Creamed Pasta with Bacon + Vegetables | Bacon & Pasta Recipe (2024)

Bless This Mess Recipes Easy Dinners Pasta

By Melissa

on Feb 15, 2019, Updated Jan 25, 2020

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Creamed Pasta with Bacon and Vegetables is one of our all-time favorite easy dinner recipes that comes together in about 40 minutes with just a few pantry staple ingredients.

I love bacon.I love it because you get so much flavor for a relatively small amount of money. This recipe only uses a half a pound of bacon, a pound of pasta, and just a few veggies, plus a cup of cream. It makes a whole lot of great tasting food on the cheap. That makes this one of my favorite recipes to make for a crowd.

The pasta is “creamed” because the sauce isliterallyjust cream. It makes things light and wonderful. You don’t get anAlfredo-type sauce when you only use the cream, but it’ll remind you of it. The vegetables are really able to stand out with the light sauce, but don’t forget theParmesanon top. It’s not just a garnish and the dish will taste bland without it. The addition of fresh tomatoes is a such a nice, fresh element too. All in all, it’s a few pantry staples come together into one stand-out dish.

Creamed Pasta with Bacon + Vegetables | Bacon & Pasta Recipe (2)

Tips and Tricks for MakingCreamed Pasta with Bacon and Vegetables:

  • If you like it really bacon-y, you can use a full pound of bacon. Just remove about half of the grease before adding your onions and peppers. A pound of bacon will produce more grease than you need.
  • This is an easy recipe to scale up or down, and I often make this to feed a crowd. It’s inexpensive and simple and everyone loves it.
  • The fresh diced tomato is raw and adds a great texture and flavor to the dish. Be sure it’s ripe so that it adds a subtle sweetness.

How can I make this pasta with bacon recipe ahead of time?

Make the recipe up until adding everything to the cooked pasta. Feel free to refrigerate the sauce portion of the recipe for up to three days. Simply reheat it and add it to fresh-cooked pasta (and then add the tomato and Parmesan) the day you plan to serve it.

Creamed Pasta with Bacon + Vegetables | Bacon & Pasta Recipe (3)

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Creamed Pasta with Bacon + Vegetables | Bacon & Pasta Recipe (4)

Creamed Pasta with Bacon and Vegetables

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5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6
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Description

Creamed Pasta with Bacon and Vegetables is one of our all-time favorite easy dinner recipes that comes together in about 40 minutes with just a few pantry staple ingredients.

  • 1/2 pound bacon
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 large bell pepper, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pound pasta, cooked according to directions
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • additional salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan

Instructions

  1. Finely chop the raw bacon on a cutting board. After bacon is chopped, add it to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until crispy, stirring often.
  2. Add the onion and bell pepper to the bacon and bacon grease and cook until soft, 4 to 5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  4. Whisk in the cream, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the salt and combine.
  5. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes.
  6. Add the hot cream mixture to the hot cooked noodles.
  7. Add the diced tomatoes to the noodles.
  8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  9. Serve right away with the Parmesan on top.

Notes

  • If you like it really bacon-y, you can use a full pound of bacon. Just remove about half of the grease before adding your onions and peppers. A pound of bacon will produce more grease than you need.
  • This is an easy recipe to scale up or down, and I often make this to feed a crowd. It’s inexpensive and simple and everyone loves it.
  • The fresh diced tomato is raw and adds a great texture and flavor to the dish. Be sure it’s ripe so that it adds a subtle sweetness.
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 30 min
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: American

Creamed Pasta with Bacon + Vegetables | Bacon & Pasta Recipe (5)

Other easy pasta recipe you might like:

  • Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta
  • Quick and Easy Pesto Pasta Salad
  • Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
  • 30-Minute Simple Roasted Tomato and Sausage Pasta
  • One Pot Pasta Primavera

So much to love about this post. It’s one of my favorite recipes, and I can’t wait for you to try it.

About Melissa

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Creamed Pasta with Bacon + Vegetables | Bacon & Pasta Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What ingredient should you add to the pasta and why? ›

Lemons are a flavor enhancer just like salt but without all the sodium. A fresh squeeze brings out the acidity of the tomatoes and enhances the flavor of the noodles, making the entire dish more savory.

