This One Pot Pea and Bacon Pasta recipe is super quick and easy to put together – even the pasta gets cooked right in the creamy sauce!
I’ve made this particular pea and bacon pasta about a thousand times now – it’s my backpocket meal for those crazy days you don’t want to cook, but still have hungry mouths to feed.
It’s so quick, easy and fuss-free to make – and everything cooks in a single pot! I mean, did you see the amount of dishes there’s to wash after a one pot meal? It’s like a dream come true.
Here, crispy bacon pairs with peas and a creamy cheese sauce to create the ultimate comforting pasta dish. My family absolutely loves this, and I’m sure yours will, too!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Shells: Feel free to use a different pasta shape, but I do recommend using a smaller shape that cooks in less than 10 minutes. Elbow macaroni work great, as do bow ties.
- Chicken broth: Vegetable broth works in a pinch. I do not recommend beef broth, as it can have an overpowering taste.
- Milk: I mostly use whole milk for this recipe, although 2% works great, too. 1% is OK. I would not recommend fat free milk, the pasta would be more watery/less rich.
- Peas: I have made this pasta with corn in place of the peas, and with a mixture of peas and corn. Works great!
- Bacon: Diced ham is a great substitute for the bacon, if you’re looking for something a little lighter.
- Ricotta: I love ricotta in this recipe, although cream cheese works just as well. Mascarpone yields a very decadent pasta (delicious! but decadent).
- Garlic/onion: I really like the combination of bacon, garlic and onion in this recipe, although the original version of this recipe didn’t include the onion and garlic. Feel free to leave them out, or to use ¼ teaspoon each onion and garlic powder instead.
How to make Pea and Bacon Pasta
1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy, then set it aside on paper towels to drain off any excess fat.
cook bacon until crispy drain on paper towels
2. In the same skillet in the bacon fat, cook the onion and garlic until fully softened and lightly browned.
3. Pour in about 1 cup of chicken broth to scrape away any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, then pour in 1 more cup of broth (reserve the remaining cup to add as needed while cooking the pasta).
cook onion and garlic pour in chicken broth
4. Add the milk, pasta, peas and seasoning and stir well.
add milk, pasta, peas and seasoning stir well
5. Simmer until the pasta is done, adding more broth as needed. Then stir in the cheeses until creamy.
cook until pasta is done stir in cheeses crumble bacon add bacon and parsley
6. Crumble the bacon and add it to the pasta with the parsley (if using), then serve immediately!
Recipe tips
- Do not pre-cook the pasta! It really does go in completely dry and uncooked. If you pre-cook it, your dish will come out very soupy.
- Make sure you only add 2 cups of the chicken broth initially, then gradually add the remaining cup to the pasta as it is cooking. This way, you only add as much as you need (different types of pasta require different amounts of liquid). If the dish seems too dry/not saucy enough once you stir in the ricotta cheese, just add another splash of broth to thin it out a little.
- I highly recommend serving the pasta right away – it will continue soaking up liquid as it sits and cools, and it really is the creamiest and tastiest when it is served as soon as it has finished cooking.
Leftovers
While I do not recommend making this pasta ahead on purpose, you can easily keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 3 days.
I highly recommend reheating leftovers of this dish as a pasta casserole – just place them in a casserole dish (maybe add ¼ cup of milk if it seems dry), top with shredded cheese and bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes, until fully heated through.
Freezer tips
If you want to make this pasta ahead of time to freeze for later, I highly recommend freezing it in a casserole dish. Pack it up well, then label with the name and date. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Defrost in the fridge overnight, then unwrap, sprinkle with cheese and bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes.
Serving ideas
We like to serve a salad or vegetable side with this pasta dish – I love some roasted asparagus (or air fried asparagus!), sautéed green beans (or air fried green beans… 🙃) or some roasted broccoli with it.
For a salad, I will usually go for a creamy cucumber salad or for a tomato cucumber salad.
