This bacon and mushroom pasta recipe has crispy bacon and plenty of mushrooms in a delicious garlic herb cream sauce. It only takes about 30 minutes to make!
This pasta dish is easy enough for a busy weeknight but tasty enough for company. And everything is better with bacon.
You may also like my Creamy Mushroom Pasta or this Bacon Cream Cheese Tortellini.
To make this mushroom and bacon pasta, you start by boiling some water for the pasta and make the sauce while it cooks. Fry up some bacon, then once it's nice and crispy, you transfer it to a plate and sauté the mushrooms in the leftover bacon grease. Add in the garlic, then take the mushrooms out of the pan and start making the sauce by adding the chicken broth (or wine), Italian seasoning, lemon juice, flour, and Dijon mustard. Once that has been stirred together and reduced a bit, add in the cream and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. The bacon and mushrooms are then added back to the pan and cooked through for a few more minutes. Toss with the drained pasta and serve.
Recipe notes & tips:
- I don't have a brand preference for the wine, but something dry like a sauv blanc or pinot grigio will work. You can use chicken broth if you don't want to open a bottle/don't have any.
- You can swap the cremini mushrooms for another variety like white mushrooms.
- The lemon juice and Dijon mustard add more depth to the sauce so that it's not boring and one-dimensional. Don't worry... the sauce doesn't taste like mustard if you're not a fan.
- I prefer a longer pasta shape for this recipe (I used bucatini, but spaghetti or linguine or similar will work fine), but any pasta shape will work.
- As always, sub the cream for something lower fat at your own discretion (like half-and-half or milk). There's always a chance it can curdle since this is cooked over quite a high heat.
Love bacon? You may also like...
- Creamy Bacon Chicken
- Easy Potato Salad with Bacon
- Creamy Balsamic Spinach Bacon Mushroom Chicken
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
- Bacon and Leek Pasta
Questions about this easy bacon mushroom pasta recipe? Talk to me in the comments below. Hope you enjoy it!
Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta (I used bucatini)
- 6 strips bacon cut into small pieces
- 7 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup chicken broth or dry white wine
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- Salt & pepper to taste
- For serving: freshly grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsley optional
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water and cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, cut the bacon up (I use kitchen shears to make it easy) and add it to a skillet. Fry it until crispy over medium-high heat. When it's done, transfer it to a paper towel lined plate. Leave the bacon fat in the pan.
- Add the mushrooms to the skillet, and cook them, stirring occasionally, for about 5-6 minutes or until they release water and it's been cooked off.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Take the mushrooms out of the pan (add them to the same plate that has the bacon).
- Add the broth, Italian seasoning, lemon juice, flour, and Dijon mustard to the pan. Give it a good stir (only let it cook for about a minute max or it'll all cook off).
- Add in the cream and let it simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and bacon back to the skillet. Let it heat through/cook for a few more minutes until it's slightly thickened, then drain the pasta and add it to the skillet and toss. Season with salt & pepper as needed and serve with parmesan cheese and parsley if desired. If the sauce gets a tad too thick, add in a splash of the hot pasta water prior to draining it.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nancy says
Sounds delish - what protein would go well with this? Shrimp or chicken? Suggestions on how to cook it?
Natasha says
Hi! It's plenty filling with the bacon as the protein. I suppose you could add a bit of already cooked shrimp or chicken (like rotisserie chicken) towards the end if you wanted to (like just to heat through). If you want to do a chicken or shrimp pasta, I recommend typing "chicken pasta" or "shrimp pasta" into any of the search bars on my website since I have plenty of tested recipes with both those ingredients.
Monica says
Just made this tonight and it's delicious! Even my picky kids cleaned their bowls. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Natasha says
Fantastic!! You're very welcome!
Tera says
Loved the flavor but I was hoping you could add a note about reserving pasta liquid to the instructions. Also thinking this may need some spinach to cut the rich flavor?
I did double the ,mushrooms and that was perfect.
Natasha says
Hi! Sure, you could definitely add in some spinach. I'm a bit confused since I do have the note in step 8. Was that somehow confusing?
Rania says
She probably means add it to step 1. Some people might not read the whole recipe before starting, and by the time you get to step 8, you already drained all the pasta water.
Haven’t tried this yet but want to make it this weekend!
Natasha says
I hope you like it! Let me know. 🙂
Andria says
Hi there. Your ingredients list 1 teaspoon flour but I don't see it used anywhere in the recipe. Am I missing the step? Thanks!
Natasha says
Hi! Step 6. So sorry! I do proofread my recipes multiple times, but somehow I managed to miss that. Just updated it.
Heather says
Made this for dinner and it was a HUGE hit. The sauce was creamy without being too rich. I’ve tried several of your recipes and have enjoyed all that I’ve tried. Thank you so much!
Natasha says
Fantastic!! I'm so glad to hear that, Heather! Thanks for taking the time to write me a review, and do let me know if you try anything else. 😀
Kerri McDougall says
FIVE STARS. I tried this recipe for the first time today and it is SO delicious! The sauce is perfectly seasoned and is creamy without being heavy. It’s definitely a keeper and will be a regular in my meal planning rotation.
Natasha says
I'm so happy you enjoyed it, Kerri!! Thank you so much for taking the time to write me a review. 😀
Lori K. Weyer says
While my husband and I love mushrooms, but our 2 daughters hate them. Any substitutions or ideas?
Natasha says
Hi! Might be easiest to try a different recipe since the mushrooms are really the star of the dish. Do your girls like tomatoes? They may like this bacon and tomato pasta: https://bit.ly/3tNL7TX or this bacon and leek pasta is a good one too: https://bit.ly/2OX4R8L