This Creamy Bacon Pasta recipe has an indulgent tomato cream sauce with garlic, Parmesan cheese, simple seasonings, and crispy bacon! Your family will love this restaurant-quality dinner with a side of Garlic Bread with Cheese.
Bacon Pasta
I can’t wait for you to smell this creamy bacon sauce. It’s got the perfect balance of garlic, Parmesan, fresh tomatoes, cream, seasonings, and of course… bacon.
You can use any kind of pasta with this recipe. I love using bowtie pasta (farfalle), medium shells, regular or thin spaghetti, and even penne.
Let’s get to it! Here’s what you need to know:
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Cook the bacon over low and slow heat until crispy. Remove and reserve 1 TBS drippings.
Add minced garlic and add splashes of chicken broth to the pan. Use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pan while the garlic cooks for 1-2 minutes.
Once the bottom and sides of the pan are clean, add remaining chicken broth, cream, tomato paste, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
Add cherry tomatoes and stir in room temperature cream cheese. Let it bubble gently, partially covered, while you boil the pasta. Reduce heat to low and gradually stir in Parmesan cheese.
Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. The sauce will thicken upon standing and the pasta will continue to absorb it. Garnish with crumbled bacon and fresh parsley.
Pro Tips
- Any kind of pasta can be used in this recipe. My favorites include bowtie (farfalle), medium shells, and thin or regular spaghetti.
- Diced/drained tomatoes can be used instead of cherry tomatoes. I like the flavor and texture from the softened cherry tomatoes but a firmer and more uniform texture from diced tomatoes may be preferred.
- The cream cheese must be at room temperature in order to melt well into the sauce.
- Be sure to grate Parmesan cheese from a block instead of using packaged grated cheese as it will melt much smoother and creamier.
- If you substitute half and half instead of heavy cream, heat it in the microwave for 30-40 seconds before adding it into the sauce to ensure that it doesn’t curdle.
- You can’t taste the mustard powder, it enhances the other flavors in the recipe.
- If you love extra saucy pasta, use slightly less than 1/2 lb.
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)– Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Stainless Steel Skillet– This is the one I used for this recipe.
- Kitchen Tongs– Easiest way to handle and flip the bacon.
- Silicone Spatula
Try These Next
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Cheese Chicken
- Bacon Mac and Cheese
- Sausage Tortellini Soup
- Beef Tips and Gravy
- Chicken Potato Soup
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Tried This Recipe?
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![Creamy Bacon Pasta on a white plate with cherry tomatoes and crispy chopped bacon.](jpg/creamy-bacon-pasta-recipe-f-200x200.jpg)
Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
Seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne, optional
Pasta
- 5 slices bacon
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 pinch Red pepper Flakes
- 2 Tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
- 8 oz spaghetti
- Fresh Parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Cook the bacon slowly over low heat until crispy on each side. Remove and set aside on a paper towel lined plate. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon drippings. Remove any black flecks from pan, but leave the brown remnants on the bottom as this will add great flavor to the sauce.
- Add reserved bacon drippings to the pan along with the garlic over medium heat.
- Add a splash of chicken broth and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pan. Continue to add small splashes of broth while the garlic cooks for 1-2 minutes.
- Once the bottom and sides of the pan are clean, you’ll be left with a brown liquid full of flavor. Add any remaining chicken broth along with the tomato paste, seasonings, and heavy cream. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the cherry tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and room temperature cream cheese. Stir to combine the cream cheese into the sauce. Cover partially and let it bubble slightly while you begin boiling salted pasta water. The tomatoes will eventually split.
- Taste the sauce and season with a pinch of salt if desired.
- Cook pasta 1 minute less than instructed on package. Once the pasta is nearly finished, reduce heat on the sauce to low. Gradually sprinkle on freshly grated Parmesan cheese and stir to combine. If the base is too hot when you do this, the dairy will separate and you’ll have a grainy consistency so be sure to let the heat reduce to low.
