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Spinach and Artichoke Chicken Carbonara Pasta
PIN THIS RECIPE!People are obsessed with bacon. I mean, OBSESSED. Have you seen some of the blogs out there, dedicated strictly to bacon? It’s unreal the heart felt love and passion that people have for smoked belly, and/or side, and/or back of a pig. I mean, those are super sexy parts on a male and I may be obsessed with them, but not so much when it comes to pigs. I like bacon, don’t get me wrong, but you people who tear up at the smell of it have issues. I’m kidding, I tear up regularly when it comes to the smell of almond butter (only when made by Georgia).
Bacon used to be looked at as a saddle bag and muffin top-creating fatty food, but has now become a paleo dieters staple. Makes no sense. Ok, that’s untrue, it makes a sh*t ton of sense. It’s delicious. Bacon is stupid good. And us CrossFitters/Paleo-ers love fat, including fatty slabs of meat. Anyways, cooking with bacon and bacon fat makes everything more delicious. Cook some onions in bacon fat…BOMB. Cook some broccoli in bacon fat…BOMB. Cook paleo pancakes in bacon fat…EVEN MORE BOMB. So I decided to make a little pasta dish of my own, carbonara style, sans noodles, eggs, and cheese. So really nothing like carbonara other than the bacon, but I can call it whatever I want. It’s my blog. And I’ll cry if I want to.
PrintPaleo Spinach and Artichoke Chicken Carbonara Pasta
Ingredients
- 1lb uncured bacon, cut into 1/2 inch squares
- 1 medium sized spaghetti squash
- 1/2lb chicken tenders, diced
- 1 can/jar artichoke hearts, cut in half or into fourths
- 5–6 cups spinach (just get a crap ton and call it good)
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- You will first need to get your spaghetti squash cooked. Cut it in half, pull out the seeds and threads with a spoon. Be aggressive, and strong. Place open side down on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the skin “gives” when you press on it.
- Now, pull out a large pan and place over medium-high heat. The higher the sides of the pan, the less bacon grease burns you will encounter. Don’t say I didn’t tell you. Add your cut pieces of bacon to the pan to let cook, stirring occasionally so the bacon doesn’t burn.
- Once the bacon is done cooking, use a slotted spoon to place the bacon in a bowl to add back to the pasta later and remove 1/2 of the bacon fat in the pan. I used a jar to place my bacon fat in so I can cook over things with it later.
- With 1/2 of the bacon fat remaining, add the mined garlic and diced onions to let cook down.
- Once the onions begin to become translucent, add the diced chicken.
- When the chicken is almost done cooking, add your artichokes.
- Your spaghetti squash should be done cooking at this point so take it out of the oven, use a fork to de-thread it, and add the threads to the pan.
- Re-add your diced bacon.
- Then add your spinach.
- Mix thoroughly to incorporate everything together
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 minutes, or until the spinach slightly wilts.
- Consume!!
Oh, Hi! I’m Juli.
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41 thoughts on “Spinach and Artichoke Chicken Carbonara Pasta”
I made this for dinner tonight….thumbs up!!!
Made this tonight and even the kids ate it up with no problem! Thanks!! Great recipe 🙂
Thanks Carmen!!
So glad your kids liked it Lea!! Thanks for checking out the blog guys!
Didn't have fresh spinach (forgot it at the store)… used up some frozen. Not too bad. My grandmother is eating it, so it passed her I only want little debbie cakes taste buds.
That's awesome Dusti!! Glad she liked it!
This was awesome! We are not "crossfitters" but totally enjoyed this dish. Looking forward to making more of your recipes!
Clark's mom
Hey there Juli! I'm not also crossfitters or paleodieter but I definitely enjoyed your recipe! I recommended it to my mom who loves to cook carbonara. Thanks!
Haley
Food Safety Course
Thanks so much Haley!!
You rock Clarks mom. Thanks for checking out the blog!
I have a question: Have you heard anything about increased protein diet? I’m just reading about it now and don’t really have anyone to ask…
I haven’t heard much about it…what does it say?
Too busy stuffing my mouth with this to leave more of a comment then wow and yum.
Glad you liked it Kathy!!
Made this tonight..it was awesome! Bacon, bacon, bacon. I’m a fellow Paleo eating crossfitter. I’m really enjoying your blog and recipes. I’ve made the bacon chili and the pork chili verde..thumbs up. Thanks for the hilarious commentary too.
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Thanks so much Scott! Glad you like the recipes 🙂
This was totally awesome and your blog always makes me smile! Keep the stories and recipes coming!!!
