It’s always a good idea to rummage through your pantry and freezer every week to see what ingredients you might need to use up. This week for me it was a half box of pasta, some frozen bacon, and frozen peas that were almost too frosty. So I took my favorite quick meal template (pasta + Parmesan + greens) and added in bacon for a simple and delicious meal. This Pasta with Bacon and Peas is definitely going on my regular rotation list!!
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What Kind of Pasta to Use
You can literally use any type of pasta you have on hand for this recipe, which makes it a great option for using up leftovers in your pantry. Spaghetti, bowtie, fusilli, penne, or even ramen would work! I happened to have these little pasta shells, which turned out so cute because the peas would get caught in the shells and that made them look like peas in a pod. :)
What Else Can I Add?
As with most of my recipes, I love creating a nice simple “base” that you can enjoy as is, or add to if you have other ingredients on hand. Here are some other things you can add to this Pasta with Bacon and Peas that would be super delish:
- Top with a fried egg or chopped hard boiled egg
- Toss in a handful of fresh spinach
- Top with crispy fried onions
- Sprinkle on a dash of malt vinegar
- Add heavy cream to make it saucy
Pasta with Bacon and Peas
Servings 3Ingredients
- 8 oz. pasta* ($0.63)
- 6 oz. bacon ($2.06)
- 1 small onion ($0.32)
- 1 cup frozen peas ($0.50)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.44)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.01)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until the pasta is tender (7-10 minutes). Reserve about a half cup of the starchy pasta water before draining the pasta in a colander.
- While the pasta is boiling, cook the bacon. Add the bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until brown and crispy. Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon. Drain most of the bacon grease from the pan, leaving about 2 Tbsp.
- While the bacon is cooking, finely dice the onion. Add the diced onion to the remaining bacon grease and sauté until tender (about 5 minutes).
- Add the frozen peas and about ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Continue to cook and stir until the peas have heated through.
- Add the drained pasta to the skillet, stir to combine, and remove from the heat.
- Top the pasta with Parmesan, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and crumbled bacon. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Pasta with Bacon and Peas – Step by Step Photos
Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until tender (7-10 minutes). Reserve ½ cup of the starchy pasta water before draining in a colander.
While the pasta is cooking, begin the bacon. Add 6oz. bacon (or however much you have on hand) to a skillet and cook over medium heat until brown and crispy. Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon. Drain all but 2 Tbsp of the bacon grease from the pan.
While the bacon is cooking, finely dice a small yellow onion (or half of a large onion). After removing the bacon from the skillet, add the diced onion to the remaining bacon fat and sauté over medium heat until tender (about 5 minutes). The moisture from the onion will help dissolve some of the browned bits of bacon from the bottom of the pan.
Once the onions are softened, add 1 cup frozen peas and about ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water. Continue to cook and stir over medium heat until the peas have heated through.
Add the drained pasta back to the skillet and stir to combine. Turn off the heat.
Add ¼ cup grated Parmesan, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper to the pasta, then crumble the cooked bacon over top.
Stir until everything is well combined and coated in Parmesan. Taste the pasta and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking.
Hi everyone. I have found the perfect, quick & delish Bacon Pasta ever. Did not have peas, so sub a red pepper cooked with the onions. Everything else as per recipe. A lovely tasty pasta to eat at any time, especially end of month, when finishing all in fridge & money running short. Thank you 😊
The perfect light pasta dish for a hot summer day! Made it by the recipe and it is perfect-o! I had everything in my pantry except Parmesan cheese, but a quick stop at my grocery store on the way home from church was no problem at all! Husband says it’s a keeper!
Very tasty! I made some changes because my goal was to meal prep work dinners without going to the grocery store lol. I didn’t have an onion so I sautéed some garlic instead. I used 4oz of bacon because that’s how I had it frozen. I used canned peas instead of frozen, and a whole can instead of a cup just because I love peas haha. I skipped salt/pepper/red pepper and used a pinch of Tony Chachere’s instead. This recipe came together super quickly and easily, and is definitely highly customizable. Definitely going into my lazy days rotation!
I added cream of chicken into mine and added the bacon in instead of using it as a topping! So yummy
This was SO, SO GOOD! We modified by adding garlic and a bit of lemon juice. I just shared the recipe with four people! Great recipe!!! Very easy! Thank you!
This was the perfect midweek meal. It cooked up quickly and I had all ingredients on hand. Quite delicious! I added ranch seasoning. This was especially enjoyed by my teenage son, he left not a single pea behind. Will definitely make again!
I doubled this recipe; it only took about 35 minutes beginning to end. Lots of flavor without the red pepper. We’ll use it again if I can get it to copy!
Great recipe. Thinking of trying cream in there as well, would you add to replace the pasta water? Or put both in there?
I would just add a splash at the end. :) I actually have recipe coming out next week that is very similar to this and uses cream…
Made this with linguica sausage instead of bacon and was really good!
