Lightened Up Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta - A kid pleasing meal that has been lightened up enough to make Mom happy too.
You guys spoke and I listened (imagine that). The other day I asked you on Facebook "What kind of meals are you interested in seeing more of". Yes, some of you said Crock Pot recipes and I promise, some are coming but a lot of you were looking for "kid friendly" recipes and even more of you were looking for "lightened up" recipes. Well, I decided to combine both of those ideas and bring you a lightened up kid friendly meal. You're welcome.
I see Cheeseburger Pasta all the time on Pinterest so I finally clicked on one that brought me to Taste of Home. It looked great and sounded delicious and better yet, it sounded kid friendly. So the challenge was on! I was totally going to lighten the heck out of this dish AND keep it tasting good awesome.
Dishes like this one are easy to lighten up. Right off the bat, I switched all the fatty meat out for lean turkey products; turkey bacon and lean ground turkey. I swapped out the penne pasta for the healthier option of whole wheat pasta and I thought that shells would be most appealing to kids. I also opted for a lower fat cheese. I have to draw the line at fat free cheese. It just doesn't melt the way cheese should. Is it even cheese if it's fat free? I really question that.
I did use a regular store bought bottled BBQ sauce. If you really want to be a stickler here you can use a low sugar or a sugar free BBQ sauce which are more readily available these days, or you can make your own. If you are up for making your own here are two recipes that you could try that don't contain sugar:
Basic Vinegar BBQ Sauce - Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine
Finger Lickin Good Barbecue Sauce - The Foodie Affair
So that's it. It was that easy to lighten up a popular recipe. So tell me, is this a meal your family would enjoy?
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Printable Recipe Card
Lightened Up Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions.
- Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to large, non stick skillet with the ground turkey over medium/high heat. Cook until no longer pink, drain and set aside.
- Return skillet back to stove and cook turkey bacon until crisp, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove bacon from pan and set aside.
- Return skillet to burner again, add remaining teaspoon olive oil and diced onion. Cook until onion is soft about 4 minutes. Add ground turkey back to skillet and season with hamburger seasoning. Stir in half the bacon, tomato soup and broth.
- Drain pasta and add to the skillet, stir well and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in BBQ sauce. Top with shredded cheese , cover and reduce heat to low. Keep over low heat 2-3 minutes covered until cheese melts. Remove from heat and top with additional bacon before serving.
Notes
Britney says
This sounds amazing! I will have to try it to switch up our dinners!
Angela says
I am loving this and I know my boys would too!!!
foodyschmoody says
So glad Angela!
Robin says
This looks great my kids are going to love this!
foodyschmoody says
Thanks. I'm so glad your kids will like it!
Christine @ One TIPsy Chick says
I think my kids would like this (so picky lately!) Thanks for sharing.
foodyschmoody says
Great! Mine are picky ALL the time.
The Food Hunter says
Thank you for including my BBQ sauce recipe
Linda (Meal Planning Maven) says
I know my kids and grandkids would love this dish! Thanks for sharing you lightened up version!
April J Harris says
Love how you have lightened up this classic recipe but kept all the flavour and comfort food factor!
Healing Tomato says
Wow! What a lovely idea for Cheesburger and Pasta. A lightened version of this recipe is exactly what the doctor ordered.
foodyschmoody says
Thank you. I appreciate your compliment!
Debra Clark says
Perfect weeknight family meal!