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Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes in Garlic Cream Sauce - an Italian-inspired dish with lots of vegetables! Sliced chicken breast and bacon are tossed with veggies and penne pasta in a delicious, creamy, homemade Alfredo sauce made with Parmesan cheese.
Family Dinner Win: Creamy Chicken & Bacon Pasta
Craving an easy-to-make comfort food that a whole family will love? Then, make this chicken and bacon pasta! Cream sauce absorbs the wonderful flavors from the ingredients in the recipe, and with every single bite, you get all the goodness and all the flavors! This is one of the best chicken pasta recipes you'll ever try! Serve it with my apple spinach salad, easy garlic bread, or homemade garlic butter dinner rolls. Also, don't miss my other family-favorites like chicken feta pasta, creamy chicken orzo with tomatoes and spinach, chicken burrata pasta, and sun-dried tomato chicken pasta.
Ingredient Notes
- Use thinly-sliced skinless, boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenderloin meat. Either cut of meat will work.
- Use shredded Parmesan cheese. Do not use grated Parmesan cheese, use the shredded kind. What I usually do is buy a block of Parmesan cheese and shred it myself. Freshly shredding the cheese results in the best sauce texture. You can, however, use store-bought pre-shredded Parmesan cheese. Just do not use the grated kind.
- You can use cooked spinach, frozen spinach, or fresh spinach. All will work.
- Make this chicken pasta gluten-free. All you need to do is use gluten-free brown-rice penne pasta instead of regular penne. You can also use gluten-free quinoa pasta, chickpea or lentil pasta.
How to Make Chicken Bacon Pasta (Step-by-Step Photos)
- Cook pasta: Bring a large pan of water to boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain.
- Cook the chicken: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook on one side for 4 minutes over medium-high, sprinkling paprika and Italian seasoning on top. Flip and cook for 3 minutes on medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low-medium, flip again, cover, and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
- Make the creamy sauce + add veggies: In the same pan, add heavy cream and bring to a boil. Stir in Parmesan, reduce to low-medium, and simmer until the cheese melts and the sauce is creamy, about 1-3 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and crushed red pepper; cook on medium just until the spinach wilts. Add sliced chicken and half the cooked bacon, then mix everything together.
- Add cooked pasta to the sauce: Top with the remaining bacon and thinly sliced chicken, then sprinkle with Parmesan before serving.
What is Half-and-Half and Its Substitutions
- You can use either heavy cream or half-and-half in this recipe.
- Half-and-half is the US milk product that combines ½ whole milk + ½ heavy cream or whipping cream to form a lighter cream (unlike heavy cream).
- Substitute ½ cup of milk + ½ cup of heavy cream for 1 cup of half-and-half.
- If you live in the UK, half and half would be the equivalent of single cream. Alternatively, you can mix half double cream and half regular milk (if you live in the UK).
What to Serve with Chicken Bacon Pasta
I love serving Chicken Bacon Pasta with crusty garlic bread, homemade garlic butter dinner rolls, crusty rye bread, or bread machine loaves to soak up all that delicious Parmesan sauce. Since the pasta is already hearty, I usually pair it with a simple salad like one of these:
Other Chicken & Bacon Pasta Recipes
Chicken and Bacon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes in Garlic Cream Sauce
Chicken pasta recipes can get boring. Not this Italian-inspired recipe! You'll fall in love with the flavors in this Chicken Pasta with Bacon, Spinach, and Tomatoes in Garlic Cream Sauce. Easy weeknight dinner that the whole family will love! Sliced chicken breast and bacon are tossed with veggies and penne pasta in a delicious, creamy, homemade alfredo sauce made with Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
- 10 oz penne pasta (for gluten-free version, use gluten-free brown-rice penne)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb chicken (skinless, boneless chicken breasts or tenderloins)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (thyme, oregano, basil - combined)
- salt to taste
- 1.5 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 5 tomatoes (medium, chopped in large cubes)
- 3 cups fresh spinach or 1 cup cooked spinach
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes crushed
- 6 bacon strips cooked, drained off fat, and chopped
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded, for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta, and cook according to instructions (usually 10 to 15 minutes). Drain the pasta. Proceed with the recipe while the pasta is cooking.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, on medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook on one side on medium-high heat for 4 minutes. While it cooks, sprinkle the uncooked sides of the chicken with paprika, Italian seasoning, and salt. Flip the chicken over, and cook on the other side for 3 more minutes on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low-medium, flip chicken over again and cook, covered, for several minutes until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from the pan and keep chicken warm.
- To the same pan (but without chicken), add heavy cream and bring to boil. Only after the heavy cream starts boiling, add shredded Parmesan cheese. Immediately reduce to simmer (low-medium heat) and stir, while simmering, until the cheese melts and the sauce is creamy, for about 1 or 3 minutes.
- To the same pan with the creamy sauce, add chopped tomatoes, fresh spinach, garlic, crushed red pepper. Stir in the sauce on medium heat just until the spinach starts to wilt and sinks into the sauce. Add ⅓ of the cooked chicken (sliced into small strips) and half the bacon (already cooked and drained of fat). Mix everything. Remove from heat.
- Add cooked pasta to the skillet with the sauce and reheat on low heat. When ready to serve, top the pasta with the remaining half of bacon (cooked, drained of fat, chopped, gently reheated) and the remaining ⅔ of the cooked chicken (sliced into small strips, gently reheated). This is done for presentation purposes.
