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Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon

August 14, 2017 by Olya 390 Comments

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Creamy chicken pasta with bacon is easy to make weeknight one pot pasta dish! With only 30 minutes of total work, this chicken dinner recipe is simple, fast and delicious! Full of tender chicken, spinach, tomatoes, and bacon!Creamy chicken pasta with bacon

Creamy chicken pasta with spinach and bacon is one of my favorite things to eat! And how about you? After all, it’s a very rich and indulgent treat for dinner. I also love that it only takes about 30 minutes to make it. This easy pasta recipe will yield about 4 servings.

By the way, you can easily double if you are feeding a crowd or want extra for later. The restaurant chicken pasta just doesn’t compare to this delicious homemade version with spinach, bacon and tomatoes! Once you make it, you will know what I’m talking about.

WHAT’S IN CREAMY CHICKEN PASTA SAUCE?

I made this Creamy Chicken pasta sauce using butter, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese. While the bacon and chicken are great together, I simply like to add garlic, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to make the sauce taste even better!

Note that it is best to use freshly grated parmesan cheese right off of the block so that your sauce isn’t grainy.  I do not recommend using the “shaker” style container grated cheese for this recipe.

The Parmesan will thicken this sauce up.  If it isn’t quite thick enough, allow the sauce to stand for 2-3 minutes before serving.

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN PASTA:

  • The first step to making chicken pasta is to brown the chicken in a large saucepan over medium heat. Then, add garlic.
  • Next, you will pour in your heavy cream.
  • Lastly, you will add your parmesan cheese and stir just until the cheese has melted and your sauce is smooth.

Substitutions that will work

If you don’t like messing around with fresh tomatoes, you can replace them with a can of diced tomatoes.

Prefer fresh herbs? Use fresh herbs, such as basil and oregano instead of the dried herbs. And if you so desire, also replace regular bacon with a turkey bacon.

Also, if you want to lighten up this recipe, simply use half and half instead of heavy cream.Creamy chicken pasta with bacon

Should I use fresh or frozen spinach?

Spinach is one of the healthy elements of this tasty chicken pasta dish. Besides, it’s one of my favorite ways to eat it. With pasta in the creamy sauce. Even though I always use fresh spinach in my recipes, I also like the idea of frozen spinach. Because compact frozen spinach may be easier to handle than fresh spinach leaves that cook down significantly.

Overall, in terms of nutrition, frozen spinach compares very favorably with fresh spinach. And if you love spinach, by all means, use more than the recipe indicates. It will shrink when cooking anyways!

Why is my chicken pasta too watery?

Because of the chicken! You should drain excess liquid after cooking chicken. Depending on the chicken your supermarket carries, it may have added liquid. Unfortunately, this liquid will be released during cooking. But as long as you discard it, it’s fine.

Why did my cheese clump up?

Make sure to reduce heat before adding heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. Once you add the cheese, stir on low simmer until smooth. By the way, I do not recommend using “shaker” style container grated cheese.Creamy chicken pasta with bacon

Creamy Chicken Pasta Recipe in pictures

First, you will cook bacon. Once you cook it, you will remove it onto a separate plate. Then cook the chicken breasts in the same pan. Remove chicken from the skillet and slice it in thick strips. You can keep it on the same plate with bacon. So far so good!Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Spinach in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Next, you will make the creamy sauce. This is my favorite part!Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Spinach in Creamy Tomato Sauce

You will thicken the sauce by adding Parmesan cheese. Make sure to reduce heat before adding heavy cream and Parmesan. Heavy cream, especially the one with all the additives (not the one that just has milk fat and milk – that one is fine), might curdle when cooked at boiling temperatures, therefore keeping the heat low should prevent this.

Once you add the cheese,  stir on low-medium simmer until the cheese is incorporated. If the sauce is still runny to your liking, simply add more cheese to thicken up the sauce. Are you still enjoing it?Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Spinach in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Lastly, you will add pasta, chicken strips, and sliced bacon. You will want to reheat them in the sauce. Also stir until you fully coat pasta with sauce. You don’t want any dry pasta. Next taste and season with more salt if necessary. Maybe just a bit!

Finally, you will cover the pan with a lid. This will keep the pasta warm. Serve it with chopped parsley, additional shredded Parmesan and red pepper flakes! By the way, it reheats so well!Creamy chicken pasta with bacon

How to reheat leftover pasta

  1. Creamy pasta dishes will always suffer when reheated. What can we do? Add a little water, milk or cream to the ready mixed pasta and warm through slowly if reheating on the stovetop.
  2. If using a microwave add a little of the above liquid, then heat on a low wattage setting, stirring a couple of times in between.
  3. Preheat the oven! Set your oven to 350F (175C) and wait for it to preheat. This method is gentle on pasta and sauces, but may not be practical for a single serving. Add the pasta to a baking dish and spread it across, because a deep pile of pasta may heat unevenly. Add a splash of milk or extra sauce to keep it moist. The pasta is usually ready in 20 minutes, but check after 15 just in case. The foil should help trap moisture, slowing the drying process.
Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Spinach in Creamy Tomato Sauce
Print Recipe
4.94 from 117 votes

