Cheesy bacon pasta bake with green beans is a really tasty and simple family recipe. On the dinner table in less than one hour, this is a terrific quick healthy meal that requires hardly any effort at all!
Cheesy bacon pasta bake with green beans, now that’s a delicious combination!
There’s nothing quite like good hearty family food, especially when it really hits the spot like this does.
All you need to accompany this filling dish is a fresh crispy salad.
And maybe a cheeky little glass of the red stuff if it’s appropriate. 😉
Judging by the number of shares and views they get you folks love my pasta bake recipes, like these ones:-
and the
Chicken Broccoli Stilton Pasta Bake.
I’m always humbled when my recipes are so well liked.
But, those pasta bake recipes are OUR favourite pasta bakes too. So I thought if you like them as much as we do, then it’s about time to make another!
We hope that you find this cheesy bacon pasta bake recipe equally delicious and shareable as the others!
While Lynne and I love our pasta, we wouldn’t have it every night, for reasons I wrote about in the previous sweet potato salad recipe.
But when we do, it’s a tasty pasta bake like this one.
For the 80/20 rule for eating to work it’s all about moderation, right? 🙂
Its all basic store cupboard ingredients we’re using here too.
Helping, as always to save on the pennies.
I’m using frozen green beans but you can use fresh if you like.
Then there’s the salad. Some iceberg lettuce, cucumber, red pepper and spring onions. Delicious fresh tasting and simple!
Cheesy Bacon Pasta Bake With Green Beans
Ingredients
- 200 g whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 strips bacon* , diced (I use turkey bacon)
- 1 large onion , sliced
- 300 ml skimmed milk
- 15 g corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- 100 g green beans (I use frozen ones, defrosted)
- 150 g low fat cheese , grated
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180C Fan
- Cook pasta according to the packet instructions until al-dente. Then drain.
- Whilst pasta is cooking gently heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the bacon. Lightly fry the bacon until it is just beginning to crisp then remove it from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Sauté the onion in the same oil until softened (add a little water to the pan if oil has evaporated) then add the milk and cornflour mixture. Keep stirring until the sauce has thickened and then season to taste.
- Add back the cooked bacon and stir in the green beans. Allow to simmer for a minute, add the cooked, drained pasta and combine everything well.
- Remove the mixture to a casserole dish, spread out evenly and sprinkle the cheese over the top.
- Bake in the centre of an oven for approximately 15 minutes until the cheese has browned slightly and is bubbling.
- Serve with a crispy salad.
Notes
Nutrition
Talking of salads folks, remember how I was joking in the recent shredded kale and spinach salad recipe about how I usually jinx the weather as soon as I publish a new salad recipe?
Well it could be that those days of me jinxing the weather are finally over!
For the last week it’s been wall to wall blue skies!
Check out this picture taken at the weekend past, the view over the Firth of Clyde to Dunoon, when Lady Lynne and I joined her parents for lunch at The Spinnaker Hotel in Gourock.
Long may it continue!
Hope you can join me on Thursday folks for the new healthier tomato basil mozzarella filo pastry recipe. A healthier Empanada recipe!
Catch you then!
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Ashika | Gardening Foodie
This looks so good, I am staring at the pictures and having a very difficult time dragging myself away from my computer. I do not eat bacon though, because I am vegetarian so I will substitute it with something else. LOVE , LOVE , LOVE green beans😋 so definitely going into the pasta. Pinning, saving and making this for supper tonight. 😊
Thanks for a lovely recipe.
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Thank you so much for your kind comments and for making this recipe Ashika. 🙂
Yes, of course please DO make this recipe your own by removing the bacon so that it’s vegetarian.
I love it when people tell me how they will make they recipe their own here in the comments and it helps everyone else who reads through these comments to do the same thing too! 😀
Susie @ Suzlyfe
How good would this be after a long run or a hill walk? Just hitting all the flavor notes, my friend! And a grown up version of the stouffer’s pasta and rice bakes that I grew up with.
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Yes, this would definitely hit the spot after a long run or hill walk Susie.
It’s got just the right amount of whole grains and it’s really filling so it would be ideal for filling up that empty tummy!
Glad you like it and that it reminds you of that stouffer’s pasta and rice bakes you grew up with! 🙂
jeff
What a great idea for a casserole! I could really go for something cheesy today, and I love that you 0ut the green beans in with it.
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Thanks Jeff. Yep, if you’re looking for something really cheesy I think this would hit the spot.
I was actually going to put peas in the recipe originally but I didn’t have any so I tried the green beans and decided they went better.
I suppose those hidden green beans are a great way to get kids to eat their green too eh? LOL
Shashi at Savory Spin
Neil – what a comforting bake this is and ooh – not to mention, delicious! I would have a hard time resisting seconds of this cheesy bean bacon pasta bake – I mean – there’s bacon in it! BACON!!! 🙂 Also, love that view over the Firth of Clyde to Dunoon – fingers crossed the blue skies and warmth envelopes y’all for days and days to come!
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Thanks Shashi! 🙂
Yes, I agree this is certainly a really comforting bake. It’s difficult to resist the temptation to dive into another slice after the first one, so I have to be quick and put those extra slices into the freezer a quickly as possible!
It is still great weather here and I’m still holding my breath that it continues!
David @ Spiced
That photo of the Firth of Clyde! I absolutely love Scotland, and I definitely need to get back over there soon. Speaking of photos, the photos of this pasta bake look amazing, too. I love pasta in any form, but if you happen to add cheese then I’m totally on board! Love the green beans in there, too. Sounds like a great comfort food meal, my friend!
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Thanks David. 🙂 That day down by the Firth of Clyde just had to be captured as a photograph. There’s so many days where it doesn’t quite look as picturesque as that (rain) so it’s nice to see it and to appreciate it when it’s looking as stunning as it was that day!
Glad you like my pasta photos and recipe. Happy to share this with you guys when you get a chance to head on over to Scotland again! 😀