Rich and hearty, this creamy bacon and mushroom pasta is a family favorite and ready in no time. Quick and easy to cook, and only 4 ingredients make this an excellent mid-week dinner for when you are short on time.
Quick Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta
There’s something about bacon that just makes everything taste better. In this creamy bacon and mushroom pasta, the salty, smoky bacon pairs perfectly with the earthy mushrooms.
The sauce is made with just a few simple ingredients, and it’s so easy to make. You’ll want to make this pasta dish again and again.
This recipe for creamy mushroom and bacon pasta is one of the easiest I know. Hearty mushrooms and bacon, combined with sour cream make a simple yet delicious pasta sauce, which is ready in no time at all. Great for those mid-week evenings when you want to get dinner on the table in a hurry.
If I know I am going to be really short on time after work I will prepare the mushrooms and bacon in the morning or the night before and stash them in the fridge. That way everything is ready ahead of time, and it can go straight in the pan when I am ready to cook!
Scroll down for the printable recipe for this creamy bacon and mushroom pasta recipe, or read on for all the details.
4 Ingredients
My second favorite thing about the recipe is the fact that it only needs four ingredients (um..not counting water and salt for the pasta and oil for frying 🤭).
1. Pasta
Use your pasta of choice. I like fusilli (spirals) because they hold the creamy sauce so well, but spaghetti, tagliatelle, and penne pasta are also often used at my place.
I use dried pasta for this recipe. Fresh pasta is more delicious and quicker to cook, but the timings in the recipe are based around a pasta cooking time of around 10-12 minutes.
If you want to use fresh pasta, check the cooking time and cook it after the sauce is nearly finished (you can set the water to heat while you cook the sauce).
2. Bacon
Side-cut, streaky bacon, back bacon or middle bacon are all good options. Choose a type that is quite thinly cut if you can as this will cook more quickly.
3. Mushrooms
I would recommend using button mushrooms, brown mushrooms, or portobello mushrooms for this recipe.
4. Sour cream
I use lite/light sour cream, mainly because this recipe already has enough calories, but also because the flavor of the bacon packs enough of a punch that you don’t need ultra creamy full-fat sour cream. Your choice. You could also use heavy cream, though you will probably need to add slightly less of the pasta water to get the right consistency.
Directions
My favorite thing about this recipe is just how unbelievably quick and easy it is to cook.
This recipe is very simple, but the key to getting it right is to really nail the timings:
- Place a large saucepan of salted water to heat.
- While the water is heating prepare the sauce ingredients. Slice the mushrooms, and dice the bacon.
- Cook the Pasta. Hopefully the pasta water has now come to the boil and is ready to cook the pasta. Cook according to the packet instructions. As noted above, hopefully the cook time is around 10-12 minutes. When it has finished cooking drain, but reserve around ½ cup of the pasta water.
- While the pasta is cooking cook the sauce. Fry the bacon in a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan. When it is starting to brown add the mushrooms and cook until they are tender.
- Finish the dish. Then remove the frying pan from the heat, add the sour cream and stir through. Add the cooked pasta and stir into the sauce, adding the reserved pasta water until the right sauce consistency is reached.
Serving
This recipe certainly doesn’t really need any extras to make it taste amazing but here are some ideas that you can use to top your pasta if you want to make it just that bit more special:
- Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
- Drizzle with truffle oil.
- Reserve some oif the crispy bacon bits from the pan before you make the sauce, then sprinkle them on top of the served pasta.
- Light toast some hazelnuts in a dry frying pan, then crush and sprinkle over served pasta.
- Stir through some roughtly chopped baby spinach.
I like to serve this pasta as a main dish with a crunchy green side salad to balance out the creamy richness of the pasta. To keep things simple I often just toss some cos or baby salad leaves in a bowl with balsamic dressing.
A loaf of crusty garlic bread is also a great addition.
Recipe Card
Quick Bacon and Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz / 226.8 g bacon (approx 8 slices)
- 12 oz / 340 g mushrooms [Note 1]
- ½ cup light sour cream
- 12 oz / 340 g uncooked pasta
- ½ cup reserved pasta water
- drizzle olive oil
Directions
Prepare
- Put a large pot of salted water on to heat.
- While it is heating, slice the mushrooms and dice the bacon into approx. ¼ inch pieces.
Cook pasta
- When the water has come to the boil add the dried pasta, and cook according to packet instructions (approx. 10-12 minutes).
Cook sauce (while the pasta is cooking)
- Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. When it is hot add the bacon and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add another drizzle of oil, and add the sliced mushrooms. Cook until soft (approx. 4 minutes).
- Remove from heat and stir through sour cream.
Finish dish
- Drain pasta, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.
- Add pasta and half the reserved pasta water to the pan with the sauce and stir to combine well. Add the remaining pasta weater a bit at a time until the sauce is the right consistency.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Button mushrooms, white or brown mushrooms, or portabello mushrooms.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and provided for informational purposes only.
You may also like: