
You know that friend who just makes everything fun? Ranch dressing is the cooking equivalent of that friend—the creamy condiment just makes everything better! Case in point: this white cheddar and ranch chicken penne. Long gone are the days of just drizzling ranch on mixed green salads. Now, you’ll swirl it into cheesy sauce for penne, then top it with herby chicken and crispy fried onions. You + ranch = best friends forever!
1 unit
Onion
½ cup
White Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
6 ounce
Penne Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
1 tablespoon
Ranch Spice
10 ounce
Chicken Cutlets
1 tablespoon
Flour
(Contains: Wheat)
1.5 ounce
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
(Contains: Eggs, Milk)
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
8 tablespoon (tbsp)
Cooking Oil
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. • Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion.

• In a medium bowl, toss half the onion with half the flour (you’ll use the rest in step 5). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. • Heat a 1⁄3-inch layer of oil in a large, heavy- bottomed pan over medium- low heat. Once oil is hot enough that a pinch of flour sizzles when added to the pan, add floured onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 7-9 minutes. • Using a slotted spoon, transfer crispy onion to a paper-towel-lined plate.

• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels and season all over with half the Ranch Spice (all for 4 servings), salt, and pepper. Set aside. • While onion cooks, heat a drizzle of oil in a second large pan over medium- high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, 3-5 minutes per side. TIP: If chicken begins to brown too quickly, lower heat to medium and cover pan. • Turn off heat; transfer to a cutting board and tent with foil to keep warm. Wipe out pan.

• Once water is boiling, add penne to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. • Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water (2 cups for 4 servings), then drain.

• Heat 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) in pan used for chicken over medium heat. Add remaining onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and softened, 6-9 minutes. Add a few splashes of plain water and cook until onion is caramelized and liquid has evaporated, 1-2 minutes more. • Add remaining flour and cook, stirring constantly, until flour is golden, 30-60 seconds. Slowly whisk in 3⁄4 cup reserved pasta cooking water (1 1⁄4 cups for 4) and stock concentrate; cook until thickened, 2-3 minutes more. • Remove from heat; stir in cheddar and ranch dressing until melted and combined.

• Add drained penne to pan with sauce and toss to coat. If needed, stir in more reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until pasta is coated in a creamy sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper. • Slice chicken crosswise. • Divide pasta between bowls. Top with chicken and sprinkle with crispy onion. Serve.
The chicken was so tender and tasty. The penne was perfect with this dish. We loved the white cheddar ranch sauce.
White cheddar gave an interesting taste. Be sure to cook onions so they are crispy.
This dish was very good, I enjoyed the crispy onion on top of this creamy penne.
Very tasty and something new and different! Like the cheddar and ranch flavors with the penne, overall a great meal!
The crispy onions were good, but this dish as a whole surprisingly had little to no flavor. The ranch added to the pasta did nothing in terms of flavor.
The crispy onions made the dish awesome! Honestly I wish I would have cut the chicken into much smaller pieces. I didn't like taking bites of large pieces of chicken or maybe it would have been even better without the chicken at all.
Another amazing meal. I learned how to make crispy onions which are delicious I might add. The ranch cheese sauce was so flavorful.
Very good for a pasta dish. I liked the caramelized onions. Wish there was more cheddar cheese in the dish.
If you like onions this meal is for you! The flavors were AMAZING! I left off the ranch seasoning on the chicken (just my taste preference). This is a top meal for my house! Yummmm!
We decided the floured/fried onions were an unnecessary use of a pan so we just caramelized them before cooking the chicken in the same pan. Fantastic flavors!