Easy Weeknight Bacon Broccoli Pasta.

This is some super easy comfort food right here. Like embarrassingly easy.

Bacon broccoli pasta probably isn’t something you’d expect to see here… yet here we are. 

Remember a few months ago when I got weirdly into broccoli? I’ve been making this exact dish since then!

It has sat in blog purgatory for a long time because I didn’t necessarily deem it worthy of sharing. Not because it isn’t good enough (it’s so ridiculously good!) but because it’s just so simple. And then I made it again right before we left for vacation and I was like I HAVE TO TELL THEM.

So easy! So spicy. So freaking good.

I first started making this pasta back in March, before I even started the book tour for The Pretty Dish! It’s one of those recipes that you can throw together with minimal ingredients and one that you can also easily add things to. Be it leftovers, rotisserie chicken, whatever is in the fridge or whatever the heck else Eddie wants in the bowl.

You’re going to:

Fry the bacon crumbles!

Then remove them for a second while you add in the broccoli and cook it all in that bacon-y goodness. Add lotssss of garlic.

Toss the cooked pasta in too.

Add shakes of crushed red pepper and shaved parmesan.

Eat it right out of the pan.

YES YES YES.

Sounds like a plan to me.

Easy Weeknight Bacon Broccoli Pasta

Yield: 4 people

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

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5 from 65 votes

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Ingredients

• 8 ounces pasta cooked
• 4 slices bacon chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup freshly shaved/grated parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• lots of fresh cracked black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil if needed for drizzling

Instructions 

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the directions.
• While the water is boiling, heat a large skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat and add the bacon. Cook until it is browned, crispy and all the fat is rendered, then removed the bacon with a slotted spoon and set it on a paper towel to drain and excess grease.
• Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pan and turn the heat up to medium. Stir in the garlic and the broccoli florets and cook, tossing occasionally, for about 5 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and slightly soft. Add a lot of fresh cracked pepper and if you'd like, a tiny pinch of salt. I find that I usually don't need the salt because the bacon grease is salty!
• At this time, you can toss in the cooked pasta. Toss well to combine every and keep it over low heat. If it seems too dry, you can drizzle in the remaining bacon grease or you can just drizzle some olive oil on top and toss well. Add in the parmesan shavings and crushed red pepper. Toss well. Serve it!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

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I appreciate you so much!

I won’t judge if you throw some garden zucchini in there! Or, let’s be real… cheese.