- When serving, top the pasta with ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
Video
Notes
- Cream: You can use either heavy cream or half-and-half.
- Lower-fat alternatives to cream: To replace 1 cup of heavy cream, whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1 cup of milk. Cornstarch thickens without adding flavor. Or, use evaporated milk (NOT condensed milk).
- How to cook pasta al dente? Cook the pasta about 2 minutes less than indicated on the package instructions. "Al dente" literally means "to the tooth" or firm to bite.
- Do you rinse pasta? If using regular, wheat pasta, do not rinse it with cold water. Rinsing pasta with cold water removes the starch which helps absorb the sauce.
- If using gluten-free pasta, rinse it with cold water after cooking to prevent it from getting mushy.
Storage & Reheating Tips
- Fridge: You can store the leftover chicken bacon pasta refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.
- Reheat: Reheat the pasta gently on the stovetop on medium-low heat, without simmering. Or microwave for 1 minute, checking for doneness every 30 seconds. Make sure the sauce does not overheat and separate. Keep in mind that reheating the cream sauce on high heat will cause the cream to separate.
- I do not recommend freezing this dish: If you freeze it, the creamy sauce might not have the same texture when you reheat it. It might separate.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information
Chicken and Bacon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes in Garlic Cream Sauce
Amount per Serving
Calories
1149
% Daily Value*
Fat
77
g
118
%
Saturated Fat
35
g
219
%
Trans Fat
0.2
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
9
g
Monounsaturated Fat
28
g
Cholesterol
225
mg
75
%
Sodium
755
mg
33
%
Potassium
1071
mg
31
%
Carbohydrates
65
g
22
%
Fiber
5
g
21
%
Sugar
9
g
10
%
Protein
48
g
96
%
Vitamin A
5361
IU
107
%
Vitamin C
31
mg
38
%
Calcium
438
mg
44
%
Iron
4
mg
22
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
Worst pasta ever! Half and half! I've made this with heavy cream and it's come out wonderful. Half and half ruined this dish I'm so upset!
Hmm. I use half and half here because I add so much cheese, that using heavy cream would make the sauce way too thick. Did you bring the liquids to boil to make sure everything is really heated through before adding the cheese?
WOW! That looks amazing, looks like I'll be adding this recipe to next weeks dinner menu.
Thank you, Alyssa!
Thank you! Enjoy!
Looks great, I'm going to try it tonight!
Thank you, I hope you liked it!
My dish turned out VERY runny. I followed your instructions exactly. Any idea what went wrong?
Did you bring the sauce to a boiling point before adding cheese? And, once the cheese is added, have you been stirring on low-medium simmer until the cheese is nicely melted? Sounds like you added the cheese and it didn't melt enough to create a creamy texture.
I would like to add a note: make sure all water/broth is drained after cooking the chicken. Even though I had drained and set aside the pasta for a while, the whole recipe was watery and needed to be drained after I had already put the ingredients together. More parm was added also.
Good tip, even though I like to keep all the juices in the pan for more flavor, and add more cheese instead.
I've read that for cream sauces to stick better to the pasta you should not rinse it.
Rinsing pasta is not necessary but I do it for 2 reasons: 1) I like my pasta al dente, so I always rinse it to stop cooking 2) I eat gluten free pasta, and with gluten free pasta, I prefer to rinse it so that it keeps its shape and does not become mushy.
What is half and half please? Many thanks
This is amazing! I cooked this for my boyfriend tonight and he was very impressed. I made one minor change, he doesn't like tomatoes so I used half a can of roasted diced tomatoes so it wouldn't be as prominent. I followed the directions pretty closely (except I don't measure anything...just more dishes to wash) and I love the way it turned out, it was perfect. Thanks so much! I'm excited to try other dishes of yours.
I saw this today and immediately went out and bought the ingredients. Wow such a delicious recipe, it turned out great, thanks for sharing!
I just made your Chicken, Bacon, & Spinach with tomatoes & garlic cream sauce Pasta Just waiting for the Hubby to come in and eat it what I have taste tested is awesome. can't wait to try the other pasta recipes you have. Thank You
Paulette G.
Just made it for the second time in 2 weeks and loved it. Very easy recipe to follow. Will definitely recommend it to everyone.
I cook this tonight and my hubby loves it. Says the recipe is a keeper. I am going to share it with my family in Malaysia.
Thanks Julia for sharing
I made this recipe tonight. If I were a novice cook, I would've been in the corner chewing my toes off. The instructions are difficult to follow, being very unclear aND scatter brained. The ratios of ingredients are off as well. Also, tomatoes need to be seeded and drained. There's too much pasta. Eight ounces or even six would suffice. If frozen spinach is used, it needs to be drained thoroughly. I would suggest fresh baby spinach, wilted. It needs more chicken, probably a pound and a quarter. There's too much Half & Half. It needs to be cut back to 3/4 of a cup. It just needs to be revamped. Also, cut the chicken into strip before cooking. They'll cook faster. Adding the seasonings while it's cooking is good. Anyway, this had a nice taste, but it's too watery and needs more concise, clear instructions.
I wish your comment was at the very top because it would’ve saved me a whole lot of trouble! The sauce was an absolute nightmare. Even adding extra Parmesan cheese in an attempt to thicken it up, did nothing. Awful.
We don't care for tomatoes. So we made it with mushrooms instead. Very Yummy!!!
Really great recipe! I substituted prosciutto for the bacon and it was amazing! Thank you for sharing!