We love this easy and delicious pasta with greens (and bacon)! This recipe has four main ingredients, it’s ready in 30 minutes and it’s super budget-friendly! You can make it vegan and/or gluten-free – and also enjoy with fresh homemade crostini.
Before beets greens there was lacinato kale. There was also red chard, Swiss chard and rainbow chard.
In fact, we’ve had almost every dark green leafy vegetable that summer could possibly produce come into our kitchen via the CSA box. It’s been quite interesting… did you know that the LEAVES of the broccoli plant are edible? And guess how you cook them – just like every other green!
Coming up with a staple recipe that could handle them all has been top priority, otherwise a good chunk of my money would be going into the trash can every week.
Besides, I need to have a plan for all the frozen beet greens in my freezer, right?
I asked y’all for some help on Instagram and Facebook and boy did you pull through! From onions and butter to bacon and vinegar… ya’ll had me drooling on my keyboard!
The next week I offered my recipe experiment to Mr. Crumbs and asked him the standard questions:
So what do you think – can I make it again? If I made it again, would you eat it?
He answered as he was shoveling the last bite on his plate into his mouth to make room for a second helping. Although the answer wasn’t 100% clear, I’m pretty sure sounded like “Oh yes – this is really good!”
I’ll admit though, it’s hard to make a recipe taste bad when bacon is involved. Don’t you agree?
I’ve decided to call this dish Pasta with Greens
It’s not the most creative, but it’s accurate. And this meal is way good, so feel free to call it whatever you want. “Yum in a bowl” works too.
Like Creamy Squash Pasta Bake is comfort food in the winter, Pasta with Greens is comfort food anytime. It fills the belly, warms the soul and makes your mouth feel like it just left the coolest party on the block. It’s really no wonder why we’ve been eating it every week for the past two months!
This is seriously one of the easiest recipes you’ll ever make and with four simple ingredients you likely have on hand, it’s one of those recipes you can turn to when you’re in a pinch for a quick meal or when everything in the fridge looks unappetizing.
Ingredients for Pasta with Greens
Do you see the goodness in that bowl?
- Bacon. Yum. (Easily omit the bacon if you’d like a vegan option)
- Onion. Thin slices caramelized in savory bacon grease to make a vegetable so sweet, it could be served for dessert.
- Greens. Super healthy, super cheap and you can use whichever kind you like best because this recipe is super flexible.
- Pasta. An affordable real food staple. Whether you like whole grain or durum, choose pasta that is NOT enriched with synthetic chemicals. For gluten-free, use any gluten-free pasta.
Finally, this recipe can be made with one hand tied behind your back… or for some of you, while you’re nursing a baby, answering the phone, untangling toddlers from beneath your legs or just trying to stay awake long enough to eat dinner.
Notes on Ingredients
Bacon. This recipe is SO versatile. You can easily reduce the amount of bacon you use to as little as you have, or even none at all if funds are low or if your husband accidentally ate it all. The only thing to keep in mind is that you want that bacon flavor, so be sure to start off with a good 2-4 Tbsp of bacon grease to caramelize the onions.
Pasta. We’ve tried this recipe with spaghetti, elbow and shell pasta – you really can’t go wrong no matter what you choose. Do you ever end up with one cup of this noodle and half a cup of that noodle… no thanks to the myriad pasta salad recipes you’re making this summer? Use them up in this dish! No one will notice, or care. They’ll be too busy eating it up!
Greens. If you’re new to dark leafy greens, chard has the mildest flavor of them all. Beet greens have the strongest and kale falls in the middle. If your family loves greens, feel free to double the quantity!
How to Make Pasta with Greens & Bacon Step by Step
Step 1. In a heavy bottomed skillet, cook bacon until almost crispy. Remove bacon from the pan but leave the grease. Add onion and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 2. Meanwhile, prepare pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain.
Step 3. Add the greens and cook until onions are caramelized and greens are wilted and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add butter or additional bacon grease if the onions and greens seem dry.
Step 4. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Step 5. Add finished onion/chard and bacon to pasta and stir well to combine. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Pasta with Greens Recipe Tips and Tricks
- This recipe is just enough for dinner for a family of four. If you want leftovers or have hearty eaters, double the recipe. Feel free to leave the amount of bacon the same – just add more bacon grease to start.
- If you’re feeling fancy, add a couple of shavings of Parmesan cheese. Totally optional, of course.