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon

The DELICIOUS creamy sauce permeates every single bite of this dish!
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time40 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken bacon pasta
Servings: 4
Author: Olya

Ingredients

Main Ingredients:

  • 6 bacon strips
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken (thick in size, such as chicken breasts)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 4 small tomatoes (diced)
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (more, if desired)
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese shredded (more for garnish)

Pasta:

  • 10 oz. penne pasta
  • 2 tablespoons Parsley (chopped)

Instructions

  • BACON: Add bacon strips to the skillet and cook until crispy. Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined platter that will absorb extra grease. Chop into 1 inch pieces
  • CHICKEN: Paper towel dry the chicken and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then set aside.
    Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet. Add chicken breasts and cook on each side on medium high heat for about 4 minutes per side (for a total of 8 minutes) until nicely browned. If chicken is still pink in the center, reduce heat to medium and cook covered for several minutes until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from pan and slice it.
  • Add butter to the hot pan and once it melts, add chopped garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
  • Add tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes on medium high until tomatoes release their juices. Add fresh spinach and cook until it wilts.
  • Reduce the heat and season with paprika, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes and salt. Mix.
  • Next add heavy cream and slowly add Parmesan cheese - until the cheese melts and makes the sauce creamy. 
  • PASTA: In the meantime bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta and cook it according to instructions. Drain the pasta, but do not rinse.
  • Add sliced chicken, bacon and pasta. Next add chopped parsley. Stir until fully coated in sauce. Season with more salt if necessary.
  • TO SERVE: Serve with additional shredded Parmesan and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Nutrition Facts
Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon
Amount Per Serving
Calories 768 Calories from Fat 342
% Daily Value*
Fat 38g58%
Saturated Fat 14g88%
Cholesterol 133mg44%
Sodium 1427mg62%
Potassium 1499mg43%
Carbohydrates 56g19%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 6g7%
Protein 50g100%
Vitamin A 8655IU173%
Vitamin C 44.1mg53%
Calcium 477mg48%
Iron 4.2mg23%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Video

Notes

Recipe Source: Juliasalbum

Our new favorite chicken pasta recipes include Cajun Chicken and Sausage Penne Pasta dish.Cajun Chicken and Sausage Pasta

We also love amazing Chicken Spinach and Bacon Alfredo Pasta. You can easily make both recipes for midweek dinners!

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Chicken Recipes, Main Dishes, Most Popular, Pasta Tagged With: Bacon, chicken, Creamy Sauce, Pasta, spinach, Tomato

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nancy V.

    January 20, 2021 at 12:35 pm

    This is amazing. I did not add tomatoes or spinach. I used steamed broccoli and a little bit of chicken broth to replace juices from tomato’s.

    Reply
  2. Pat May

    January 19, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    I absolutely LOVE this dish!! Have made it several times and just made it for a friend in “need” ! I have also found that using Barilla’s already cooked penne pasta and Smithfield fully cooked bacon makes it even easier to make! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!!

    Reply
    • Olya

      January 21, 2021 at 3:03 pm

      I am so glad you made it several times!!! What a great compliment!

      Reply
  3. L W

    January 17, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    Wow!! Someone shared this recipe link with me this week so I decided to make it tonight. This is now one of my favorite dishes! And I love how it was so quick and easy to make. Perfectly savory.

    I left out the bacon but otherwise followed the steps exactly.

    Reply
    • Olya

      January 19, 2021 at 5:07 pm

      Thank you so much for making this! I’m glad recipe got shared with you and yes, bacon does not make this recipe!

      Reply
  4. Michaela

    January 15, 2021 at 2:14 am

    Is there a way to make it have more sauce? Could I add chicken broth or wine ?

    Reply
    • Olya

      January 16, 2021 at 7:45 pm

      Yes, both!

      Reply
    • Mindi

      January 21, 2021 at 11:53 pm

      I cooked my pasta in chicken broth then added a little of the broth into the sauce

      Reply
  5. Michelle

    January 14, 2021 at 2:36 pm

    Have you ever made this and froze it? How well did it reheat after being frozen? I am looking for meals I can make ahead and freeze in aluminium square baking pans. Then simply reheat in the boat while ocean fishing. I could also vacuum seal meals for 4, that would be less garbage on a boat.

    Reply
    • Olya

      January 14, 2021 at 6:13 pm

      I have never frozen it, but because it has a cream in it – cream tends to disintegrate, especially when reheated from frozen due to the extreme of temperatures.
      When you freeze cream sauce after cooking it, the oils/fats in cream can separate in the solution. If you reheat the mixture quickly (i.e. microwave), those oils/fats are not “reabsorbed” into the solution, but instead separate out.

      Reply
  6. Jenny

    January 3, 2021 at 6:55 am

    Absolutely love this dish! Made twice before already. Iv decided to make again today for dinner but I have no garlic powder, can it still be made without? X

    Reply
    • Olya

      January 3, 2021 at 3:17 pm

      Absolutely! You can go with garlic powder.

      Reply
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