BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta Bake is everything you could want in a comforting family dinner. Made with lean ground beef, smoky bacon, tender pasta and a rich tangy BBQ sauce, it is all finished off with a generous topping of gooey melted cheddar cheese. It is hearty, satisfying and packed with all those classic cheeseburger flavours in one irresistible pasta bake.
If you thought my One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta was good, just wait until you try this mouthwatering version. My kids declared it the best pasta dish ever and immediately asked me to make it again. There are not many people who can resist a cheeseburger, and when you combine those flavours with another family favourite, pasta, it is an easy dinner win all round.
Calories in BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta
This recipe serves 4 and is 575 calories per serving.
If you're looking for more recipes within the same calorie range, you'll find an abundance of options in my dedicated collection of 500+ calorie recipes.
If you're following a calorie-controlled diet or a healthy eating plan, it's important to calculate your daily calorie needs using a reliable calorie calculator. The calorie counts provided are estimates and can vary depending on the exact ingredients and portion sizes you use. Using your own calculations helps ensure you're meeting your individual needs. A calorie calculator can help you make informed choices and stay on track with your goals.
See the recipe card for full nutritional estimation.
Ingredient Notes
- Smoked back bacon: Adds a delicious smoky, savoury flavour that helps give this pasta bake that classic bacon cheeseburger taste. Trimming the visible fat keeps it a little lighter while still adding plenty of flavour.
- Extra lean ground beef (mince): The main protein in the dish and what gives it that hearty cheeseburger feel. Using extra lean beef keeps the sauce rich and meaty without becoming overly greasy.
- Onion: Brings natural sweetness and depth of flavour to the sauce. As it cooks down, it helps create a savoury base for the whole dish.
- Crushed tomatoes or passata: Forms the base of the sauce and adds a rich tomato flavour. Crushed tomatoes give a little more texture, while passata creates a smoother sauce.
- Water: Helps cook the pasta and loosen the sauce so everything bakes together nicely. It also allows all the flavours to combine as the dish cooks.
- Tomato paste (purée): Adds a deeper, more concentrated tomato flavour and helps thicken the sauce. It also gives the dish a richer colour and a little extra intensity.
- Light Soy sauce and Dark soy sauce: These add savoury depth and help enhance the beefy flavour in the dish. The dark soy sauce also gives the sauce a richer colour and that glossy BBQ-style finish.
- Maple syrup: Adds sweetness to balance the tangy and savoury elements in the sauce. It also helps create that slightly sticky BBQ flavour.
- Balsamic vinegar: Adds a gentle tang and a touch of sweetness that works perfectly in the BBQ-style sauce. It helps round out the overall flavour.
- Seasonings: Paprika, smoked paprika, mustard powder, onion powder and garlic powder all work together to build layers of flavour in the sauce. They add warmth, smokiness and savoury depth, while also helping to create that classic cheeseburger-inspired taste.
- Pickles (gherkins): Bring a tangy, slightly sharp bite that really makes the dish taste like a cheeseburger. They add contrast to the rich beef, bacon and cheese.
- Fusilli Pasta: Turns all those cheeseburger flavours into a filling, family-friendly pasta bake. It soaks up the delicious sauce as it cooks.
- Cheddar: Melts over the top into a gooey, golden cheesy layer. It adds richness and gives the dish that essential cheeseburger finish.
- Salt and black pepper: Used to season and enhance all the flavours in the dish. They help bring balance and make the ingredients shine.
- Spring onions (green onions): An optional finishing touch that adds freshness and a mild onion flavour. They also add a nice pop of colour just before serving.
Once you've gathered all the ingredients and prepared them accordingly, you're all set to create this easy and delightful recipe.
See the recipe card for specific quantities and instructions
Variations and Substitutes
You can easily adapt this dish to suit what you have on hand. Ground turkey or chicken work well instead of beef for a lighter option, although beef does give the most classic cheeseburger flavour. Smoked streaky bacon can be used in place of back bacon, or you can leave the bacon out altogether.
Most short pasta shapes will work here, including penne, macaroni or shells. Passata can be used instead of crushed tomatoes for a smoother sauce. Honey also works well instead of maple syrup, or you can use your favourite granulated sweetener, but this may slightly change the flavour.
If you are not a fan of pickles, just leave them out. You can also swap the cheddar for another good melting cheese such as mozzarella or Red Leicester. For extra veg, finely diced peppers, carrot, mushrooms or grated courgette all work well stirred into the sauce.
