Try a new twist on an easy dinner salad. It’s easy to customize with what you have on hand.
Ham Ranch Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
- 3 cups your favorite pasta, cooked to al dente
- 1 cup frozen peas, cooked
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1 cup diced ham
- 1 cup bottled ranch dressing
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives (optional)
Directions:
- Cook the pasta until al dente, drain, and allow to cool. In a large bowl, add drained pasta, ham, peas, tomatoes, red bell pepper and chives. Toss to combine.
- Gently stir in ranch dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. If desired, top with ham crumbles for garnish.
Note: The chives in this recipe are totally optional. I don’t always add it. But this time I had some on hand, so I added it. I like the extra flavor that it added to the pasta salad.
If you let this sit in the fridge for a while, you might need to add a little more ranch dressing just before serving. The pasta really soaks it up.