This Garlic Butter Pasta with Bacon and Asparagus is 100% simple and delicious! It's a family-friendly spaghetti with garlic butter sauce and Parmesan cheese, topped with pan-fried crispy bacon and crunchy asparagus. This pasta recipe is a simple, hearty and nutritious 30 minute dinner perfect for a cozy weekend in or busy weeknight.
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Garlic Butter Pasta with Bacon and Asparagus is a perfect meal for a family who loves easy, yet 5-star restaurant style pasta dinners.
Spaghetti with garlic butter sauce is economical, costing about only $10 to feed a family of 6. It's kid-friendly, and you can replace the asparagus with your family's favorite vegetable. How is that for a budget-friendly dinner for everyone?
Pasta dinners are classic American comfort food. Pasta is so versatile, from bread machine spinach noodles to homemade creamy mac and cheese. It's amazing served as a hot meal like with fresh tomato sauce spaghetti, but as a cold meal too like with a caprese pasta salad for picnics.
There are so many simple yet amazing pasta meals to choose from. Find a simple pasta dinner, and it's a great way to get your kids helping out in the kitchen learning to cook with you.
As much as kids seem to love pasta, I often wonder, who doesn't love bacon, too?
So pasta with bacon? An amazing, easy pasta dinner for everyone!
I’d love to hear what you thought about this garlic butter pasta recipe in the comments! I hope that you and your family enjoy this delicious spaghetti.
Ingredients
To make garlic butter pasta with bacon and asparagus, you need:
While we love using spaghetti, you can make garlic butter pasta with your favorite long noodles. Angel hair, fettuccine, linguine are all great.
If you don't love asparagus, you can replace it with any green vegetable. Spinach, artichokes, broccoli and broccolini are perfect substitutes.
This recipe is seasoned with salt and pepper, too. Red pepper flakes are optional and can be added directly to the sauce while it's simmering if everyone likes a spicy sauce, or to individual bowls if not.
Garlic butter pasta is essentially 6 simple, wholesome ingredients that when combined are out-of-this-world delicious!
Step-By-Step Directions
Follow these easy steps for making garlic butter pasta and it will be ready to eat in less than 30 minutes.
You can also make this a one-pot meal by cooking the spaghetti first and then cooking the bacon and asparagus in the spaghetti pot. Use a large pot for this. But, this way will take slightly longer than 30 minutes.
Here is how to prepare this meal in the quickest way:
First, bring salted water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to prevent the pasta from sticking and cook it according to the package. Reserve the drained water to use in the sauce.
Second, in another pan, fry the asparagus in oil on medium heat for 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.
Next, add the bacon to the same pan and cook until it's crispy. Remove and drain the grease, leaving the leftover bits in the pan.
Add the butter to the pan and melt over medium heat. Then add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add salt and pepper, stir and remove from the heat. Pour in at least 2 cups of reserved pasta water and stir. Then add the parmesan cheese ¼ cup at a time, whisking constantly to incorporate.
Add the spaghetti to the sauce. Break the bacon into tiny bits and toss with the spaghetti. If you'd like more sauce, add more pasta water during this step.
Separate into bowls, add asparagus, and sprinkle with red pepper flakes if desired.
Serve sprinkled with extra parmesan cheese. Then enjoy your garlic butter pasta!
Cooking Tips
- Boil the spaghetti quicker by covering the water with a lid.
- Add a tablespoon of oil to the water as the spaghetti boils to prevent sticking
- The asparagus can be tricky to flip. Instead of trying to roll it over, pick it up with tongs and flip it long ways so that the ends are now on opposite sides of the pan.
- To keep the bacon crispy, keep it separate from the pasta and sauce if not serving immediately.
- Make sure to add the cheese to the sauce after removing the pan from the heat and whisk it constantly, to ensure it does not melt into cheese balls
Serving
To maintain the crispiness of the bacon and asparagus, this is best eaten immediately. Top it with extra parmesan cheese. If you'd like a little spice, add red pepper flakes.
If you have leftovers, keep the bacon stored separately at room temperature. The pasta and asparagus can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Happy eating!
Recipe
Garlic Butter Pasta with Bacon and Asparagus
Ingredients
- 2 lbs spaghetti
- ½ lb asparagus
- 10 slices of bacon
- ½ cup butter
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add spaghetti and 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook spaghetti according to package instructions, reserving pasta water for use in sauce.
- In a large pan, add enough oil to coat the bottom. Add asparagus to pan and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes per side.
- Remove asparagus and set aside. Add bacon to the pan and cook until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside.
- Drain the bacon grease, but leave leftover bacon bits in the pan. Scrape off any bits that are stuck to the bottom, then add butter. Melt over medium heat. Add minced garlic, salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove pan from the heat. Add 2 cups of pasta water, stir and add cheese ¼ cup at a time. Whisk constantly to incorporate cheese into the water.
- Break bacon and asparagus into small pieces. Toss with the cooked spaghetti. Serve topped with red pepper flakes if desired.
Pam
Simple and delicious. Add a twist to this and grill the asparagus! We love asparagus here and you can’t go wrong adding even more if you want! However it’s perfect just the way it is!