Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches

Chicken bacon ranch sandwiches are perfect for a super easy weeknight meal. With only five ingredients and the help of your crockpot, you can have them on the table without much effort at all.

Creamy, slow-cooked chicken with tangy ranch seasoning and crispy bacon pieces all sandwiched between a hearty ciabatta bun–these sandwiches are just SO good. Your family will be asking for them on repeat!

What You’ll Need

Chicken breasts: Chicken is my absolute favorite for just throwing in the Crockpot for a super easy dinner. It’s so versatile and I almost always have it on hand.

Bacon: It’s proven that bacon makes everything better. Cooked, crumbled bacon is added to the creamy chicken mixture to give it delicious flavor and texture.

Ranch seasoning: Ranch seasoning is like magic. Sprinkle it on anything and it becomes delicious. I love that it is so easy and adds so much flavor to the creamy chicken mixture in this recipe.

Cream cheese: The cream cheese helps bring everything together. The combination of this with the ranch seasoning, the chicken, and the bacon is seriously the best. I like to use full-fat cream cheese, but you can definitely use reduced-fat if you prefer.

Ciabatta buns: Because the chicken mixture is very creamy and tender, the texture of a ciabatta bun makes pairs so well. It’s soft on the inside and perfectly crusty on the outside.

How to Make Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches

1. Slow cook the chicken with the cream cheese and ranch seasoning on low for 6-7 hours. Don’t add any extra liquid. The chicken will release juice naturally that will prevent it from burning. However, you will want to scrape the sides of the Crockpot every 2-3 hours to prevent the cream cheese from burning where it touches the sides.
2. Cook the bacon. I like to bake it on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet in the oven at 400˚F for about 25 minutes. You can also fry it in a pan if you prefer. Let it cool on a paper towel lined plate, then crumble it into smaller pieces. The bacon then gets mixed into the chicken mixture.
3. Assemble the sandwiches. Take the sandwiches up another notch by toasting the ciabatta buns in the oven, toaster oven, toaster, or cut side down in a skillet with a little butter. Then, scoop some of the chicken bacon ranch mixture on top and enjoy!

Notes & Tips

• If you cannot keep an eye on your Crockpot while the chicken cooks and are afraid that the cream cheese will burn, feel free to wait to add the cream cheese until the last hour or two of cooking.

• Feel free to substitute any kind of bread or bun if you can’t find ciabatta buns. You could use a french baguette and cut into smaller pieces for sandwiches. This chicken bacon ranch filling would also be delicious made into sliders on Hawaiian buns. Last but not least, using a hearty sandwich bread, like multigrain or sourdough, and toasting would be a great alternative.

• If you like a little extra crunch, add some lettuce or thinly sliced cabbage. Add some sliced tomato for extra veggies.

• These sandwiches are delicious served with fries, roasted vegetables (like these Roasted Carrots and Asparagus), or a side salad.

Storage and Reheating

To store leftovers, keep chicken and bacon mixture separate from buns in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4-5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply microwave the meat, stirring frequently, before adding to a bun.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches