This Easy Bacon Pasta is the perfect weeknight meal that is on the table in under 15 minutes. Comforting, easy to adapt, and packed with vegetables - the perfect combination for a pasta dish. Crispy bacon stirred through spaghetti with peas and spinach.
Not only is this pasta dish a great way to use up a couple of rashers of bacon, but it's a quick and easy comforting meal that is easy to pack with vegetables. Just a few ingredients, which are easy to switch out for whatever you have on hand, and you can have delicious comfort food in under 15 minutes.
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Step by step
One: Put the pasta in a saucepan of boiling water and simmer for 12 minutes. 5 minutes before the pasta is cooked, add the frozen peas.
Two: Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add the shallots, garlic and chopped bacon and cook on a low heat for 4-5 minutes, until the bacon is cooked to your liking.
Three: Drain the pasta and peas (reserving a little of the water) and add it to the frying pan with the spinach. Add about 100ml of the water and stir through.
Why should you try it?
- Easy comfort food
- Ready in 15 minutes
- Easy to adapt
- A good way to use up leftover bacon
What to serve this with
This is a pretty hearty and filling meal as it is, and not particularly low on calories. So, we tend to just bulk it out with a big green salad. However, if you were serving this up at a dinner party, then some homemade garlic bread would go down well.
If you wanted some extra veggie sides, then I recommend our Roasted Garlic and Herb Mushrooms, Spanish Olives, Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes.
FAQs
We love a dish that we can pack full of vegetables and this is definitely one of those. We have give it a green boost with some spinach and peas, but this is a super adaptable dish.
You could swap the spinach for kale (or do a mix of the two). When you are cooking the shallots, you could add some finely chopped mushrooms, peppers and courgettes too.
There isn't actually a sauce for this pasta, well, not in the traditional sense anyway. Instead, we have kept it simple and used the flavour intense juices from the bacon, mixed with shallots and garlic and then added a little of the pasta water to loosen it all up.
You could stir in some creme fraiche, cream or even a little marinara if you wanted it more saucy. This isn't a dry pasta dish at all, and pasta water actually helps to make it nice and creamy. Give it a try!
Any leftovers of this pasta dish will store in the fridge for up to 2 days. You will need to add a little water to it, as it will dry out, and then heat it in a little oil in a frying pan.
Extra tips
- We used smoked back bacon for this recipe. You want to use a bacon with a high fat content ideally, to get that rich flavour. However, if you want to save some calories then you could use turkey bacon.
- The pasta water is what makes the sauce for this dish, however if you want it saucier, you could add creme friache, cream or even some marinara.
- You can use any veg you like in this dish. Swap spinach for kale, or add some diced mushroom, peppers and courgettes at the same time as the shallots.
- This is a fairly heavy dish, so try to serve it with extra veggies.
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Recipe
Easy Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 140 g spaghetti
- 3 shallots diced
- 2 garlic cloves diced
- 3 rashers bacon diced
- 70 g frozen peas
- 60 g fresh spinach
- 20 g Parmesan shaved (to serve)
- Fresh basil (to serve)
Instructions
- Put the pasta in to a saucepan of boiling water and simmer for 12 minutes. 5 minutes before the pasta is cooked, add the frozen peas.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add the shallots, garlic and chopped bacon and cook on a low heat for 4-5 minutes, until the bacon is cooked to your liking.
- Drain the pasta and peas (reserving a little of the water) and add it to the frying pan with the spinach. Add about 100ml of the water and stir through.
Notes
- We used smoked back bacon for this recipe. You want to use a bacon with a high fat content ideally, to get that rich flavour. However, if you want to save some calories then you could use turkey bacon.
- The pasta water is what makes the sauce for this dish, however if you want it saucier, you could add creme friache, cream or even some marinara.
- You can use any veg you like in this dish. Swap spinach for kale, or add some diced mushroom, peppers and courgettes at the same time as the shallots.
- This is a fairly heavy dish, so try to serve it with extra veggies.
Maria
Bacon,bacon, bacon! This will surely be a favorite to anyone who loves bacon. An easy dish so easy to whip up when unexpected guests arrive. Then you can upgrade it by adding some vegetables like spinach, kale, mushrooms and others. This is something that is need to be tried. Thanks for sharing this. :)
Jenn
You had me at bacon. OMG this pasta dish is soooo good! It's my new favorite, and it's so easy to make, too! Love it!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
This pasta recipe is so perfect for the weeknight dinners. Love your tips and pictorial and it makes it easy to follow.
Kristin
What a great way to get my kids to eat spinach and peas...combine them with pasta and bacon! Awesome idea. I can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Andrea
Quick, easy and bacon! A perfect pasta meal the whole family will love!
Cate
How how simple and tasty this pasta looks!! Saving to make soon. :)
Amanda Marie Boyle
Looks so good. I'm always looking for ways to shake up my pasta routine, since it's one of the few foods my toddler will consistently eat.
Pam Greer
This is exactly the kind of pasta recipe that I was looking for! Lots of veggies, bacon and crazy easy!
Marlynn
Everyone in my house loves this bacon pasta! I appreciate how easy and fast it is to make. Thanks!
David
Yum! love simple pasta recipes like this. And with bacon you don't need a lot else for flavor; I like the idea of peas along with it.
Gloria
Well bacon makes everything taste better. The perfect pairing with pasta. My grankids would love this for dinner next sleepover.
Toni Dash
This is so good!! Everyone at my house loved this!
Sue
I love how easy this is, and it makes such a hearty dish! A winner!
Jeannette
You had me at 'easy'! Love how smoked bacon is the star of this dish. Extra flavour! Thanks for sharing such a wonderfu recipe :D
Beth Sachs
Just the kind of quick recipe I need to feed 3 hungry kids on school nights. So filling and tasty!
Soniya
Love pasta and always look for different recipes. I have all the ingredients can't wait to try it
Taylor Kiser
Comfort food dinner for the win! Quick and easy too! This one checks off all the boxes!
Angela
A great recipe to add to your weeknight rotation. So quick and easy!
Charla
We love a dish that is tasty and quick to prepare. I love that it only takes 15 minutes to cook. Sign me up!!
Julia
I make bacon pasta a lot as we love it. Love how easy your recipe looks and more importantly I only need a few ingredients to make it. Thanks for the inspiration :)!