Tortellini Bacon & Peas Skillet is a simple, quick dish to make in about 20 minutes! Seasoned with onions, Italian spices and Parmesan, it’s a delicious meal!
Ever have those days when you need to cook dinner, but are out of ideas? Believe it or not, I sure do! This recipe for Tortellini, Bacon & Peas Skillet came about as a result of wracking my brain to come up with a dinner plan recently.
I raided my pantry and found dried tortellini pasta. Next, I raided my refrigerator and came up with bacon and and onion. An idea started forming in my head… hmmm. Then I found a bag of frozen petite peas, and BAM… I knew what I would cook for our dinner, and created this dish!
The recipe is very simple to make in only a few steps. It only took about 20 minutes from my pillaging in the kitchen, until we were eating this delicious meal! Not too bad for a quick and delicious weeknight meal, if I do say so myself!
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Here’s How To Prepare The Tortellini, Bacon & Peas Skillet
One of the ingredients in this dish is cooked and crumbled bacon. The first thing I did was to cook the bacon. I cooked the onion along with the bacon. The easiest way I have found to cook bacon quickly is to stack bacon slices, then thinly slice them into small pieces.
NOTE: Use a large skillet to cook bacon and onion. The tortellini will be added to the skillet later, so it needs to big enough to hold it all! Once the small bacon strips (and chopped onion) are added to the skillet, they will cook very quickly, with minimal stirring!
Once the bacon (and chopped onions) are finished cooking, remove them from skillet with a slotted spoon. Place the bacon mixture on a paper towel, to finish draining. Set bacon aside. IMPORTANT: Keep the bacon drippings in the skillet (do not discard). It will be used when the dish is put together and will add additional amazing flavor to the tortellini!
Which Kind Of Tortellini Should I Use?
I used dried cheese tortellini for this recipe. However… you can easily substitute refrigerated cheese tortellini found in the deli section at most grocery stores, if that is more convenient for you!
Cook cheese tortellini in salted, boiling water, according to package directions. The great thing is that you could, in theory, cook the tortellini ahead of time. That way, if pressed for time to get dinner on the table, it will take even less time to throw this meal together later!
If using dried tortellini, you will need 1½ cups dry tortellini to cook. However, if you will be using refrigerated tortellini, you will need a total of 3 cups cheese tortellini.
When done cooking, drain the tortellini.
To Assemble Tortellini Bacon & Peas Skillet
Pour a teaspoon of olive oil into pan that has the reserved bacon drippings in it. Turn heat to medium. Once oil/bacon drippings are hot, add the cooked and drained tortellini. Add cooked crumbled bacon/onion mixture, thawed peas (thawed frozen peas won’t be as mushy as canned peas), salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.
Stir to combine, and cook on medium heat until mixture is heated through. Taste test a small bite. If necessary, add more salt/pepper, to suit your personal taste.
To Serve:
Once heated thoroughly, remove pan from heat. Add grated Parmesan cheese (optional, but GOOD) to top of dish, and serve hot!
That’s it! I really hope you enjoy this quick, satisfying (and quite tasty) Tortellini, Bacon & Peas Skillet! We sure did. Hope you have a wonderful day, and thank you for stopping by. Come back soon!
Looking For More TORTELLINI Dishes?
You can find all of my pasta recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. I have several tortellini recipes, including:
- Cheese Tortellini in a Tomato-spinach Cheese Sauce
- Easy Tortellini Soup
- Tortellini Marinara and Zucchini Bake
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↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
- 12 ounces dry tortellini pasta (can sub. 3 cups fresh tortellini)
- 3 slices bacon , drippings reserved after cooking
- 1/2 cup frozen peas , thawed
- 1/4 cup onions , chopped
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (each) salt and pepper , plus more, to taste
- 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese , for garnish (optional)
Use a large skillet to cook bacon and onion. The tortellini will be added to the skillet later, so it needs to big enough to hold it all! Once the bacon (and chopped onions) are finished cooking, remove them from skillet with a slotted spoon. Place the bacon mixture on a paper towel, to finish draining. Crumble. Set bacon aside. IMPORTANT: Keep the bacon drippings in the pan (do not discard). It will be used when the dish is put together and will add additional amazing flavor to the tortellini!
Cook cheese tortellini in salted, boiling water, according to package directions. When done cooking, drain the tortellini.
Pour a teaspoon of olive oil into the skillet with reserved bacon drippings in it. Turn heat to medium. Once oil/bacon drippings are hot, add the cooked, drained tortellini. Add cooked bacon/onion mixture, thawed peas, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine, and cook on medium heat until mixture is heated through. Taste test a small bite. If necessary, add more salt/pepper, to suit your taste.
Once heated thoroughly, remove pan from heat. Add grated Parmesan cheese on top to garnish dish (optional, but GOOD), and serve hot! Enjoy!
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!