This creamy Crock Pot Salsa Ranch Chicken Pasta is a whole meal in one! Frozen chicken breasts, pasta, sour cream, ranch dressing and salsa!
A DELICIOUS CROCK POT PASTA RECIPE
When planning meals, I am always thinking of chicken recipes. We eat A LOT of chicken. So if there is any way I can throw some chicken into a meal, I will do it. And if I can make it all in a slow cooker - even better!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
No. You can use regular ranch dressing or any other ranch flavors.
You could substitute the prepared ranch dressing with a packet of Hidden Valley® Ranch dressing mix. Just add that in at the beginning of the recipe (sprinkle on top of frozen chicken before cooking.) Then continue with the rest of the recipe (just not adding the prepared dressing at the end.) Be sure to check out my Homemade Ranch Seasoning Mix.
I love that this meal starts with frozen chicken breasts. No need to thaw first. But, if you have raw chicken breasts or even chicken thighs, you can use those instead. Same cooking time.
Use your favorite salsa (or even a HOMEMADE SALSA) - I prefer the Herdez brand salsa.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for two days. Leftovers can also be frozen. Place leftovers in an airtight container or ziploc bag and it can be kept frozen for 2 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- frozen chicken breasts
- cream of chicken soup
- salsa
- minced garlic
- sour cream
- Hidden Valley® Ranch Cilantro Lime dressing (or regular ranch dressing)
- rotini pasta
HOW TO MAKE SLOW COOKER SALSA RANCH CHICKEN PASTA:
Place frozen chicken breasts into the bottom of a 6-quart (or larger) slow cooker.
In a medium bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, salsa and minced garlic.
Pour this mixture over chicken breasts.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 30 minutes or so before this is finished cooking, begin preparing the rotini pasta according to package directions.
Once chicken is cooked, remove chicken breasts and shred them or cut into chunks.
Whisk in sour cream and Hidden Valley® Ranch Cilantro lime dressing into cream of chicken/salsa mixture in the slow cooker.
Add chicken back into the slow cooker and stir in prepared rotini pasta.
Stir well and serve with a fresh, crisp salad!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES? GIVE THESE A TRY!
Crock Pot Salsa Ranch Chicken Pasta (+Video)
Ingredients
- 5 frozen chicken breasts
- 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup salsa (I like Herdez brand salsa - mild)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup Hidden Valley® Ranch dressing
- 16 ounce box rotini pasta, prepared
Instructions
- Place frozen chicken breasts into the bottom of a 6-quart (or larger) slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, salsa and minced garlic.
- Pour this mixture over frozen chicken breasts.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- About 30 minutes or so before this is finished cooking, begin preparing the rotini pasta according to package directions.
- Once chicken is cooked, remove chicken breasts and shred them or cut into chunks.
- Whisk in sour cream and Hidden Valley® Ranch dressing into cream of chicken/salsa mixture in the slow cooker.
- Add chicken back into the slow cooker and stir in prepared rotini pasta. Stir well then serve.
Video
Notes
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for two days. Leftovers can also be frozen. Place leftovers in an airtight container or ziploc bag and it can be kept frozen for 2 months.
- I love that this meal starts with frozen chicken breasts. No need to thaw first. But, if you have raw chicken breasts or even chicken thighs, you can use those instead. Same cooking time.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published: April 2016
Updated & republished: April 2020
Maureen
Tried this with a rotisserie chicken, shred and seasoned meat with cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion powder and a little salt and pepper. Cooked noodles added chicken, noodles and all wet ingredients with a little saute onions and garlic mixed well add a little cheese. Bake covered for 30 min a 350. Came out delish. I know it's not following the recipe but if you want a little bit of a spin on this dish, give it a try.
Vicki Hanna
Can this be frozen. It made so much for just the 2 of us.
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Hi Vicki! That's a good question. I haven't tried freezing this one yet. It seems to me like you should be able to without any issues. If you give it a try, please let me know!
Amber
What if I have the packet of hidden valley ranch seasoning? Can I just sprinkle it in?
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Technically you could but you're also going to need some sort of cream to help make up what you're missing by not using the liquid ranch. So perhaps some heavy cream might work but I haven't tested it so couldn't tell you exactly how much.
Christine Hughes
Made this for dinner tonight, and I was very pleased with the result. I did have to make a few alterations for dietary reasons (I had to substitute Gluten free cream of chicken soup and gluten free pasta). Also, since I'm a big fan of sour cream, I doubled the amount added. Going off one of the other reviews, I also increased the amount of ranch dressing from 1/2 cup to 3/4. Finally, before serving, I stirred in some shredded Mexican blend cheese and let it melt before serving. This will definitely be something I will make again! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Denise
Love the recipe. Came out delicious. It’s a keeper for sure
Nene
My family an I like jalapeños, so I add some in to give it an extra boost!
Anna
Can I use fresh thawed chicken breasts in the recipe instead of frozen?
Laurie Padula
Hi! I love using your recipes!! So many are our favorites!! For this one, is there something else I could use instead of the salsa? I'm not much into spicy!! Thank you!! I would love to make this this coming week!!
Kathy
This is a good base recipe. Next time I will cook again as directed but will pop everything into a casserole dish with some grated mozzarella cheese on top and will bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Also, my chicken breasts were smaller so they were perfect after 4 hours on low. Thanks for the recipe.
Lindsey
Can I use thawed chicken? If so what does the cook time change to?
Thanks!
Janine
So I mixed the dressing in with the salsa and soup in the beginning. I misread the directions. Do you think it will still come out ok? I'll let you know how it turns out.
Alaina Lyle
Can you forgot the cream of chicken? Thought I had some on hand but I'm out and can't get to the store today. I don't have any other cream of anything soups.
Nana
Alaina -you a can always make a batch of basic white sauce as a substitute for any cream of whatever soup. In this case I would make and stir in a little chicken base or even use half chicken broth and milk as your liquid.
Brandy
Hi,what could be used in place of the sour cream? I've heard cream cheese is a good replacement for sour cream also plain Greek yogurt. Thank you
Jennifer Atkinson
We loved this pasta! Super easy but really good! We also tried the tater tot casserole and it was one of the best we've ever had! Love your recipes!
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Oh wow - thank you so much Jennifer!! Thank you for taking the time to let me know!
Barbara
I have found that when I start with frozen chicken breasts they come out a bit tough. Am I doing something wrong? This is a must try recipe. sounds delicious!
Brienne Meaghers-Hays
This was delicious!!!! I only used three chicken breasts as two of them were very large. I also used about 2/3 cup of regular Hidden Valley Ranch and about 1 cup of shredded cheese -italian blend (mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan, and Asiago). This was amazing! The chicken was so tender! We will be making this again!!
Jill
I'm a horrible cook, so crockpot meals are my friend! And this was delicious! I used thin sliced chicken breasts, black bean and corn salsa, added a little extra garlic, and cooked for about half the time(since the breasts were thin) ... thanks for the recipe!
Kim
Yeeees. Black beans would be an amazing add. Thank you for that suggestion.
Jeanette Bailes
If the chicken is thawed already, how long would you suggest cook time to be?
Lyndsay
My friend and I saw this recipe and both tried it the same day - then we compared. I followed the recipe as it was written and she made some changes: she used regular ranch dressing and put in some shredded mozzarella at the end as well. She also thinks she used a litttle more than half a cup of ranch. While I thought my prep was tasty, hers was DELICIOUS!! Definitely changing it up a bit next time I make this!
Chris
How much ranch was put in?
Chris
How much extra ranch did your friend put in?
Lisa
I have just made this for the third time & I like everything about it. There are no weird ingredients...I don't have to saute anything in advance...the flavor is amazing. This one is definitely a keeper! Thanks!