This Lemon, Asparagus and Bacon Pasta is easy to make and ready in about 30 minutes. It’s refreshingly light and full of flavor, with tender veggies, salty bacon and a tangy lemon sauce.
An Easy Dinner Pasta
This rustic, elegant bacon pasta is an incredible meal on it’s own, but you can stretch it a little further if you serve it some of our favorite simple side dishes, like a crisp garden salad and some crusty garlic bread.
This particular pasta dish has been on my mind for quite a while. It’s sort of a combination of my One Pan Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta and a recipe I had come across for a simple pasta with bacon and asparagus. That pasta recipe reminded me of something my roommate and I would whip up late at night (or was it early in the morning??) years ago when we lived in a tiny apartment and would stay out waaay past our bedtimes.
The bacon and the asparagus in my fridge were calling my name on this particular day so I decided to whip this up. I had some juicy Roma tomatoes and of course tons of lemons (thank you lemon tree!). After making this dish the first time, I thought it needed just one more dimension of flavor so I added some red pepper flakes to help kick it up a notch.
Just a pinch of black pepper at the end finished it off. And then I finished off the whole plate. Unlike my typical one-pan meals, the pasta is cooked separately, however I think you could totally make it a one-pan by just increasing the amount of chicken stock (similar to the Spicy Lemon Pasta I mentioned earlier).
How to Make Lemon, Asparagus and Bacon Pasta
There are only a few steps and this Lemon Asparagus Bacon Pasta comes together pretty quickly. While the pasta is cooking, you’ll cook the bacon and asparagus and create a tangy, spicy sauce. The sauce will finish at about the same time as the pasta and then you just toss everything together!
- Cook the pasta. Boil some water, salt it like the ocean (trust me on this one) and add some pasta. I like using linguine for this particular recipe, but fettuccine or spaghetti are also good.
- Cook bacon and veggies. Chop up your bacon and saute it until it’s nice and crispy. Transfer that to a plate lined with paper towels and use a little bit of the bacon grease to cook the asparagus. Add that to the plate with the bacon.
- Make the sauce. Add chicken stock, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and minced garlic to the skillet and bring it to a gentle boil where there are some bubble but not a rolling boil. The sauce will thicken as it simmers. Just before that pasta is finished cooking, add some diced tomatoes to the skillet sauce.
- Toss. Use tongs to transfer the pasta to the skillet straight from the boiling water. Toss the asparagus, bacon and pasta together. Grate some fresh parmesan over the top and add some fresh cracked black pepper just before serving.
Top Tips
- Cut the bacon directly into the pan using kitchen shears. No chopping into a crumbled mess!
- The bacon grease adds a ton of flavor to the sauce, but if you don’t want to cook in it go ahead and wipe the skillet clean and use olive oil to cook the vegetables. If you’d rather avoid the mess, you can cook your bacon in the oven.
- For an extra bit of freshness, serve with some fresh minced parsley on top.
- Store bacon pasta leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Freezing is not recommended.
More of What You Like
This Bacon Pasta is so delicious, you may never eat another pasta dish again! But if you do want to try something else, here are a few of our favorite pasta recipes:
- Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo
- Million Dollar Spaghetti
- Alfredo Chicken Lasagna
- One Pan Garlic Parmesan Pasta
- Chicken Asparagus Pasta
Spicy Lemon, Asparagus & Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound linguine uncooked
- 1/2 pound bacon diced
- 1/2 pound asparagus woody ends trimmed and cut into two inch pieces
- 2 Roma tomatoes diced
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan
- For garnish: Fresh black pepper (to taste) and lemon wedges for serving.
Instructions
- Cook the linguine according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Swipe some of the bacon grease out of the pan if necessary, leaving about 2 tablespoons.
- Add asparagus to the pan and saute in the bacon grease for a few minutes, until bright green and still crisp (about 3 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add chicken stock, red pepper flakes, garlic and juice from one lemon to the pan. Bring it to a gentle boil and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the stock is reduced by about half.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook for one minute, just until heated through. Add the pasta, bacon and asparagus to the pan and gently toss it together with the Parmesan.
- Divide into bowls and serve hot. Top with freshly cracked black pepper if desired and serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
Nutrition
The recipe calls for two lemons. But I only see one lemon getting used. What’s the second lemon for?
Good catch – 1 is for serving with the pasta. The recipe was recently updated and that notation was left out.
Update: I used real bacon and it was so. good. My husband, who usually just eats because he has to, actually told me he was excited to have leftovers. That’s a huge win in my book! Thanks so much!!
This was absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing! I actually used Costco Bacon Bits because those are what I had on hand. I keep them in the freezer and so tried to infuse the bacon flavor into some canola oil as I heated the bacon in the pan (since the bacon was already cooked and thus not creating its own grease). It worked pretty well! But next time I’ll definitely be using real thick strips of bacon for a more robust flavor.
That’s a great way to improvise Katherine! Glad you enjoyed the pasta!
Thank you Kristin for the nice recipes. Have a good evening.