Just made this with cheese tortellini and it is delicious!
Oh my this is good! Cooking from my pantry/freezer/fridge this week, and this is delicious!
*also defrosted Hidden Vegetable Spaghetti sauce (will serve over lentils or pasta) and a bacon, broccoli and cheddar crust less quiche is in the oven.
How does this compare to Pasta Carbonara? Would you recommend adding an egg to this recipe?
It’s super similar! Traditional carbonara uses guanciale (pork cheek), but pancetta or bacon are often used as substitutes. You’ll also need to reserve about a cup of pasta water (instead of just a 1/4 cup). Instead of topping the dish with parmesan, whisk the same amount of cheese in a small bowl with 1 or 2 egg yolks to make a thick paste. Then, slowly whisk in the reserved pasta water (a little bit at a time so you don’t scramble the egg) and stir until all the cheese has melted and the mixture is pourable (You may not need all the pasta water). At the end of the recipe, turn the heat off as directed, add the pasta, and then pour in the cheese/egg mixture and toss to coat. The residual heat will cook the egg yolk without scrambling it since it’s been tempered with the pasta water. If the sauce is still too thick, you can add more pasta water — but since you add a little with the peas, I would be careful not to add too much! I’d also suggest topping it with more parmesan cheese when serving if it’s in your budget! Enjoy! I hope you love it! ~ Marion :)
I’ll be adding this recipe to my regular rotation. It was so easy to make and delicious. Can’t wait to have it again.
I wasn’t a huge fan of using the bacon fat. I would probably drain all the bacon fat and cook the onion in olive oil and butter. Also it could’ve used more flavor, next time I’ll probably add in garlic, lemon zest and maybe a splash of lemon juice.
I was in such a pinch with no idea what to make. I only had bacon in the fridge for a protein for dinner so this was EXACTLY the simple idea I needed. I had one random tomato to use up too so I diced that up and threw it in (cause why not). Keeping this in my repertoire for those I-need-to-grocery-shop-but-haven’t-yet-days
Nice, light, and simple! I added more cheese.
This was good! I doubled the amount of pasta and used all of the pasta water (the whole 1/2 cup) and it surprisingly wasn’t too salty. Super easy for a Monday night.
I wonder if this could be served cold like a pasta salad?
I’d probably eat it. 😄
Have you tried it cold? I’m thinking of making it for work lunches this week as a cold pasta salad… maybe leaving out the onions?
I bet it would be great served cold or warm! I would leave out the onions if you plan to keep this in the fridge for more than a day or two since they will start to take on a foul odor. Otherwise, leave them in because they’re yummy! ~ Marion :)
Great recipe, very easy to make.
Honestly it goes well with a bunch of frozen veggies. Stuck with a less than a cup of peas, carrot and green medley and 2/3 cup of california veggie medley? Just throw it all in. It’s just as good. The only difference in recipe is I cook my bacon in the oven so its extra crisp.
I added garlic and arugula to this recipe and it was delicious! Definitely my husband’s new favorite recipe. Also, if you’re trying to increase your protein intake, sub out the normal pasta for chickpea pasta. It tastes the exact same and gives you an extra 12 grams of protein!
This was absolutely delicious!! I used half a bag of chopped up sugar snap peas I had in the fridge from a stir fry instead of frozen peas. I also stirred in a tablespoon or so of cream cheese to make a bit more of a sauce. Definitely going to be a regular in our rotation from now on.
This was a great dinner on a busy weeknight. All 3 of my picky kids said it was so good! I used whole wheat penne.
I didn’t realize I had some frozen broccoli in my freezer until trying to cook this. Thanks for the reminder! I tried without cream because I just didn’t have any but I highly recommend it to anyone who’s on the fence! I think we’ll do alfredo too next time.
My husband calls this mystery pasta. (What goes in it? It’s a mystery!) Mushrooms that are on their last legs? Throw them in. Some cocktail shrimp? Throw it in. Add in whatever seasoning sounds good, and you have mystery pasta. It’s always a hit, and a great way to use up leftovers.
Hahahaha, I love that so much. :)
This looks light & delicious! You mentioned adding heavy cream to make it saucy- how much would you suggest?
I would probably start with ¼ cup and then just add more to your liking. :)
can you freeze this dish please
This one probably isn’t the best candidate for freezing.
Soooo good! I made it GF and dairy-free., and probably doubled the onion lol.
What a wonderful base though! I would love a little more veggies in this so maybe some steamed broccoli next time! I know a lot of your recipes are just “throwing together what I had on hand,” but the creativity does not come naturally to all of us lol. I did add some vegan butter too to give it some of that creaminess… and the crushed pepper just adds the final touch!
Wow, another delicious recipe from Beth. I check your website almost on a daily basis, and never fail tò be inspired. Please continue all that you do. WE LOVE YOU
I completely agree! All her recipes are so great and I check the site almost on the daily as well!
I check it daily too! She and her team are godsends !