Garlic Bacon Pasta
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This Bacon Parmesan Pasta is made with plenty of cheese, garlic and yes, bacon too and it comes together in under 20 minutes!
….because sometimes you just need some bacon parmesan in your life. This bacon pasta is creamy, cheesy and is impossible to NOT enjoy.
Admittedly, this is one of my not-so-healthy recipes, but oh my gosh is it good! I will not apologize for the deliciousness of this bacon pasta, and I highly recommend you make it for yourself or your family ASAP.
Recipe features
- The creamiest pasta that just so happens to be filled with bacon and cheese
- Ready in under 20 minutes, making is the perfect weeknight meal
- Serve it with a simple side salad and you have yourself a complete meal!
…speaking of bacon, if you or someone in your family loves bacon, be sure to check out my Bacon-Wrapped Salmon and my Bacon Guacamole.
Ingredient notes
Pasta – any kind, though I tend to opt for long noodles like spaghetti or bucatini; can use gluten free
Bacon – can sub pancetta
Cheese – parmesan; shaved or freshly grated
Method
First: Cook the bacon in a large skillet, then use a slotted spoon to remove it and set it aside. At the same time, cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water as you normally would.
Second: In the same skillet, heat the butter and olive oil, then sauté the garlic for 2-3 minutes before adding the water and slowly stirring in the shredded parmesan cheese until it’s melted, which should create almost like a cheese sauce.
Third: Add one piece of crumbled bacon to the skillet, then transfer the cooked pasta to it and use tongs to coat the pasta in the sauce.
Tips
- Use high quality parmesan, preferably freshly grated, which will melt easiest in the skillet
- Want to keep this vegetarian? Sub mushrooms, grape tomatoes or even my tempeh bacon instead
How should this be stored?
Honestly, because of the creaminess of the sauce, this pasta is best served fresh, and doesn’t taste nearly as good the next day. So, my recommendation is to eat it day-of.
More pasta recipes
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Garlic Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb. spaghetti noodles, or pasta of choice
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup pasta water, divided
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta over stovetop as you normally would.
- Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet, then use a slotted spoon to remove it, leaving the bacon grease in the skillet and leaving the skillet over medium-low heat. Add oil and butter to the skillet. Once butter has melted, add the garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Then, add HALF of the water and HALF of the parmesan cheese and stir until cheese has melted; then, stir in the rest of the cheese. Immediately remove the skillet from the heat, then add the cooked pasta and bacon and toss to combine.
- To serve: place pasta on a plate, top it with extra salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and the remaining cooked bacon (and extra shredded parmesan, if you wish).
Notes
Nutrition
UPDATE NOTE: This post was originally published in April 2018. It was updated with new text and photos in November 2020.
Extremely tasty! Only issue I had was parm did not melt into the sauce.
I might just prefer this to an alfredo!
This is so worth all the calories..
So so delicious!!
Love that — thanks for the 5-star rating, Amanda!
Delicious and super easy to make. I added a little extra bacon for a bit more protein but the flavoring was fully based on this recipe and it’s delicious!
Thanks Kelsey, I’m glad you liked the pasta!
I made this for lunch today. It is delicious. I added some cream cheese for a creamy sauce.
Thanks Nancy! Glad you enjoyed the pasta!
So the cheese just formed a large melted clump and did not mix with the water/bacon/oil mix, making what looked like melted cheese soup.
Oh, well. Pizza night
Mine too!
I haven’t had this in ages. It’s like a distance memory, but it’s a good memory. It’s a great dish. It seems to me though that it had a few peas n carrots in it, but recipes are guidelines and people make them their own. Enjoy.
Thanks for the kind comment, Jeff!
Hi Erin
My Italian wife makes this at least twice a month. I can’t get enough of it. Your recipe is a bit different so I am going to make this for tonight. Wish me luck
Let me know how it turns out!
Maybe I did something wrong (I am usually a great home chef) but this was the greasiest pasta I’ve ever had. Two bites and we all threw it out.
Hi Cindy! I’m sorry you didn’t like the pasta. Instead of reserving the bacon grease, you could dump it out and wipe the skillet with a paper towel to omit some of the grease for next time.
I love parmesan pasta, it’s my favorite.
Hi, I just read your last post and I understand also about avoiding certain foods. I recently came down with a bad case of pneumonia wasn’t getting any better come to find out that, I have acid reflux. Mind you, I cook a lot and love it. So now, I’m dairy free, I also can’t have nuts, chocolate, caffine, or anything Spicy. So I just recently learned how to change all of my food to the special diet while still making regular food for my family. I hope that you get better soon.
“zero percent healthy and ONE HUNDRED PERCENT delicious” Love this! haha!
Sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
Yummy pasta!