Tomato Bacon Pasta ($5 Dinner)

This Tomato Bacon Pasta is such a simple recipe especially if you love tomatoes, bacon, and veggies to make a delicious simple dinner for the family. 

You can make this recipe simple just the way it’s written, or you can make it with fresh tomatoes or crispy bacon too. But, I like to keep it simple since I can keep all the ingredients in the pantry for a quick dinner recipe. 

After you have this bacon tomato pasta recipe once, this will become your favorite pasta recipe to make for the whole family or if you want to have a date night in!

Ingredients for Tomato Bacon Pasta 

• Olive: olive oil
• Vegetable: fresh zucchini cut into bite-sized pieces
• Seasonings: Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
• Tomatoes: get a can of petite diced tomatoes
• Bacon: in the salad aisle get a bag of real bacon bits
• Pasta: you’ll need a box of uncooked penne pasta

How to make Tomato Bacon Pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta in the water according to the package instructions. Once the pasta is tender, strain it and set it to the side.

Cut the zucchini into half moons pieces

To a large skillet on the stove over medium heat add the oil. Once the oil is hot add in the zucchini and cook for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally until golden brown.

Stir in the seasonings, diced tomatoes, and bacon bits let simmer for 5-10 minutes covered. Stirring occasionally.

Stir in the cooked pasta serve!

How to store the leftover delicious pasta:

Fridge: After you have enjoyed this easy dinner recipe, store anything left in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I would not recommend freezing this recipe, but if you do, make sure that you only cook the pasta to al dente to avoid the noodles being mushy. 

Also, if you make the noodles in advance just to store them in the freezer, be sure to wash the cooked pasta in cold water to spot the cooking process.

Tips and tricks for making this tomato pasta recipe: 

Want a creamy pasta sauce?

If you want to turn this into more of a creamy pasta sauce, use a combination of heavy cream and tomato paste and a splash of pasta cooking water to make a simple cream sauce and turn this into a creamy pasta dish. 

Bacon to use:

In an effort to keep this recipe simple, I will just use a bag of bacon bits that are already cooked and chopped up, however you can make your own turkey bacon and cut it into bacon pieces to use for this easy dish.

Tomatoes to use:

I used the canned petite tomatoes since it is super simple to use and I just have to open a can, plus the juice inside adds to the sauce for this pasta recipe. However, you can use fresh juicy tomatoes like fresh cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes in place of the canned tomatoes. 

Toppings for this pasta dish:

• Fresh basil
• Parmesan cheese
• Red pepper flakes 

More delicious pasta recipes:

Veggie Pasta

Philly Cheesesteak Pasta

Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad

Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta

If you give these recipes a try, make sure to tag us on Instagram @julia.pacheco.cooking and let us know how much you liked the recipes!