Ever since I discovered how delicious pasta is when cooked in broth instead of water, I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of different ways to play up this simple trick. By simply changing up the add-ins, you can have an endless number of quick one pot or one skillet dinners for busy week nights. This Bacon and Spinach Pasta with Parmesan is my latest quick skillet obsession.
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Bacon, spinach, and Parmesan are not exactly the least expensive ingredients on the planet, so you do have to be a bit careful with this one. I used a half package of bacon and froze the rest for later use. To save on spinach, I skipped the salad sized bags and got a jumbo bag of “cooking spinach”. The big one pound bag was only 20 cents more expensive than the smaller salad sized (9oz.) bags and almost twice as big. I’ll enjoy the extra spinach as salads and freeze some in smoothie packs.
Can I Use Frozen Spinach or Other Greens?
Frozen spinach can be used in a pinch, but make sure not to get “chopped” frozen spinach because it will be in a million tiny little pieces. You can use other greens, like collards, mustard, or kale, but because they’re quite a bit more sturdy, they’ll need to be sautéed down with the onion in the beginning. Parmesan really does top off this dish and make it grand, but you can lighten up on it if you’re strapped for cash. Parmesan is very flavorful, so a little goes a long way.
What Else Can I Add?
If you want to beef up this dish a bit, you can add a rinsed and drained can of white beans, or sauté some mushrooms with the onions. A few red pepper flakes would be nice in here, too, although I like red pepper flakes on just about anything!
Bacon and Spinach Pasta with Parmesan
Servings 4Ingredients
- 6 oz. bacon ($2.15)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.25)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.28)
- 1/2 lb. pasta ($0.50)
- 1/4 lb. fresh spinach (about 4 cups) ($1.50)
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan ($0.55)
Instructions
- Cut the bacon across the strips into one-inch pieces. Sauté the bacon in a large skillet until it is brown and crispy (no extra fat needed). Remove the browned bacon to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Carefully pour the fat off into a separate bowl, leaving about one tablespoon in the skillet.
- While the bacon cooks, dice the onion. Once the bacon is removed and the fat is drained from the skillet, add the diced onions and sauté until they are soft and transparent. Allow the moisture from the onions to dissolve some of the browned bits off of the bottom of the skillet.
- Add two cups of chicken broth to the skillet and dissolve off any remaining browned bits of bacon drippings from the bottom of the skillet.
- Finally, add the uncooked pasta to the skillet, place a lid on top, and let the skillet come to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir, turn the heat down to low, and let simmer for 10 minutes with the lid in place. Give the skillet a stir to loosen the pasta from the bottom every few minutes or so, replacing the lid quickly each time. After 10 minutes the pasta should be tender and most of the broth absorbed. There should be a little bit of thick, saucy broth remaining in the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the fresh spinach to the skillet and stir until it has wilted into the pasta. Turn off the heat, add the cooked bacon back to the skillet, sprinkle the Parmesan over top, stir to combine, and then serve.
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How to Make Bacon and Spinach Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Cut 6 oz. (1/2 of a 12oz. package) of bacon into one-inch strips. The second half will be frozen and used later. I love adding a little bacon to soups and other dishes because it adds a LOT of flavor. Or who knows, maybe I’ll just use the leftovers for an impromptu weekend brunch.
Sauté the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until it’s brown and crispy. I didn’t add any extra oil to the skillet because the bacon is fatty enough that it releases quite a bit of grease and does not stick. Once the bacon is crispy, remove it to a bowl with a slotted spoon, and pour off the fat into a separate container, leaving about 1 tablespoon of fat in the skillet (for flavor, of course!). When the poured off fat is cool, save it in the refrigerator to add flavor to other dishes, or if you’re not the bacon grease type of person, scoop it into the garbage. Just DO NOT rinse it down your drain.
While the bacon is cooking, dice one small onion. Add the onion to the skillet and sauté until it is soft and transparent. The juices from the onion will begin to dissolve the browned bacon bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Add two cups of chicken broth to the skillet. Stir well to dissolve the last of the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Add the dry pasta to the skillet and place a lid on top (it’s OKAY if the broth doesn’t completely cover the pasta). Turn the heat up to high and let the skillet come to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Every few minutes, give the skillet a quick stir to loosen the pasta from the bottom and replace the lid quickly each time so that the broth continues to simmer. Make sure the broth continues to simmer the entire time, turning the heat up just slightly if needed to maintain a simmer.
After about 15 minutes, the pasta should be tender and most of the broth absorbed. There should be a bit of saucy broth left in the bottom of the skillet.
Once the pasta is cooked, add about 1/4 pound (or 3-4 cups) of fresh spinach to the skillet. Add a handful of the spinach at a time and stir it into the pasta until it wilts.
Turn the heat off, add the cooked bacon back to the skillet, and sprinkle the Parmesan over top. Give it a quick stir to combine and then serve!
And then it will look like this! Like I said, I probably should have sprinkled a little red pepper or even freshly cracked black pepper over the top just to take it up a notch, but honestly, it’s bacon… I was already dazzled!
BACON.
This is one of my favorite meals EVER. I just made it for the 3rd time. :) Beth you are an angel
I just ran across this recipe two days ago and will be trying it like very soon but I would like to know if this is a meal that can be made in advance an frozen
I don’t think this one will freeze very well, unfortunately. There’s not enough of a sauce to keep the pasta from drying out.
I don’t eat large meals by any means, but unless you’re serving this as a side, it makes 3 servings, not 4. Also wish I had read the comments about adding things like garlic, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes. It was a little bland. Will add those if I make it again!
I always cook with turkey bacon and, probably because it is leaner, there never seems to be much of those browned bacon bits you’re talking about. Would you recommend adding a little bit of oil in that case?
No, unfortunately oil doesn’t have the same flavor that bacon fat does. :(
What kind of pasta it looks like egg noodles jus want to be sure.
These were regular noodles, but a shape called “flowers”.
Smelled great but came out way too salty because of the bacon and parmesan.
I got up at 5:20AM today to make this for my co-workers for our lunchtime potluck. I added mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes and omitted spinach (as I had none). It received multiple compliments and was actually still very good after it had cooled and been warmed up in the microwave. My husband even emailed me to make sure I bring any leftovers home :) Thanks for the great recipes!
wow! yes, this is an easy and delicious recipe. Will def add it to my rotation.
Stop reading the comments & just go make this dish already! Super delicious. Thanks for another quick, weeknight meal!
Just made this tonight, it was great! I took some of the suggestions left in other comments and added mushrooms and red pepper flakes! Budget Bytes never disappoints!
This was very tasty, but next time I will take out my crispy bacon before I add the pasta and cooking broth. I thought it made the bacon soggy, and re add it at the end with the spinach. I felt like the bacon crispies stuck to the pan were enough to flavour the broth. Thanks for a quick tasty recipe.
Jill the directions state once its crispy to remove the bacon with slotted spoon
Wow! Thanks. I’ve been cooking for years and needed a quick recipe with bacon and spinach pre Christmas so teenage daughter could get out to see the lights. I did start the recipe thinking why am I am trying this random Google search! And I’m ashamed to say I’ve never cooked pasta in one pot like this, so was feeling a bit worried. It was easy and with the beans idea, a smattering of garlic tasted great. Thanks. I’ve got a heap of ideas following this theme now. Why did I ever boil pasta separately?!
This recipe is such a winner – even my kids told me tonight that I had to post and tell you how much we enjoyed it!
This recipe is delicious and amazing. I’m going to try and rework it enough for the instant pot tonight because my stove is broken at the moment. Wish me luck.
I never drain the fat when I make this and I feel no shame.