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We made this recipe with turkey bacon, and it was DELICIOUS! I had to add some olive oil because turkey bacon doesn’t leave much fat, but the flavor was great! This recipe has been forwarded to all my friends, and will DEFINITELY be made again in my house! It was so full of flavor, and the spaghetti squash was great instead of real pasta!
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Holy crap, this was amazing! I used 1 lb of chicken and 1/2 lb of bacon, and this was absolutely fabulous. Thanks for sharing with us!
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Would you suggest making double if I will have 3 adults and 2 kids?
yes
Made this tonight. It was delicious. The only problem I had was that I eat slow.. and spaghetti squash doesn’t taste as good cold, well it tastes fine but the texture got weird… so basically heat the leftovers up.. that is IF you leave any of this left over. 😉
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Made this tonight. IT.IS.AMAZING! Thanks for all the great recipes. Love’em. Definitely a staple in our house!
Just stumbled upon your blog yesterday and just want to tell you that I love it! I just made this tonight and aside from the fact I didn’t have spaghetti squash (the stores here suck and the closest whole foods is an hour and a half away), it was DELISH!! It was difficult not to eat more than I needed!
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This was SO GOOD! My whole family loved it. I changed the chicken/bacon ration to 1lb chicken 1/2 lb bacon. Super delicious!! Well done 🙂
Paleo OMG indeed! I made just made this and it was fantastic! The store was out of spaghetti squash so I used spiralized zucchini instead, adding it in when I added the artichoke hearts. I also doubled the chicken and artichoke hearts, just ’cause I wanted to make sure I had enough for five meals (I like to do all my lunches ahead of time so I don’t have to do a lot of cooking during the week) and I love artichoke hearts.
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Wow! New to Paleo and this was my first spaghetti squash recipe. DELICIOUS! I am newly motivated and looking forward to trying more of your dishes. Keep up the good work!!!
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This quickly became one of my family’s favorite paleo dishes – I can’t wait to make it tonight for friends!
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Sooooo good! Even my picky little 14 month old is gobbling this down as I type. I left the spinich out though, not a fan of it cooked. I am new to paleo and crossfit and bacon has def made my world a better place lol this is amazing and makes me so happy I am no longer a vegetarian! Thanks
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Damn girl! You made me look good!
I can’t cook worth squat but this was delicious! My husband and I are new to Paleo and are so grateful for your blog. This is the first recipe of yours I have tried and it was just excellent. And by the way, I heard about your blog from a guy.. and you thought all your fans were women!
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Love it! We didn’t have squash so I steamed and mashed cauliflower and topped it with the dish. Really good, 5 year old and 22 month old ate it!
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Love!
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For how many does this make?
oh and I am a new paleo-dieter and I am loving your recipes!!!
I would say 3-4
Made this tonight. First recipe of yours I’ve made and it was absolutely delicious! I wasn’t sure about the spaghetti squash, mainly because I’d never had it before, and I didn’t think there’d be enough flavor, but I was wrong on both counts. I did make a couple of adjustments: I used 1 lb each of chicken and bacon, used all of the bacon grease, and used spring mix instead of spinach because that’s what I had in the fridge. It made more than enough for my family of 5; and everyone ate it! Can’t wait to try some other recipes! Thanks!
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Hey there, so… don’t know if I’ve missed the boat in getting a response about this. I’m one of the few that doesn’t like bacon, or turkey bacon, and this recipe calls for a LOT of it. What is it replacing, and what could I use instead (it doesn’t have to be strictly paleo, but it can’t be red meat or pork). I really enjoyed your Coconut Ginger Mushroom Chicken (admittedly I left out the ginger).
you could use ground pork and add that to it along with the excess fat that renders out!
Hubby says it’s a keeper! 😀 I only used 6 slices of bacon too.
Delicious recipe! I cut the amount of bacon down a little and added mushrooms and it was great.
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I made this from your new book and it called for eggs. It came out really dry. Maybe I’ll try this recipe since others seemed to like it.
I made this with a few modifications & I loved it! My 4 yr old ate it AND my 11 month old ate it. Later, I’ll see if my husband (not a fan of veggies; doesn’t eat pork) goes for it.
I didn’t add in the bacon; I left that on the side so it can be sprinkled on for those in the house who eat bacon.
I added a lot more chicken (probably closer to 1.5 lbs), lemon juice, and capers.
I saw someone above said mushrooms. If my husband doesn’t eat this, next time I’ll make it with mushrooms.
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I made this today and it was wonderful! I did make one change. Since all the carbonara recipes I’ve made before had eggs, I beat two eggs and poured them on top of the other ingredients in a casserole and baked it in the oven for 25 minutes! Wow and Yummmmmmm! Thanks for the great recipe!