This Greek Yogurt Pasta recipe is quick, simple, and absolutely mouth-watering. The sauce is made entirely with yogurt, bacon, parmesan and hot pasta water.
Adam and I almost always have a big pool of Greek yogurt in the fridge, which is how this dish came about. I wanted a creamy pasta but wanted to lean on the lighter side.
It turns out that if you toss hot pasta, Greek yogurt, bacon, and cheese with starchy pasta water, you get a rich, high-protein pasta sauce. It’s lighter than a traditional cream sauce, but just as delicious, especially with a fresh squeeze of lemon on top.
Main ingredients:
- Pasta. We really like a short pasta shape for this (think penne, spirals, or ziti) because it tends to pick up more of the creamy yogurt sauce.
- Snap Peas. We love adding vegetables to this dish and chickpeas are perfect. You can cook them with pasta. Just wait until the pasta is almost done, then pour the peas into the boiling water. This also works for broccoli florets or regular peas. (We love chickpeas and use them in our cooking sugar pea salad.)
- Greek Yogurt. This is the base of our pasta sauce, so choose what you like. We love whole milk yogurt for this one.
- Bacon. Greek yogurt on its own is a little thick and lacks something, but when you mix it with smoky bacon, everything changes. Similar to pancetta for what it’s used for pasta carbonara– is also a good option.
- Cheese. We like to round out our sauce with Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, and we like to use our microplane grater to finely grate the cheese (so it melts into the sauce better).
- Lemon and onion. These are the finishing touches that really bring the whole dish to life. You will squeeze on the lemon juice and finish with freshly chopped onion. Green onions are a good substitute for onions.
Check out the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Greek Yogurt Pasta
Tip 1: Cook vegetables with pasta. The trick with vegetables is to cook them in the pasta water. Just add them a few minutes before your pasta is done and you’re good to go. The chickpeas in our photos take about 3 minutes, so I like to set my timer for 3 minutes before the pasta is done, then leave them when it goes off.
Tip 2: Don’t skip the bacon. Greek yogurt without the bacon in this sauce is missing something, but when you add the bacon (and some rendered fat) it turns into a pasta sauce. Cut your bacon into small pieces, then cook them until crisp.
When cooking bacon, do so over medium-low heat. We like to look for the fat bubbling and bubbling around the bacon when you know the fat is rendering well.
Tip 3: Making pasta sauce. Once the pasta, vegetables and bacon are ready, you can mix everything together. Just dump everything into the same pan you cooked the bacon in, then add a good splash of hot pasta water to loosen things up a bit. Toss until well coated, then serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon and Parmesan on top.
If the sauce seems too thick, don’t be afraid to add a little more pasta water (before draining the pasta, I always keep a cup full of hot water just for this purpose).
Simpler pasta recipes
Greek Yogurt Pasta
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This easy pasta recipe turns plain Greek yogurt into a creamy, protein-packed pasta sauce. You simply toss plain yogurt with parmesan, bacon, and hot, starchy pasta water to bring it all together. We both love the addition of bacon because it brings a smoky, sweet flavor that contrasts perfectly with the thick yogurt. While we use split peas below, feel free to substitute them with broccoli florets or English peas.
4 servings
You will need it
Fine sea salt
12 oz (340 g) pasta, such as penne or spiral
1 (16-ounce/454 g) package frozen sugar snap peas
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into ¼-inch pieces
1 cup (240 g) plain whole milk Greek yogurt
2 ounces parmesan or pecorino romano, micrograted 1 full packed cup (55 g), plus extra for serving
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving
1 lemon, cut in half
Fresh onion, finely chopped, to serve
Directions:
1:Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and set the timer for 3 minutes less than the package instructions. When the timer goes off, add the frozen sugar snap peas. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta and chop the peas.
2:Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp. If the bacon gets too much grease, carefully scoop it out with a spoon and discard the excess, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan.
3:Remove the pan from the fire. Add the drained pasta and peas, Greek yogurt, Parmesan, ⅓ cup reserved pasta water, and black pepper. Toss well to combine. If the sauce seems too thick, carefully stir in the reserved pasta water one at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
4:Taste the sauce and season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Squeeze the lemon juice over the pasta, toss once more and serve with the scallions, a few generous grinds of pepper and extra Parmesan.
Advice from Adam and Joan
- Nutrition facts provided are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
Serving size
1/4 of the recipe
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Calories
527
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Total fat
15.1 g
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Saturated fats
6.1 g
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Cholesterol
35.4 mg
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Sodium
428.3 mg
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Carbohydrate
69.9 g
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Dietary fiber
3.4 g
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Total sugars
6.5 g
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Proteins
26.7 g
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