How to make the best tasting pasta? ›

The Easy Secrets to Way Better Pasta
  1. Make sure your cooking water is salty like the sea, and almost as plentiful. ...
  2. Check the package's cooking time, but don't put too much faith in it. ...
  3. Reserve a little pasta water. ...
  4. Never, ever rinse. ...
  5. Finish your pasta in its sauce.
Apr 16, 2017

What can I add to pasta to make it nicer? ›

Take some butter, heat it on low with garlic and any herb that you like(not dried) basil, thyme and rosemary are great. The same can be made but replace the butter with a good olive oil. Greek yogurt, lemon, dill, hint of cayenne, olive oil and greek olives.

How to make your pasta tasty? ›

Olive oil or butter and herbs. Adding a fat to the pasta makes it taste better if you're poor and need something. I also add oregano and/or basil. Butter, eggs, and cheese.

What ingredients make pasta sauce better? ›

Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level. Although fresh herbs might pop a bit more, dried herbs and spices can work just as well. Sprinkling in some red pepper flakes, a pinch of parsley and a dash of salt and pepper can liven up your jarred pasta sauce.

How do you spice up bland pasta? ›

Add salt to the cooking water: While boiling the pasta, add a generous amount of salt to the water. This will help season the pasta from within, making it taste better. Use a flavorful sauce: A delicious sauce can elevate the taste of the pasta.

How do you make Italian pasta taste better? ›

The simplest thing is to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. Don't just cook to al dente and slap some sauce on top. Season the pasta well by generously salting the water. Cook the pasta just under al dente and mix with the sauce along with a spoonful of the water used to boil the pasta.

What not to do when making pasta? ›

Cooking pasta: 5 mistakes
  1. Toss the pasta when the water is cold. This is probably the most common and also the most serious mistake you can make in cooking pasta. ...
  2. Using the wrong measure of salt. ...
  3. Cooking pasta in a small pot. ...
  4. Overcooking the pasta. ...
  5. Drain the pasta too much.
Sep 14, 2023

What seasoning should I put in pasta? ›

A good base of basil, thyme, oregano, and garlic powder is enough to turn a bland marinara sauce into delicious pasta dinners. Great for all sorts of dishes.

How do you keep creamy pasta creamy? ›

Add more cream to keep the sauce from separating

Bring the sauce to room temperature first, then pour it into a pan and gradually raise the stove's temperature while adding cream bit by bit. The fat in the cream helps prevent the sauce from separating.

Which is the tastiest pasta? ›

The most famous pasta dishes are:
  • Spaghetti Bolognaise.
  • Lasagne.
  • Fettuccine Alfredo.
  • Pasta Carbonara.
  • Ravioli.
  • Pasta alla Norma.
  • Spaghetti alle Vongole.
  • Macaroni Cheese.
Oct 24, 2023

How do you make spaghetti taste like a restaurant? ›

SIMMER YOUR SAUCE AND NOODLES IN A PAN

A pan is the best method to combine noodles and sauce. Period. Not a giant pot, and certainly not the bowl you'll be serving in. Heating the pasta and sauce together in a skillet helps infuse the pasta with the flavor of the sauce, melding them together into a flavorful whole.

What are the important ingredients in pasta? ›

Pasta is a staple food in the Mediterranean diet, primarily manufactured with two essential ingredients, semolina and water; nowadays, it is often supplemented with functional ingredients.

What is the most important ingredient in pasta? ›

There is also one basic ingredient in almost every single genuine Italian pasta dish — extra virgin olive oil. The star of the show, able to liven up any dish, bind sauces (or ruin them, if you don't use good quality olive oil), and add that unique taste that makes dishes really stand out.

What is the main ingredient in pasta? ›

Durum wheat flour

What 3 basic ingredients are used in the production of pasta? ›

Pasta products contain milled wheat, water, and occasionally eggs and/or optional ingredients. Pasta manufacturers typically use milled durum wheat (semolina, durum granulars, and durum flour) in pasta production, although farina and flour from common wheat are occasionally used.

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