Most tomato pastas start with olive oil. This Bacon Tomato Pasta starts with beef bacon, rendered low and slow until it gives up every drop of its fat - and then we cook the whole dish in it. The panko breadcrumbs, the shallots and garlic, and the juicy summer tomatoes that burst and slump into a jammy sauce: it all comes together in that savory rendered fat. The sauce gets finished with tons of fresh basil, followed by bucatini pasta twirled in, then topped with crispy bacon fat breadcrumbs. Delicious! 🤤
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Godshall's Quality Meats. We're so excited to partner with them for 2026 to showcase their incredible beef bacon. It's the perfect replacement for pork bacon with a smokier, more savory flavor profile that we LOVE! 🥓As always, all opinions are our own.
This Burst Cherry Tomato Pasta with Beef Bacon is the Perfect Summer Dinner 🍅
This is the kind of dinner I want after a long day in the garden. It's the sort of low-effort, high-reward meal that comes together while you're still brushing the dirt off your knees. When cherry tomatoes are at their peak, sweet and sun-warm, you cook them hard until they burst into a sauce that tastes like summer in a bowl. The starchy pasta water pulls it all together, silky and glossy, clinging to every strand of bucatini.
What really ties it all together and turns it into a proper dinner is that beef bacon. Nothing goes to waste here. We render it low and slow, then use every bit of that fat: some toasts the panko into golden, crunchy breadcrumbs, and the rest becomes the foundation of the sauce, where shallots, red pepper flakes, and a small mountain of garlic bloom before the tomatoes go in. By the time everything comes together, that bacon flavor is woven through every single layer, not just sitting on top. 🤤
What You'll Need for This Bacon Tomato Pasta ✨
Good beef bacon and genuinely ripe cherry tomatoes do most of the work here, so this is a great recipe to shop well for.
🍅Got lots of extra tomatoes lying around? Try our roasted tomato butter or this cherry tomato confit.
How to Make Bacon Tomato Pasta ✨
Don't let the layered flavor fool you! This comes together in one skillet and a pasta pot, start to finish.
- Step 1: Cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces.
Pro tip: Beef bacon shrinks more than pork as it renders, so those pieces will cook down smaller. Cut them a touch bigger than you think you need.
- Step 2: Place the beef bacon pieces in a large cold skillet or wide Dutch oven in a single layer. Turn the heat to medium-low and render slowly, turning occasionally, until crisp at the edges. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate, then pour off and reserve all that rendered fat - we'll use it to build the sauce and toast the breadcrumbs.
🥓Why a cold skillet: Starting the bacon in a cold pan and bringing the heat up slowly renders more fat and crisps it evenly, instead of scorching the outside before the inside gives up its fat.
- Step 3: Return some of the rendered fat to a small skillet over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt.
Toast, stirring constantly, until deep golden. Transfer to a plate right away so they stop cooking.
- Step 4: Return more of the rendered fat to the large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots with a pinch of salt and cook until softened.
Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook just until fragrant.
🌶️ On the red pepper flakes: Add to taste! Start with a little bit, then add more if desired for more heat.
🍅 Have your tomatoes ready: Work fast when cooking the garlic. It can go from fragrant to burnt fast. Have the tomatoes right at the stove so you can add them the second the garlic smells amazing.
- Step 5: Add the tomatoes and salt, and bump the heat to medium-high.
Cook, stirring occasionally and pressing with the back of a spoon to help them along. You want most of them slumped and releasing their juices.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil for the pasta. Add the bucatini to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente. Reserve plenty of pasta water.
- Step 6: Add the torn basil.
Toss to wilt the basil, then taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
- Step 7: Transfer the cooked pasta straight into the tomato skillet with a splash of that water.
Toss vigorously over medium heat, adding more pasta water as needed, until the juices, fat, and starch pull together into a glossy sauce that coats the pasta. Then add in the cooked bacon.
Top with the beef-bacon-fat breadcrumbs, the reserved crispy bacon, fresh basil leaves, some Parmesan, and enjoy!
🌟Leave a Review!