- Use kitchen tongs to add the pasta to the sauce and toss to combine until desired sauce/pasta ratio is obtained. Allow it to cook for 1 minute more to allow the sauce to thicken further and for the pasta to absorb it.
- The sauce will continue to thicken further upon standing. Garnish with chopped bacon and fresh parsley and serve with Garlic Bread with Cheese.
Notes
- Any kind of pasta can be used in this recipe. My favorites include bowtie (farfalle), medium shells, and thin or regular spaghetti.
- If you love extra saucy pasta, use slightly less than 1/2 lb.
- Diced/drained tomatoes can be used instead of cherry tomatoes. I like the flavor and texture from the softened cherry tomatoes but a firmer and more uniform texture from diced tomatoes may be preferred.
- The cream cheese must be at room temperature in order to melt well into the sauce.
- Be sure to grate Parmesan cheese from a block instead of using packaged grated cheese as it will melt much smoother and creamier.
- If you substitute half and half instead of heavy cream, heat it in the microwave for 30-40 seconds before adding it into the sauce to ensure that it doesn’t curdle.
- The mustard powder may seem strange, but it enhances the other flavors in the recipe.
I use to cook all the time back east , here at Phoenix Az no great Italian anything over price even pizza claiming Italiian awful ” Over priced , Chinnese food as well no duck sauce fried rice yellow over priced but these dishes We all love Thankyou so much if your book is at libary I will read it if not I will keep trying dishes online your great. Thanks again
I’m so happy to hear that you are loving my recipes! My cookbook isn’t available at your local library but I appreciate you checking them out online!! 🙂 Thank you!
BIG hit in the house. I had to sub in a can diced tomatoe’s due to not having enough cherry toms.
I’m so happy to hear that it was a hit Tuffy!!! WAHOO! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!! -Stephanie
I have made this twice in the last two weeks. Big hit with my husband! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.
You’re very welcome Sharon, I’m so happy you’re enjoying it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and review💕
Okay, this is an insanely good sauce. I had mushrooms and zucchini to use, so I sautéed them with the garlic. The flavor was amazing and this is a new fave for sure!!
Thanks so much for the great comments Suzanne, I’m so happy you liked it! This one is a big hit in my house. I love that you sauteed mushrooms and zucchini in the garlic, genius!💖
I don’t have any mustard powder, will there be a huge difference without it? I also don’t have tomato paste, would marinara work?
Hi Toni! There won’t be a huge difference without the mustard powder, but the tomato paste thickens the sauce and adds depth of flavor. You can use marinara, it just won’t have quite the same effect as it’s not as thick/concentrated.
OMG!! We loved the recipe! The combination of spices were so yummy. We will do more bacon next time and less cherry tomatoes. We did 1 1/2 times the recipe and got 4 servings out of it. We served red lobster rolls that you bake from home with it! It was great!
I’m so happy everyone loved it! Serving with homemade Red Lobster rolls is perfect, nice work! Thanks so much for the great comments and review Maria!😀
Awesome dish, added double bacon because well go for it when you can. Great tip on the cheese, thank you, I would of dumped it in that hot pan and ruined the dish. My husband loved it and we will be making this again.
I’m sooo happy that you loved it Karen! And I’m psyched that you took my cheese advice into account, I’ve made that mistake myself- and it’s the worst! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it!! -Stephanie
This recipe has been a HUGE hit with my family! We’ve recently tried it with canned rotel tomatoes and it was good, but my partner perfers it with the cherry tomatoes, he calls them flavor bombs. With how much I make this, is this possible to make and then freeze just sauce? That way I don’t have to stand over the stove making it hah we would just have to make the pasta?
Hi Tanya! I do think that the sauce would bee okay to make ahead and freeze, reheating it over a makeshift double boiler (after thawing a little in the microwave or overnight in the fridge), would be the best way to restore it back to its original consistency! I’m so glad that you love the recipe!! 🙂
How long would you suggest on it being okay in the freezer?
3 months! 🙂