This creamy chicken bacon pasta is a fabulous one-pot meal that's great for busy weeknights.
The mingling flavors of bacon are the highlights of this dish along with the creamy sauce, chunks of chicken, and mounds of your favorite long noodles.
Bacon is one of my favorite flavors, and I'm sure you probably agree. Basically, bacon makes everything better, right?
When it comes to pasta, bacon is a great addition. I love how I can fry the bacon until crispy, remove it from the pan, then leave a portion of the bacon fat to add flavor to the rest of the dish.
This recipe is like that ... cook the bacon, leave a bit of bacon fat ... then cook the rest of the dish in the flavorful bacon fat goodness.
The chicken is the next to cook after the bacon. And cooking the chicken on medium heat helps to seal in the juices. The fact that we're cooking it in bacon fat makes it extra flavorful and delicious!
What You'll Need
- 6 slices lean bacon
- 1 pound chicken breast cut into strips or chunks
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 large cloves)
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- paprika
- cream
- shredded or grated parmesan cheese
- 16 ounces pasta (spaghetti, linguini, etc.)
- pasta cooking water
- fresh parsley
- dry marjoram or oregano
- salt and black pepper
How to Make
In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, cook bacon until crispy. Move to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, reserving ¾ cup pasta cooking water at the end before draining.
With heat on medium, add the chicken to the bacon fat in the pan, stirring and turning often.
Turn down heat if needed if it's too hot, but you want a nice hot sear initially to seal in juices.
Cook 10 minutes or until chicken begins to brown.
Note that the higher initial heat will help seal in the chicken juices to make it more flavorful and juicy (kinda like cooking a steak).
Next, you will add the garlic, marjoram, parsley, salt, black pepper, and paprika. Cook 5-7 minutes more or until chicken is fully cooked.
Once chicken is fully cooked, turn heat to off, and add cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir and cover for 5-10 minutes until softened.
Add cream, pasta cooking water, and pasta. Stir together.
Crumble cooked bacon and add to the top. Serve hot and enjoy!
Tips & FAQs
I like to cut up my bacon before cooking it when I know it will need to be crumbled. It's just easier to cook it by stirring instead of having to turn the bacon and deal with the curls and waves.
Cooking the chicken on high heat at first serves to seal in the chicken juices and make the chicken more tender and juicy, kinda like a great steak.
In contrast to cooking a steak, keep in mind that you do NOT want the chicken pink in the center once cooked.
The best creamy bacon pasta includes cream cheese (in my opinion), so don't leave this out. Such a simple way to add creamy, cheesy goodness to any pasta dish. I think you'll agree.
For the pasta, you can add any long noodles that you prefer. I love linguini, so that's what I use most of the time. However, angel hair is a close second for me.
Spaghetti or fettuccine are also great pasta choices for this dish.
I hope you love this easy stove top creamy chicken and bacon pasta dish as much as my family and I do! Let me know in the comments below (and don't forget to share)!
More Chicken Pasta Recipes
- Chicken Spaghetti in the Crock Pot
- Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake
- Chicken Spaghetti with Rotel
- Chicken and Ham Pasta Bake
📋 Recipe
Creamy Chicken Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon lean
- 16 ounces pasta uncooked, spaghetti or linguini
- 1 pound chicken breast cut into strips or chunks
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced (about 3 large cloves)
- 1 teaspoon marjoram or oregano (dry)
- ¼ cup parsley fresh, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup parmesan cheese shredded or grated
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup pasta cooking water reserved when pasta is done when draining
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, cook bacon until crispy. Move to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, reserving ¾ cup pasta cooking water at the end before draining.
- With heat on medium, add the chicken to the bacon fat in the pan, stirring and turning often. (Turn down heat if needed if it's too hot, but you want a nice hot sear initially to seal in juices). Cook 10 minutes or until chicken begins to brown.
- Add garlic, marjoram, parsley, salt, black pepper, and paprika. Cook 5-7 minutes more or until chicken is fully cooked.
- Turn heat off, and add cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir and cover for 5-10 minutes until softened.
- Add cream, pasta cooking water, and pasta. Stir together.
- Crumble cooked bacon and add to the top. Serve hot.
Tracey says
Delicious and easy! Great recipe!
Sally says
Thanks for your feedback, Tracey!
RockinRic says
I made this recipe tonight and it was delicious. I did add some crushed red pepper to give it a bit of of a kick but that is just how I like my food. I also used up left over roasted chicken from the night before. It was absolutely wonderful, thanks for a fantastic recipe which I’ll make again. It gets a big five star from me.
Sally says
Thanks for your feedback!
Kathy says
I made this tonight and was really happy withe flavour. I didn’t have any cream so just left it out and it was still creamy and delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Sally says
Thank you for your feedback, Kathy!
Lynne says
Delish. I had some roasted chicken breast from the deli, so sliced it up and used that as a speedy shortcut. Added it to the bacon fat with the spices and cooked those for about half the time, just to get the garlic softened and the chicken warming. Also waited to add the parsley until the end, with the bacon, to retain color and freshness. Next time might add some red pepper flakes in step 6, for a little more zip. Thanks for the great recipe! It's a keeper.
Sally says
Awesome to hear, Lynne! Thanks for your suggestions!
Colleen says
My 16 yr old son liked it enough to ask me to make it again next week for his birthday. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sally says
That's awesome Colleen! Thanks for letting me know!
jean says
The fact that the recipe didn't give exact amounts of the ingredients, the recipe did not turn out that well. Did not have a lot of flavor.
Had the amount of each ingredient been indicated, I'm sure this recipe would have been great
Sally says
Jean - The recipe actually does give the exact amounts of each ingredient. The first list on the post is simply to let people know what ingredients they will need. The recipe card is at the bottom of the post and gives detailed instructions as well as exact ingredient quantities. Hope that helps you for next time!