Ultimate BLT Pasta Salad
Pasta salad with ranch dressing, tomatoes, lettuce, bacon, avocado and white cheddar cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked Cavatappi pasta
- 1 1/4 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 avocado
- 1 1/2 cups romaine lettuce
- 3/4 cup white cheddar cheese cubed
- 1/4 cup basil
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing
- 6 slices bacon
- Fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions for al dente. While the pasta is cooking cook the bacon until crispy. I prefer placing it on a plate between two paper towels and microwaving for several minutes to not make a huge mess and cook the bacon quickly.
- Drain the pasta once cooked and rinse off with cold water. Pat dry the pasta with a paper towel to help the ranch dressing stick to it better. Transfer cooled and dried pasta into a medium-large bowl. Pour the ranch dressing over the pasta and stir so that the pasta is all coated. It will seem like there is quite a bit of ranch, but when you add the other ingredients, it will get distributed more.
- Slice the tomatoes in half, cut up the cheese into cubes and cut the basil into long strips. Add to the bowl with the pasta and stir to combine. Break the cooled bacon up into bite sized pieces and stir into the pasta.
- If eating all right away add the full avocado and lettuce to the bowl and stir to combine. Otherwise just add half a cup of lettuce to each serving and part of the avocado. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and divide into three bowls.
- Keep left over pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.