Bacon Pasta with Corn and Basil

This light, summery bacon pasta is loaded with tons of creamy corn, fresh basil, and vine-ripe tomatoes, tossed in a simple white wine cream sauce and topped with crispy, pan fried bacon. It takes just 25 minutes to throw together and is a great way to use up all those summer veggies!

 

You Will Love This

• With only 10 ingredients and just 25 minutes of prep time this simple summertime bacon pasta will quickly become a family favorite! It’s bursting with bacon flavor, but is still fresh and light thanks to plenty of herbs, garlic, and a splash of white wine.
• If you loved this creamy bacon pasta, be sure to check out my One Pot Italian Sausage Pasta, my 20 Minute Tomato Bruschetta Pasta, or my 15 Minute Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta!

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Linguine – I like to use a long pasta, like linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti or angel hair, for this dish. Longer cuts of pasta work well with creamy sauce. But if all you’ve got on hand is penne or rotini, a shorter noodle will work just fine as well!
• Bacon – The bacon is the star of the dish here, as it’s the flavor base for the entire dish! I like to use thick cut bacon, or even bacon steaks if I can find them for this pasta.
• Shallot – I love the slight sweetness that the shallot adds to this creamy pasta, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can omit it or use yellow onion in its place.
• Garlic – I prefer to use freshly sliced garlic for this recipe. If you must, you can sub garlic powder, but the flavor won’t be the same! I highly recommend slicing your own fresh garlic instead of buying the jarred minced garlic as well.
• Dried Oregano – You can sub dried thyme or dried rosemary in its place if you don’t have any dried oregano on hand.
• White Wine – If you don’t normally stock white white in the fridge, you can use chicken broth or veggie broth in its place. The white wine’s main job is to deglaze the pan and loosen the yummy bits off the bottom while adding a punch of flavor as well. Broth will give you a more mild flavor, but it will still get the job done!
• Corn – You can use fresh corn from cob, leftover grilled corn, frozen corn, or canned corn. I often have canned corn on hand, so that’s what I used for this creamy corn pasta.
• Heavy Cream – Heavy cream is going to add a delicious richness to the sauce. You could sub half-and-half or even whole milk in its place, but the consistency of the sauce will be thinner and the texture won’t be quite as creamy.
• Tomatoes – I like to use grape tomatoes in this recipe, but you could use any of your favorites. Just chop them up into bite-size pieces and add them in!
• Basil – Fresh basil really finishes this dish so nicely. It adds an aromatic flavor that is hard to replicate, but if you don’t have any basil on hand, try using fresh chopped parsley instead.

Instructions

Cook diced bacon a large sauté pan over medium heat until crispy. It will get foamy – this is okay!

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Leave some grease in the pan and add shallots, cooking for a minute.

Add garlic and oregano, and cook. Then deglaze the pan with white wine.

Be sure there is nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Stir in corn and heavy cream along with a couple large pinches of salt and pepper and simmer for a couple minutes.

Add cooked pasta.

Toss to coat evenly and cook until pasta is warmed through.

Stir in crispy bacon and tomatoes.

Add basil and grated Parmesan cheese if desired and enjoy!

Tips

• Use whatever veggies you’d like in this bacon tomato pasta recipe! You can use this as a blueprint or a guide and use up whatever you’ve got leftover in the fridge! Broccoli, green beans, or even cauliflower would all work well. Everything goes with bacon so you cannot go wrong here!
• If you like things a little spicy, add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to the sauce or you can add it afterwards just to your plate if the rest of your family doesn’t love the spice!
• If you don’t love raw tomatoes, add them to the cream sauce when you add the corn! This will cook them down a bit, making them super tender and giving them a sweeter flavor instead of the raw tomato flavor.

Storage, Reheating, and Freezing

• Store leftover bacon pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Reheat pasta in a saucepan over medium heat. Add a splash of cream or half-and-half to loosen up the sauce and cook, stirring frequently, until warmed through.
• Freezing this creamy bacon pasta is not recommended. The texture of the pasta will likely be mushy once reheated after previously being frozen and the cream sauce won’t hold up well, either. This pasta is best enjoyed the day of, or up to 5 days later.

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