Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta
This Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta combines perfectly cooked chicken, bacon, mushrooms, and pasta and tosses it all in rich, creamy, cheese sauce. It’s the perfect dinner any night of the week!
Pasta is that classic comfort food that I just can’t resist and this creamy chicken and bacon pasta is my current favorite.
You know I love a good creamy, cheesy sauce. Our homemade alfredo sauce is one of top recipes on our site and we’ve used it on everything from classic shrimp alfredo to chicken alfredo lasagna rolls. We’ve even added it to a pressure cooker for the perfect Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo.
This dish follows similar steps with a few different ingredients including perfectly sauteed mushrooms, tender chicken, and smokey bacon. In the end it’s all tossed together with al dente pasta and rich, creamy sauce that I could eat with a spoon!
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Fettuccine or Linguine pasta – Any pasta will work with this recipe. I like a nice, long, flat pasta like fettuccini or linguine but you can also use a penne, rigatoni, or even spaghetti for this dish.
- Chicken breast – This dish is pretty rich so we use a leaner cut of chicken but you can certainly use chicken thighs if you prefer. It definitely adds even more flavor to an already amazing pasta.
- Bacon – Do I even need to say anything? Bacon makes everything better!
- Mushrooms –
- Garlic and Onions– Both of these are chopped and sauteed to add extra flavor to the creamy sauce and tender chicken.
- Mushrooms – I’ll be honest I’m not mushroom officando. I usually pick up whatever I can find pre-sliced at the grocery store which is most often white button or cremini mushrooms. Portobello mushrooms would be delicious in this too!
- Heavy Cream – This thick cream makes an amazingly rich sauce. I don’t suggest substituting half and half or milk because it won’t get the same consistency.
- Grated Parmesan cheese – Quality matters! Spend a little extra and buy a chunk of Parmigianino Reggiano cheese. If you can’t find that buy the best quality Parmesan that your grocery store has. Do NOT use the dried cheese you find on the store shelves that won’t melt into the sauce the way real cheese does.
- Salt and Pepper – Add this at the very end. The bacon and cheese has a decent amount of salt so you may find you don’t need any.
Instructions
Step 1 – Cook the pasta. In a large pot cook the pasta according to package instructions.Once cooked scoop out cup of cooking water and set aside. This extra pasta water will help to loosen up the sauce later without watering it down. Drain pasta and set to the side.
Tip: Make sure to salt your pasta water! I usually do 2 tablespoons per 4 quarts of water. It really brings out the flavor of the pasta.
Step 2 – Cook the chicken. While the pasta cooks in a large pan add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cubed chicken breast. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. ONce the chicken is fully cooked scoop it out of the pan and set on a plate. You can cover it with foil to hold in some of the heat if you like.
Step 3 – Cook the bacon. Add the bacon to the pan and cook over medium high heat until it is crisp. Once fully cooked remove it from the pan and set it on a paper towel-lined plate. This will absorb the excess oil.
Step 4 – Saute the mushrooms and onions. Add mushrooms and onions to the pan and cook until they begin to soften, approximately 8 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Step 5 – Make the cream sauce. Pour the heavy cream into the skillet and cook over medium high heat until it begins to bubble, stirring continuously. Add the grated Parmesan to the sauce and stir until it is fully incorporated.
Step 6 – Put it all together. Reduce heat to low and add the chicken and chopped bacon to the sauce. Fold in the pasta, gently turning it in the sauce until it is well-coated.If the pasta is a little dry/sticky you can use that reserved pasta water you set aside. Add about ¼ cup and stir to loosen the pasta.
Add salt and pepper to taste then serve with extra shredded Parmesan cheese.
Extremely Versatile Recipe
You can make this chicken and bacon pasta recipe your own by adding some extra ingredients. Throw in some baby spinach, asparagus, broccoli, or english peas and create a whole new, but equally delicious, dish!
Add the spinach, asparagus (cut into bite sized pieces), or broccoli (cut into bit sized pieces) while youa re cooking the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.
If you choose to add the peas you can use frozen peas and add then when you toss the pasta with the sauce. The frozen peas will only take 2-3 minutes to warm through.
How to Store It
This is one of those dishes that is just best eaten when it is first made BUT if you have leftovers you can certainly enjoy them the next day. To store place the pasta in a sealed container and keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
To reheat place 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet and let it melt over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup of heavy cream and heat until it begins to bubble. Add the pasta to the skillet and stir with the butter and cream until it is fully warmed through. The extra cream and butter will help loosen the pasta as it warms through and keep it from scorching on the bottom of the skillet.
Looking for More Pasta Recipes?
- Pasta Carbonara
- Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
- Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
- Chicken Florentine Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Chicken Tortellini
- Slow Cooker Sausage and Ravioli
- Pizza Casserole
- More Pasta Recipes…
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Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Fettuccine or Linguine pasta
- 24 ounces Chicken breast, cubed
- 6 slices Bacon, uncooked
- 1 clove Garlic
- ½ cup Onion, diced
- 8 ounces Mushrooms
- 1.5 cups Heavy Cream
- 8 ounces Grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot cook the pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked scoop out cup of cooking water and set aside. Drain pasta and set to the side.
- While the pasta cooks in a large pan add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cubed chicken breast. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Set the chicken aside.
- Add the bacon to the pan and cook over medium high heat until it is crisp. Once fully cooked remove from the pan and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Let the bacon cool and then chop into small pieces.
- Set the bacon to the side and remove all but two tablespoons of bacon grease.
- Add mushrooms and onions to the pan and cook until they begin to soften, approximately 8 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour the heavy cream into the skillet and cook over medium high heat until it begins to bubble, stirring continuously.
- Add the grated Parmesan to the sauce and stir until it is fully incorporated.
- Reduce heat to low and add the chicken and bacon to the sauce.
- Fold in the pasta, gently turning it in the sauce until it is well-coated.
- If the pasta is a little dry/sticky you can use that reserved pasta water you set aside. Add about ¼ cup and stir to loosen the pasta.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with extra shredded Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted on 6/27/2016. It was republished on 8/25/2021 with updated photos and an updated recipe.
