Velvety, rich, and full of earthy mushroom flavor, this creamy mushroom pasta is a restaurant quality dinner that’s ready in just 30 minutes! With tender mushrooms, crispy bacon, and a luscious cream sauce, it’s a dish you’ll want to make again and again.
There’s a whole lot to love about our favorite creamy mushroom pasta! Essentially, it’s your classic homemade fettuccini, but with a sautéed mushroom and bacon twist. The homemade creamy sauce is loaded with fresh herbs and really sends the whole dish over the top.
Why We Love This Creamy Mushroom Pasta
- Mushrooms add a deep, earthy flavor that elevates the dish.
- Ready in under 30 minutes, perfect for busy weeknights.
- The rich and garlicky cream sauce is packed with fresh herbs!
- It’s budget-friendly and uses pantry staples.
- Great for entertaining, yet simple enough for a casual dinner.
Enjoy more of our best mushroom recipes like this skillet asiago chicken and mushrooms or french onion sautéed mushrooms. You also can’t go wrong with this mushroom sauce for steak!
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make the best creamy mushroom pasta recipe. Scroll to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Fettuccine Pasta: You can swap this with any shape of pasta you prefer.
- Bacon: We use classic pork bacon for this recipe. If you opt for turkey bacon, you may need to supplement the rendered fat with butter.
- Shallots: You can use a small yellow onion instead.
- Mushrooms: Use your favorite mushrooms! We like to use thick sliced baby bella mushrooms because they hold up better when cooking and feel a bit meatier than thinly sliced mushrooms.
- Herbs: We like to use fresh thyme and oregano. You can use dried herbs, just be sure to cut the measurements in half because they’re more potent.
- Wine: You can swap this with chicken broth, if needed, but the wine adds an extra depth of flavor to the cream sauce!
- Heavy Cream: You can use half and half instead, but the sauce won’t be quite as rich.
- Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated is the way to go! If you use bagged, pre-shredded cheese, there’s a good chance it’ll seize up and not incorporate into the sauce.
How to Make Creamy Mushroom Pasta
This easy mushroom pasta recipe comes together in just half an hour! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions.
- Cook the pasta: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente. Make sure to reserve 2 cups of pasta water before you drain it!
- Cook the bacon: Cook the bacon over medium heat until nice and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon and set aside. There should be a couple of tablespoons of bacon grease left in the pot.
- Add onions and mushrooms: Add the onions and sauté in the bacon grease until softened. Then, lower the heat and add the mushrooms. Once soft, add wine and deglaze with a wooden spoon.
- Season: Stir in the butter, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper.
- Make it creamy: Increase the heat again. Stir in the cream and bring to a simmer. Stir often! Once thickened, remove from the heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
- Add pasta: Stir the pasta into the creamy mushroom sauce. Stir in reserved pasta as needed to achieve the desired consistency for your sauce.
- Enjoy: Top with more parmesan and some crispy bacon. Serve and enjoy right away!
Cook’s Tips & Variations
- Reserve the pasta water: Don’t forget this step! Also, do NOT rinse the pasta. If your noodles are stuck together, pour some of the pasta water on it to loosen it up. The starchy water will keep the cream sauce nice and thick.
- Slice your own mushrooms: Mushrooms are delicate, so we like to slice them into thicker pieces so they hold their shape better. It’s faster prep if you purchase pre-sliced mushrooms – just keep in mind that they will cook faster and may break apart when cooking.
- Clean the mushrooms: It’s best to do this with a wet paper towel and just wipe them off. You don’t want to soak them under running water, since that could make them soggy.
- Don’t overcook the mushrooms: It’s easy to overcook mushrooms. Avoid this by moving onto the next step as soon as they begin to darken.
- Vegetarian: You can omit the bacon to make this dinner vegetarian. Just use a tablespoon or two of butter to sauté the onions and mushrooms.
- Add some greens: Toss in some spinach or arugula for a pop of color and extra nutrition. Just stir them into the cream sauce, before adding the pasta.
What to Serve with Creamy Mushroom Pasta
- Add a protein: Slice up a pan seared chicken breast, toss on some grilled shrimp, or serve this pasta next to our tried and true air fryer steak.
- Salads: Add a fresh side salad to this hearty pasta! Some of our favorites include shaved brussels sprouts with bacon and roasted beet salad with goat cheese.
- Veggies: Lighten up your plate with a veggie side like oven roasted cherry tomatoes, sautéed zucchini and squash, and green beans almondine.
- Bread: A hunk of crust bread, or a slice of garlic bread, are perfect with this creamy pasta!
Storing and Reheating
- Storing: While best served fresh, you can store the cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Gently reheat on the stove, or in the microwave in 30 second intervals, with a splash of milk or cream to refresh the sauce.
Yield: 6 servings
Creamy Mushroom Pasta
Velvety, rich, and full of earthy mushroom flavor, this Creamy Mushroom Pasta recipe is a quick and easy dinner ready in just 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 16 oz fettuccine pasta
- 4 strips bacon
- 2 shallots, diced
- 16 oz baby Bella mushrooms, thickly sliced
- ¼ cup white wine, or chicken stock
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp dried
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil. Boil pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Drain pasta. Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a large heavy bottomed pot (like a Dutch oven), add the bacon and cook over medium heat until crispy, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the bacon pieces and set aside. If there's a lot of grease from the bacon, use a spoon to scoop out all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease.
- Add the onion to the hot bacon grease and sauté for 3 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low, add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Pour the wine into the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot making sure to get all the bits and pieces off the bottom. Add the butter, garlic, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Continue to sauté for 1 minute.
- Turn the heat back up to to medium and add the cream. Bring to a simmer, stirring often to keep the cream from burning. Once the cream starts to thicken, about 5 to 7 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the 4 tablespoons of parmesan cheese.
- If the noodles have stuck together, pour 2 cups of reserved pasta water over them. Using tongs to gently toss and loosen the fettuccine. Do not rinse the pasta! You want to keep the starch on the noodles to help keep the sauce thick.
- Add the pasta in with the mushroom cream sauce. Gently toss everything together and top with the crispy bacon, more grated parmesan, and some fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Notes
Store: This pasta dish is best served fresh. However, you can store the cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat: Gently reheat on the stove, or in the microwave in 30 second intervals, with a splash of milk or cream to refresh the sauce.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 561kcal, Carbohydrates: 61g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 129mg, Sodium: 435mg, Potassium: 631mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 772IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 116mg, Iron: 2mg
