Creamy chicken and bacon pasta, a true bowl of comfort food goodness, featuring chicken thighs & crispy bacon in a white wine & cream sauce.
Taking a shade over half an hour, this indulgent dish is a perfect midweek meal, and it would be rude not to finish that bottle of wine!
Comforting Creamy Pasta
When it comes to pasta, I am the type of chap who immediately thinks of ragu. I have loads on my site, ranging from venison ragu to a delicious vegan red lentil ragu with loads of stops in between.
This recipe is a rare foray into the joy that is an unctuously creamy and indulgent pasta. If you want other examples, you should definitely try my creamy steak pasta with a Diane sauce, my creamy lemon chicken pasta, cream cheese (Philadelphia) pasta or my wonderful chicken and mushroom tagliatelle.
As the name suggests, my creamy chicken and bacon pasta recipe is rich and indulgent and may not be the diet dish that you are looking for!
That clingy thick sauce is a combination of white wine, double cream, and parmesan cheese... oh yeah and some parsley. It's green, it's good for you, right?
Cooking the bacon separately from the sauce means that this pasta recipe has a wonderful contrast in texture. I take a similar approach with my chicken and bacon risotto.
Cooking the chicken in the bacon fat means that you still get a big whack of bacon flavour from the sauce!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use wine?
No, you could substitute the wine in this recipe for chicken stock; it changes the flavour, but it is still delicious.
What sort of wine should I use?
The first thing to do is to ensure that you are using a dry white wine, then knock yourself out.
Chardonnay will emphasise the richness of the dish, and as far as I am concerned, it is the nicest wine to drink with this recipe.
Sauvignon blanc adds a nice "tartness" to the dish, which is a great contrast with the creamy sauce. Chenin Blanc and Pinot Gris are also nice options.
What is streaky bacon?
A question commonly asked by my American readers, so this is for you guys. Streaky bacon is what you guys call bacon; it is cut from the belly and has a high-fat content.
In the UK, we also have back bacon, which is what you guys call Canadian bacon. I make the distinction here because the fat content is important.
Can I make this in advance?
Whilst it is safe to store this dish in the fridge for a couple of days and reheat it, it is far from being at its best when you do this.
Serving Suggestions
The clingy sauce in this creamy chicken and bacon pasta begs for long pasta with a wider profile than spaghetti; I use linguine.
But there are plenty of other pasta shapes that work well.
Pappardelle like I use in my prawn and pea pasta recipe is great, as are both tagliatelle and fettuccini. You could also get away with farfalle and fusilli, but they would not be my favourite for this sauce.
You could even use giant pasta shells, the same sort that I use in my stuffed pasta shells are perfect. Plenty of surface area to grab that sauce and nooks and crannies for the chunks of chicken and crispy bacon to hide.
As for side dishes, I'd usually cook up some garlic bread to clean the plate of the creamy sauce.
Equipment Used
I only name-check brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/Stovetop.
- Grill (broiler).
- 25cm or 10" frying pan or skillet.
- 20cm or 8" saucepan.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
- Kitchen tongs, stirring and serving spoons.
- Kitchen paper.
Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g Chicken Thigh Meat 8½oz
- 8 Rashers Streaky Bacon 175g
- 1 Small-Medium Echalion or Banana Shallot 35g
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 75 ml Dry White Wine ⅓ Cup
- Generous pinch of salt plus extra for boiling the pasta
- 175 g Dried Pasta 6oz
- 125 ml Double Cream ½ Cup
- 20 g Fresh Parsley ½ Cup
- 25 g Grated Parmesan Cheese ¼ Cup
- 5 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
Instructions
- Heat a grill or broiler to high and cook the bacon until crispy, which should take around 8-12 minutes.
- Peel and dice the shallot as finely as you can.
- Peel and slice the garlic as thinly as you can.
- Pick the leaves from the thyme.
- Finely chop the parsley
- Cut the chicken thighs into strips 3-5mm (⅛-¼") thick across the thigh.
- Bring a 20cm or 8" saucepan of well-salted water to a boil. I use 1½ teaspoons of salt in a pan this size.
- When the bacon is cooked, set aside on some kitchen towel and transfer the rendered bacon fat to a frying pan (25cm or 10"). You need around 2 tablespoons; if you do not have enough, make it up with butter, duck fat or lard.Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and cook without colouring for 2-3 minutes over a medium-low heat.
- Turn up the heat to medium, add the chicken and season with a generous pinch of salt, then cook for another 5 minutes.
- Pour the white wine into the pan with the chicken, add the parsley and thyme, then reduce the wine by half. Turning the heat up a little helps here.
- Whilst the wine is reducing, boil the pasta until al dente, then drain and reserve some cooking water. This will take 8-10 minutes, depending on your pasta.
- Reduce the heat under the sauce to low and stir through the cream and parmesan cheese. Simmer on low until the pasta is cooked.
- Crumble through most of the bacon (reserving a little for garnish), and stir.
- Add the pasta to the sauce, stir to coat, adding as much pasta water to complete the sauce, this should be around 75ml (⅓ Cup).