If you need to bulk up your meal for big eaters or to stretch it to serve more people, it tastes delicious with some grilled chicken, air fried chicken breast or air fryer pork chops.
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!
One Pot Pea and Bacon Pasta
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 4 ounces thin-cut bacon
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups milk I used whole milk; see notes
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 (12-oz) box mini pasta shells uncooked
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup ricotta cheese see notes for substitutes
- 1 ½ ounces grated parmesan cheese
- fresh parsley chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Heat a large, deep sauté pan (or a large, wide pot) over medium high heat and cook the bacon until browned and crispy. Remove and set aside on paper towel lined plate. Leave as much or as little bacon fat in the pan as you like.
- Add onion and garlic and cook in bacon fat until fully softened and lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
- Pour 1 cup chicken broth into pan, scraping away any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Then, stir in 1 more cup of broth.
- Add milk, peas, pasta, salt and pepper to pan and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until pasta is done and sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. While pasta is cooking, add remaining cup of broth as needed to cook pasta and create a thick, creamy sauce.
- Once pasta is done, take off the heat and stir in ricotta cheese and grated parmesan. Crumble bacon and stir into dish along with chopped parsley, if using. Serve immediately.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Shells: Feel free to use a different pasta shape, but I do recommend using a smaller shape that cooks in less than 10 minutes. Elbow macaroni work great, as do bow ties.
- Chicken broth: Vegetable broth works in a pinch. I do not recommend beef broth, as it can have an overpowering taste.
- Milk: I mostly use whole milk for this recipe, although 2% works great, too. 1% is OK. I would not recommend fat free milk, the pasta would be more watery/less rich.
- Peas: I have made this pasta with corn in place of the peas, and with a mixture of peas and corn. Works great!
- Bacon: Diced ham is a great substitute for the bacon, if you’re looking for something a little lighter.
- Ricotta: I love ricotta in this recipe, although cream cheese works just as well. Mascarpone yields a very decadent pasta (delicious! but decadent).
- Garlic/onion: I really like the combination of bacon, garlic and onion in this recipe, although the original version of this recipe didn’t include the onion and garlic. Feel free to leave them out, or to use ¼ teaspoon each onion and garlic powder instead.
Recipe tips
- Do not pre-cook the pasta! It really does go in completely dry and uncooked. If you pre-cook it, your dish will come out very soupy.
- Make sure you only add 2 cups of the chicken broth initially, then gradually add the remaining cup to the pasta as it is cooking. This way, you only add as much as you need (different types of pasta require different amounts of liquid). If the dish seems too dry/not saucy enough once you stir in the ricotta cheese, just add another splash of broth to thin it out a little.
- I highly recommend serving the pasta right away – it will continue soaking up liquid as it sits and cools, and it really is the creamiest and tastiest when it is served as soon as it has finished cooking.
Nutrition
More recipe information
Recipe first published on 05/06/2015. Updated with slight improvements to recipe, new photos and better text on 04/19/2021.
Gail Plaskiewicz says
I have to say we had the ricotta and my mom being Italian it was already made and frozen with all the herbs and spices. Yum! It was really good with the ricotta and both mom and I loved it! We have non stick pots so I had to wash it instead of putting it in the dishwasher but cooking in one pot is amazing! I wish I could cook everything in one pot!
Gail Plaskiewicz says
This sounds so yummy but I am a super taster and don’t like sour cream at all. Would Ricotta work instead or could I just leave it out? I can’t wait to try this! I love frozen baby peas and bacon and I know my mom will love this too. One pot pasta is the bomb! Who doesn’t like something that is cooked in one pot with hardly any clean up?
Nora says
Hi Gail, absolutely, ricotta would be AMAZING in this! Hope you and your mom will enjoy the pasta – one pot with hardly any clean up real is the best kind of dinner, right?!
Sherry says
Found the recipe through MyFitnessPal and tried it tonight. It was a hit! I am wondering if you have ever tried freezing the leftovers and how it turns out reheated. (Maybe without the parsley?)
