making the ranch?
Yes, you can.
You could but her ranch is amazing
Can I add riced cauliflower to this recipe
That should be fine. You might want to pre-cook it in the microwave or on a pan to let out some moisture, otherwise your casserole might end up a bit more watery.
I made this last night and loved it! I will definitely be making this again. It was easy and your instructions were clear to follow. I too think your ranch dressing would be great to use on salads too. I like it because so many pre-made dressings have sugar in them and yours doesn’t! I am going to try freezing some and don’t see why it would be a problem. It’s handy to have something like this to just grab out of the freezer on a night when I don’t feel like cooking. I will definitely try your suggestion of reheating in the oven as opposed to the microwave, my usual go to! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
The recipe was DELICIOUS! The homemade ranch is to die for! I’m literally making it to keep on hand for chicken tenders and salads.
Recipe says 4 net carbs per serving… but how many servings does this dish serve??
Looking at the recipe box, above the list of Ingredients it says there are 6 servings.
I made this for dinner tonight for the first time. It is DELICIOUS!!! Husband loved it! SCORE!
This recipe is soooo delicious! I cook some riced cauliflower and scoop this on top! Really filling 😋
Ooh I love that idea. Hope you get a chance to make this again, Diane.
This recipe is a keeper! The best low carb chicken casserole I’ve tried. Easy and fast if you have cooled chicken and bottled Ranch on hand. The only change I made was to blend about 4 ozs cream cheese into Ranch, ending with about 1 1/2 cups. I’m sure it would be fine without the cream cheese. The bacon really works well in it.
Love the cream cheese addition, Mary. Hope you get a chance to make this again soon!
Didn’t have enough chicken so also added some cut up sausages and some left over Parmesan
It was scrumptious
This recip looks comforting. The kind you make on a cold or rainy day. Warm your tummy and lift your spirits. Thanks for sharing! Barb
You’re welcome Barb. Hope you get a chance to make it soon 🙂
My son and I have fallen in love with this dish, we are huge broccoli lovers and will be adding a bit more next time. ( This dish will definitely be sitting on my Christmas dining table this year and many more).
I’m honored 🙂 Thanks for the review!
Can I freeze this?
I haven’t tried freezing this before, but I don’t see why not. Let me know if you give it a try!
I have never been a huge fan of casseroles, but I’m not sure why! This one looks fabulous! Of course all of the cheesiness helps!!!
This was FABULOUS. Next time I’m going to increase the amount of broccoli because we LOVE broccoli here. LOL