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!
“That’s just something I’ll never do!”
Sound familiar? Well, I guess most of us have been there.
We insist on totally not being that girl who runs after every trend but then we cave and buy alll the PSLs our Starbucks has to offer during fall.
We claim we will not ever let our boyfriend see us without makeup, even after getting married. Riiight.
And I’ve been known to shout it from the rooftops – nope, I’m not going to make one pot pastas.
No, that’s not exactly what I said. It was more along the lines of “yeah sure, I’ll continue cooking seven course meals, three times a day with a baby. She’ll sleep all day long anyways.”
And do you know what happened next? This One Pot Spinach Pea Pasta, that’s what.
Even though I struggled with coming to terms with the fact that motherhood also meant not cooking fancy oyster and caviar concoctions (I’m exaggerating) – secretly I SO fell in love with the beauty of simple cooking.
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.
I’ve made this particular pea and bacon pasta a few times now and this is definitely my favorite version I’m sharing with you today.
I tried cooking it in cream, I tried adding lemon zest and chili and I tried various amounts of cheese.
While I do encourage you to try the lemon zest/chili thingy if you like your food with a punch, the recipe works pretty much perfectly otherwise and you will end up with a lovely pot full of fragrant, creamy bacon pasta.
And all you’ll have to wash up is one pot.
OK, maybe a chopping board and knife as well.
Now one more thing: I know not everyone appreciates a post full of process pictures and a lot of people want to get to the recipe straight away without too much scrolling.
For those who still like the guidance of process pictures, you can download a PDF of the one pot pea and bacon pasta recipe with step-by-step pictures here. For everyone else – I’ll be quiet now 🙂
One Pot Pea and Bacon Pasta
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- 1 (12-oz) box mini pasta shells uncooked
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups milk whole or skim both work
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup sour cream reduced fat is fine
- 1 ½ ounces grated parmesan
- fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium high heat and cook the bacon until it’s browned and crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside. Leave as much or as little bacon fat in the pot as you like.
- Pour the stock and milk into the hot pan (carful about splattering!) and add the pasta shells, peas and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for about 7 minutes or until the pasta is ready.
- Take the pot off the heat and quickly stir in the sour cream.
- Add the cheese, parsley and crispy bacon to the pasta and combine.
- Serve immediately with extra cheese and parsley if you like.
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!