Sides for BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta
As a side for this pasta bake, I went for a simple salad with shredded crisp lettuce, cucumber and cherry tomatoes, served with a light low calorie dressing. It adds a fresh, crunchy contrast to the rich, cheesy pasta and helps balance everything out really nicely.
You could also serve this with some steamed green beans, sweetcorn, corn on the cob or even a little homemade slaw if you want a few more options on the side. Garlic bread is always a great choice too if you want to lean fully into comfort food mode.
Yes, you could add some vegetables straight into the pasta bake, but as this is a BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta, other than the onion, it just did not feel right to compromise those classic flavours. A simple salad or veggie side works perfectly instead. But if you want to stir in some diced peppers, mushrooms or other vegetables, who am I to judge.
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Leftovers of this BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta Bake store really well, which makes it perfect for meal prep or an easy dinner the next day. Keep any cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
You can also freeze portions once fully cooled. Transfer to freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating for best results.
To reheat, warm in the microwave or oven until piping hot throughout. If the pasta has soaked up some of the sauce, just add a splash of water before reheating to help loosen it back up. If reheating in the oven, cover loosely with foil so the top does not dry out too much.
More Pasta Bake Recipes
Love a delicious pasta bake? Check out some of these other recipes:
- SPINACH PASTA BAKE
- BEST EVER BOLOGNESE PASTA BAKE
- CHICKEN BACON AND TOMATO PASTA BAKE
- MEXICAN PASTA BAKE
- SLOPPY JOE PASTA BAKE
- PASTA CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 delicious recipes with calories and you can search by meal type, ingredients, course, diet and more.
All recipes on Slimming Eats have estimated nutritional information for your convenience.
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Recipe Card
BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta Bake
This BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta Bake is a hearty, flavour-packed family dinner with all the best cheeseburger flavours combined in one cheesy, comforting pasta dish.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of uncooked smoked back bacon (trimmed of all visible fat), diced small
- 400g (14oz) of extra lean ground beef (mince), uncooked
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 360ml (1.5 cups) of crushed tomatoes (or passata)
- 360ml (1.5 cups) of water
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste (puree) - add two if using passata
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons of paprika
- 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika (not hot)
- ½ teaspoon of mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon of onion powder
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
- 2-3 tablespoons of pickles (gherkins), diced
- 240g (8.5oz) of uncooked pasta (I used fusilli)
- 120g (4.3oz) of cheddar, broken into pieces (or you can grate)
- salt and black pepper
- 2 spring onions (green onions), sliced - optional
Instructions
- Add the bacon to a deep frying pan over a medium high heat and fry until golden and browned. Remove and set aside.
- Add the onion and fry until lightly golden and softened.
- Add in the ground beef and fry until browned. Season with a pinch of salt and black pepper.
- Add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, soy sauces, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard powder, bacon, pickles and water and bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and bubble gently until the sauce reduces down and thickens (approx 10 minutes).
- In the meantime cook pasta according to package directions in boiling salted water until al dente, drain and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 180c fan, 200c, 400f or gas mark 6.
- Once sauce has thickened around the ground beef, taste and season as needed with some salt and black pepper and then stir in the pasta and transfer to an oven proof dish. I cooked the ground beef in the cast iron skillet (which can then easily be transferred straight to the oven).
- Roughly top with the broken up pieces of cheddar and place in the oven until the cheddar is melted and lightly golden (approx 25-30 minutes)
- Scatter with chopped spring onions (green onion) - optional.
- Serve and Enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
- ❄️ Freezer Friendly - - see freezing and reheating section.
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Nutrition Information
Serving Size
1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 575Total Fat 15gSaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 93mgSodium 917mgCarbohydrates 64gFiber 6gSugar 13gProtein 31gg
Jennifer Edge says
My family love Cheeseburger pasta so decided to try the BBQ Bacon cheeseburger pasta bake for dinner last night as my daughter was visiting and it was so tasty and easy to make, we loved it.I followed the recipe to the letter apart from the bacon, had to use unsmoked as dont use smoked very often.I will get smoked bacon next time but it was delicious , thanks Siobhan for another great recipe.
Gillian says
Hello, please can you tell me if I use fresh crushed tomatoes or tinned tomatoes?
Thank you x
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
crushed tomatoes are canned tomatoes like passata, but slightly thicker consistency as it's not sieved.
Keith Nurney says
Made this twice now, love it, it is nice & tasty & goes along way (serves easily 5 but could run to 6) thanks Sibhan