An easy family-pleasing dinner, this creamy cheesy pasta with sausage and crispy bacon can be ready, on the table, in 20 minutes. A fantastic comfort food dinner using simple everyday ingredients.
I've been making and eating this for 30 years!
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Sometimes you just need a large bowl of creamy, cheesy pasta with chunky bites of salty meat.
Nothing else. No salad 'to make it healthy', no hidden veggies. Just all the calorific goodness. Utter comfort food.
I'm sure treating yourself to a dinner like this once in a while does your soul a bit of good anyway 😋
📋 What do we need?
- Pasta - use your favourite type of pasta shapes. I'm using fusilli, but I often use spirali or penne.
- Sausages - go for food quality plain pork sausage - nice fat ones, so you can slice them into nice chunky pieces.
- You can replace with your favourite sausage if you like, but i'd stay clear of unusual ingredient sausages (like pork & apple, or super herby sausages).
- Bacon - I like to use smoked streaky bacon
- Cheese - a nice strong cheddar for the best flavour.
- Cream - go for double (heavy) cream for a lovely rich, sauce.
- Onion - we're going to fry the onions in the bacon fat. Because It would be ridiculous not to.
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Cook the sausages in the oven and boil the pasta as per the pack instructions.
- Dry-fry the bacon in a hot frying pan, then remove from the pan and chop up.
- There should now be some bacon fat left in the pan. Add a little more oil to it, then fry the onions in the bacon fat.
- Drain the pasta (reserving a cup of the cooking water) and add the pasta to the pan with the onions.
- Add the cheese and cream and stir together until the cheese melts.
- Chop the sausages and add to the pan with the bacon. Stir together, adding a little of the pasta cooking water to loosen up the sauce.
- Serve immediately.
👩🍳PRO TIP Don't need to add salt to this dish because we have the saltiness from the bacon, cheese and sausage.
Top with a little fresh parsley, just to show willing with a little bit of green 😁
Eat whilst wearing pyjamas and thick socks, sat in front of the TV.
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Creamy Sausage Pasta with Bacon
Ingredients
- 4 good quality pork sausages - about 270g/9.5oz
- 400 g (14oz) spirali pasta - - (or your favourite pasta shapes)
- 8 rashers (strips) streaky bacon - (about 125g/4.5oz)
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 onion - peeled and finely chopped
- 150 g (1 ½ packed cups) grated mature/strong cheddar cheese
- 180 ml (¾ cup) double (heavy) cream
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
- Place the sausages on a baking sheet and place in the oven to cook for approx 20 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Then remove from the oven and place on a chopping board.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling water as per the cooking instructions, until al dente, then drain in a colander, reserving about a cup of the pasta cooking water.
- While the pasta and sausages are cooking place a large frying pan over a medium heat to heat up.
- Once hot, place the bacon in the pan and cook for about 5-6 minutes, turning once during cooking, until browned and crispy. Remove from the pan and place on a chopping board.
- Add the tablespoon of oil to the bacon fat that’s already in the frying pan.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion has softened.
- By now the pasta should be ready (remember to save a cup of the pasta water when draining the pasta). Add the drained pasta to the frying pan with the onion.
- Add the cheese, cream and pepper to the pan and stir together with the pasta until the cheese has melted.
- Slice the cooked sausages and bacon on the chopping board and add to the pan with the pasta.
- Stir everything together.
- If you want to loosen the sauce slightly, add splashes of the pasta cooking water until the sauce is thinned to your liking.
- Transfer the pasta to bowls and serve topped with fresh parsley and a little more black pepper if you like.
Video
✎ Notes
I do love this dish served cold as a pasta salad. So if you wanted to make it ahead for that (or save any leftovers for lunch the next day), then that will work great.
Just be sure to quickly cool and cover the dish and refrigerate. It should keep in the fridge for up to two days. Ingredient swaps
- Swap the bacon for chorizo
- Leave out the bacon and swap the sausage for vegetarian sausages for a vegetarian version.
- Add veggies such as peas, mushrooms or spinach.
- Swap out quarter of the cheddar for mozzarella if you wanted some stretchy cheese in there.
If you're dividing into 4 portions instead of 6, it will be 1155 calories per serving. I didn't say it was a light recipe 😁
Nutrition
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Laura says
Added more cream - good weeknight meal. Will amp it up a bit next time with mushrooms and peas.
Tracy says
Yummy ! I had sausages and just couldn't decide how to have them .. went down well with everyone! 😋
Shelley says
Delicious.. Quick and easy to make. Very happy family tonight 😀🥧
Kathryn says
So easy and so so tasty. A new family favourite for us.
Marilyn says
Creamy cheese and sausage /bacon pasta, my husband and I really enjoyed this recipe, I added mushrooms and frozen peas too .
Will be making this on a regular basis now.
Thank you for your lovely recipes Nicky.
Marilyn
(PS) looking what I can make for tomorrow’s tea, I think it’s going to be chicken in white wine /mushroom sauce another one by Nicky.
Priscilla says
This was so yummy! It’s like the feel of Mac n Cheese but with sausages and bacon added. Soooo yummy!! Thanks for an awesome recipe
janet beedle says
Morning. Can I replace cream with a cream cheese or light come fraiche to make bit healthier please?