- If you’d like a vegan option, just omit the bacon! It’s still amazing without the bacon.
- For gluten-free, use any gluten-free pasta.
- Set a timer for the pasta and set the heat for the veggies on low. It’s that easy!
FAQs
Why yes! This recipe is the perfect way to get your greens by enjoying them with fresh pasta and bacon! YUM! It’s so easy and absolutely delicious.
Use a bunch of greens to make this wonderfully savory and delicious pasta with greens (and bacon!) recipe. But for a vegan option, just leave the bacon out.
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Savory Pasta with Greens
We love this easy and delicious pasta with greens (and bacon)! This recipe has four main ingredients, it’s ready in 30 minutes and it’s super budget-friendly! You can make it vegan, and/or gluten-free – and also enjoy with fresh homemade crostini.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Main Meals
- Method: Skillet
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- ½ lb bacon
- 1 large onion, very thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp butter or additional bacon grease (optional)
- 1 lb greens (any chard, any kale or beet greens), washed and sliced into 1″ pieces
- 8 oz favorite pasta (spaghetti or shells – for gluten free, use any gluten free pasta)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a heavy-bottomed skillet, cook bacon until almost crispy. Remove bacon from the pan but leave the grease. Add onion and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, prepare pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain.
- Add the greens and cook until onions are caramelized and greens are wilted and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add butter or additional bacon grease if the onions and greens seem dry.
- Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Add finished onion/chard and bacon to pasta and stir well to combine. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Notes
- This recipe is just enough for dinner for a family of four. If you want leftovers or have hearty eaters, double the recipe. Feel free to leave the amount of bacon the same – just add more bacon grease to start.
- If you’re feeling fancy, add a couple of shavings of Parmesan cheese. Totally optional, of course.
- If you’d like a vegan option, just omit the bacon! It’s still amazing without the bacon.
- For gluten free, use any gluten free pasta.
- Set a timer for the pasta and set the heat for the veggies on low. It’s that easy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 293
This recipe was great. My husband and I really enjoyed it. It is just the two of us. We have been empty nesters for the last four years.
This was so good, I grabbed a bunch of collards & chopped those up with some kale & sliced onion. I did add a teeny bit of half & half to the veggie mix while in the skillet to create more of a sauce. It was delicious.
Just made this for my crew. I did add a little Parmesan like I read in one comment as well as some Italian seasoning because we love lots of flavor. Delicious!!!
That’s a great ide Angie! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This was incredible!! I made it tonight!! I used kale and added 1/4 cup each of cream and Parmesan cheese because they needed to be used up, and my family devoured it! Thanks for sharing!
We are vegan I make these “bacon” mushrooms by marinating mushrooms in tamari, toasted sesame oil and liquid smoke and then either pan fry or oven bake (depending on season–too hot for oven in summer) that would be perfect with this. Kale is so cheap and healthy and tastes great to bulk out a meal. I can often get away with less pasta if I have kale in there. Will try this recipe this week with some bacon mushrooms. thanks!
We had this tonight and really loved it… Served with watermelon for dessert:) I thought it would be good as leftovers with an fried egg on top. Esp for lunch! Blessings:)
Hi Tiffany, I made this dish for the first time tonight and everyone declared it delicious! I sautéed diced zucchini (instead of greens) with Vidalia onions while my bacon was cooking in the oven, and the noodles were boiling. So easy to put together and fast. Loved it!!!
What beautiful photos! This looks so easy and yummy. I need to make this for my boys and a zoodle version for me. YUM! Thanks, sweet friend!
Aw, thank you Kelly!! I hope you guys like it as much as we do! 🙂
We’re a gluten free family and rice pasta isn’t always a good sub for wheat pasta. But Zucchini pasta fits the bill nicely. Not as substantial a dish but would make a good ‘major’ side dish. I’ll be making this real soon.
I’ve been doing the same thing with many vegetables from my CSA bag. Last time included yellow squash, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and chard(stems and leaves). The more vegetables I use the less pasta is included. Adding a little bone broth and or grated cheese makes a feast!
We make this dish all the time and it’s so yummy! I usually use turnip greens since I often have them in my garden year round. But, my all time favorite green to use is arugula. Sounds weird but give it a try. You’ll love it! I sometimes use mild Italian sausage if I don’t have bacon.
It doesn’t sound weird at all! I almost bought arugula to try it out, but wanted to try kale first. Next time I’m going with the arugula!