Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

This Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole with broccoli is the easiest comforting keto dinner for chicken lovers with only 2.8 grams of net carbs per serving! Nobody can resist juicy diced chicken breast with bacon and broccoli baked in a cheesy ranch dressing sauce.

You know how much I love keto casserole recipes right? I have been sharing so many with you lately, but this one is the first keto broccoli casserole recipe so I am very excited.

How to make keto bacon chicken casserole?

This easy keto chicken bacon ranch casserole recipe is made with only a few ingredients. Let’s see the few simple steps you need to follow to make the most delicious keto chicken casserole.

Gather all the ingredients for the

Before you start, gather all the ingredients needed in the recipe on your work surface. This is my favorite way to work to cook faster and make sure I don’t miss any ingredients. For this bacon ranch chicken keto casserole, you need:

• Chicken breast: Diced in small pieces. You can also use cooked rotisserie chicken and shred the breast t with a fork. It is a time-saving technique to make a quick keto casserole.
• Bacon pieces: I love to use streaky bacon strips and chop them into large bites. They release a good amount of fat in which you can cook the diced chicken breast for extra flavor. Of course, you can also use crumbled bacon from the store if preferred.
• Cheddar cheese: I am using two varieties of cheddar in this Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole. Red and white cheddar. They both have a different flavor, and the combination is perfect in this dish.
• Steamed broccoli: I recommend cooking the broccoli halfway until fork-tender, not too soft. This means 6 minutes of steaming or 4-5 minutes of boiling is enough to get the broccoli cooked for this casserole.

Homemade ranch dressing ingredients

To recreate the flavor of a ranch dressing sauce, you need the ingredients below. This will mimic your favorite ranch dressing, but it’s a keto-friendly version with no sugar or additives, so even better for your health! For the ranch dressing, you need the extra ingredients below:

• Sour cream: A classic ranch dressing sauce uses a combination of sour cream and mayonnaise. That’s the reason why I am not suggesting cream cheese in this chicken bacon ranch low-carb casserole.
• Mayonnaise: Make sure you are using avocado oil mayonnaise. Vegetable oils are not keto-approved and won’t be suitable for this recipe.
• Unsweetened almond milk
• Dried dill
• Dried parsley
• Onion powder
• Garlic or garlic powder
• Salt
• Pepper

Cooking the broccoli

I should probably call this a Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Broccoli Casserole since it’s using steamed broccoli.

First, remove the broccoli feet and cut them into small broccoli florets.

Then, place the small broccoli florets into a vegetable steamer or into boiling water. Steam or boil the broccoli for 4-6 minutes maximum to keep them fork tender. Since the broccoli will be baked in the casserole dish later, you don’t want to overcook the broccoli or they will get mushy in the casserole.

Finally, drain and place the broccoli florets into the casserole dish in a single layer. Set aside for 10 minutes to give some time to the broccoli to steam out.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C (400F).

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Cooking the chicken and bacon

Bring the pieces of bacon into a frying pan or skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until they release some fat.

Next, stir in the diced chicken breast and fry into the bacon fat to give it flavor. Keep cooking until the meat is not pink, about 5 minutes and then, add all the ranch dressing ingredients, including half or each cheddar cheeses.

Stir until the sauce simmers and forms bubbles on the side of the pan.

Assemble the casserole

For this final step, pour the cheese and bacon sauce over the broccoli florets.

Stir to combine the florets evenly with the sauce. Add the remaining grated cheese on top of the baking dish and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is broiled.

Which other keto vegetables can I use?

If you don’t like broccoli, there are plenty of other keto vegetables you can use in this recipe, like cooked cauliflower, cooked spaghetti squash strands, or cooked green beans.

Check out my list of keto-friendly vegetables to choose the one that matches your taste.

Can I make this recipe dairy-free?

Yes, you can make this bacon chicken ranch casserole using dairy-free ingredients.

Simply replace sour cream with coconut cream and omit the cheese in the casserole.

To add a cheesy flavor, you can add a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast to the sauce. Of course, nutritional yeats and coconut cream will raise the net carbs, but it will still be a very low-chicken bacon ranch casserole if you can’t have dairy!

How to decrease saturated fat?

On keto, we focus on eating fat for fuel to fit our keto macros- check my keto macro calculator if you need help to calculate yours.

So this means we don’t worry much about the type of fat and usually saturated fat is not a concern. This said, if you are looking for a low-saturated fat low carb casserole recipe,these are my tips:

• Replace the bacon with chicken bacon! It is low-carb keto meat too with 20 times less saturated fat than pork.
• Use low-fat cheese: low-fat cheese is still keto but contains up to 30% less saturated fat.
• Use sour cream: as mentioned in the recipe – don’t swap for cream cheese it contains more saturated fat.
• Make sure you use avocado oil mayonnaise: this is the lowest saturated fat mayonnaise and the best keto option for you.

Chicken bacon ranch casserole calories

This keto bacon ranch chicken casserole serves 8 people. Each portion is about 1 cup of the entire dish and it’s the perfect size needed for a fulfilling keto dinner. One serve of this easy chicken bacon ranch casserole contains :

• 400 kcal
• 2.8g net carbs
• 28g fat – including 9.7g saturated fat
• 32g protein  

How to store the chicken bacon ranch keto casserole?

You can store this casserole in the fridge, directly in its casserole dish covered with plastic wrap. It stores up to 4 days in the fridge.

You can also freeze this casserole recipe in single-serve portions, each stored in a sealed container. Always thaw the frozen meal in the fridge 24 hours before eating. You can rewarm this recipe in the microwave or in a saucepan over medium heat until hot.

More keto casserole recipes

I love making keto casserole as a quick and easy keto dinner for my family. Below are my favorite keto low carb recipes for family-friendly casserole. They all contain a very low net carb per serve to keep your macros on track!

 

Made this gluten-free cheesy chicken bacon ranch casserole? Make sure you leave me a review below or share a picture with me on Instagram.

 

XOXO Carine