Nora says
Hi Sherry, I’m so glad you liked the recipe! I generally don’t recommend freezing or even reheating leftover one pot pasta, simply because the pasta tend to soak up the entire liquid and it somehow ends up dry and mushy at the same time. If you have lots of leftovers you don’t want to waste and don’t mind very soft pasta, I don’t see why freezing and reheating with extra liquid wouldn’t work. Just know that the texture will definitely be affected. Hope that helps 🙂
Sherry says
Yes, it does! Thanks!
Sandy says
Hello,
I somehow found your recipe for One Pot Pea and Bacon Pasta, and I cannot wait to try it. I found the nutritional info on MyFitnessPal after I did a search for it. I was wondering if you have the nutritional info too, and if there is some way of printing the recipe with it.
Many thanks.
Nora says
Hi Sandy, I went ahead and added the nutritional information caloriecount.com is giving me. It’s using whole milk and full fat sour cream, using low fat will reduce the calories by about 30 per portion. If you print the recipe now, the nutritional info should be on the recipe. Hope that helps!
Shannon says
Do you think I could make this with more pasta? The box has 16 oz so I thought about just using the whole thing. Would that throw off the ratios too much?
Nora says
Hi Shannon, that’s quite a bit more pasta. It will still work, but you’ll have to add another cup of either milk or stock. And adjust to your preferences when it comes to the peas and sour cream – you might want to add a little extra. Hope that helps 🙂
Claudia Gamlien-Castro says
Where has this recipe been all my life? Added 1/2 onion chopped and some sliced mushrooms. Used 1 lb thin spaghetti broken in half with 1 container low sodium chicken broth. What a fantastically easy one pot. Adding to the repetoire. Everyone ~ teens, hubby and grandma loved it!
Nora says
I’m very happy to read this, Claudia! And your additions sound delicious – absolutely have to try that myself 🙂 Thanks for reporting back, I appreciate you taking the time!
Lindsey Rivers says
Nora, this pasta is easy peasy to make & delicious! (No pun intended). Made it for lunch & so g-o-od…that I served it for dinner with salmon the same night. Thank you so much. Truly a gem of a recipe!
Nora says
I’m so happy to read this, Lindsey! It’s always great to get positive recipe reviews, and I really appreciate you took the time to write one.
I hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Mary H says
I tried this, but the recipe seems off. Wound up with pasta soup – way too much liquid.
Too bad, because I really wanted to like it.
Nora says
Hi Mary, I’m so sorry you had troubles with the recipe. I’ve made it many times and never had this happen. Feel free to eMail me if you want to troubleshoot together!
Have a lovely day!
Nora
Linda says
I can’t wait to try this! I’ll have to have it as a side dish because my husband will be looking for the main meat entre, lol
Nora says
Hahaha Linda, that made me laugh! Hope you like the recipe 🙂
Randy says
Is “sour cream with herbs” a European or Swiss thing? We only have plain old sour cream here in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Looks like a great, easy recipe though!
Nora says
Hmmm, I never thought about that before! Maybe it is a European thing? It works great with plain sour cream and fresh herbs as well, though 😉 Thanks for pointing it out, Randy!
Erin Loray says
I was thinking the same thing. I don’t believe I have ever seen sour cream with herbs, here in Virginia either. What fresh herbs would you recommend that would complement the dish?
Nora says
That’s so interesting Erin, I thought we were pretty behind on such things here, haha! You can use really any fresh garden herbs you have on hand. Flat-leaf parsley, chives and maybe a bit of thyme I imagine would be lovely.
Vicki @ Boiled Eggs & Soldiers says
Yum, I love one pot wonders and this one sounds great – will definitely be giving it a go. Thank you
Nora says
Thank YOU for stopping by, Vicki!
Cate | Chez CateyLou says
I must admit, I have been skeptical of the one-pot pasta craze. You have convinced me that I need to try it though! Yours looks absolutely delicious!!
Nora says
You absolutely do need to try it, I was SO sceptical at first but it’s easy and so delicious 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Cate!