If you make this Burst Cherry Tomato and Bacon Pasta recipe, we'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below with your rating for the recipe. Share with us by tagging us on Instagram! We love seeing your creations! 📸
📖 Recipe
Burst Tomato Pasta with Beef Bacon and Crispy Breadcrumbs
Ingredients
Beef Bacon
- 20 ounces Godshall's beef bacon two 10-ounce packages, cut crosswise into 1½-inch pieces
Breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons rendered beef bacon fat
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs panko preferred, no salt or seasonings added
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt We use Diamond Crystal, see notes
Tomato Sauce
- 4 tablespoons rendered beef bacon fat
- 3 medium shallots thinly sliced
- 12 cloves garlic minced
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
- 2 pounds cherry tomatoes left whole, about 3 pints
- ½ cup basil leaves torn fresh
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt we use Diamond Crystal, see notes
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 cup reserved starchy pasta water plus more as needed
Pasta
- 1 pound pasta of choice, we used bucatini
- Heavily salted water for boiling
To Finish
- Reserved crispy beef bacon
- Beef bacon fat breadcrumbs
- Fresh basil leaves
- Grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
Instructions
- Render the beef bacon. Place the beef bacon pieces in a large cold skillet or wide Dutch oven in a single layer. Turn the heat to medium-low and render slowly, turning occasionally, until crisp at the edges, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off and reserve the rendered fat (about 6 tablespoons).20 ounces Godshall's beef bacon
- Toast the breadcrumbs. Return some of the rendered fat to a small skillet over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and salt, and toast, stirring constantly, until deep golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate right away to stop the cooking.2 tablespoons rendered beef bacon fat, ¾ cup breadcrumbs, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Start the pasta water. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil for the pasta.
- Build the aromatic base. Return the remaining rendered fat to the large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.4 tablespoons rendered beef bacon fat, 3 medium shallots, 12 cloves garlic , ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Cook the tomatoes. Add the cherry tomatoes and salt, and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally and pressing with the back of a spoon to encourage bursting, until most of the tomatoes have slumped and released their juices, 10 to 14 minutes.2 pounds cherry tomatoes, 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- Cook the pasta and reserve pasta water. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente, 1 to 2 minutes less than the package directs. Reserve at least 2 cups of pasta water before draining to be sure you have enough for the sauce, and any potential reheating of leftovers.1 pound pasta, Heavily salted water
- Finish the tomato sauce. Off the heat, add the torn basil to the tomato sauce and toss to wilt. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.½ cup basil leaves, Freshly cracked black pepper
- Toss and emulsify. Transfer the drained pasta straight into the tomato skillet with about 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss vigorously over medium heat, adding more pasta water as needed, until the juices, fat, and starch come together into a glossy sauce that coats the strands, 2 to 3 minutes. Add most of the crispy beef bacon and toss to combine.1 cup reserved starchy pasta water, Reserved crispy beef bacon
- Plate and serve. Twirl into bowls and top with the beef bacon fat breadcrumbs, the reserved crispy beef bacon, fresh basil leaves, and grated Parmesan or Pecorino.Beef bacon fat breadcrumbs, Fresh basil leaves, Grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
- Salt: These amounts are for Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If using Morton's kosher salt or table salt, use half the volume.
- Beef bacon: Two 10-ounce packages is intentional - each renders only about 3 tablespoons of fat, so two packages give you enough to build the sauce and toast the breadcrumbs, with plenty of crispy bacon left for the pasta and topping.
- Storing & reheating: Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days. The toasted breadcrumbs stay crispest stored separately at room temperature (a covered jar is perfect), so set some aside to sprinkle on after reheating. Warm the pasta gently in a skillet over medium-low with a splash of water to loosen the sauce, or microwave in short bursts, stirring between. We don't recommend freezing this one, since the tomato sauce and pasta lose their texture.
- Red pepper flakes: ½ teaspoon keeps things gentle; 1 teaspoon runs noticeably spicy. Start low and add to taste.
- Make it a meal: A simple green salad and crusty bread round this out nicely.
Comments
No Comments