Spaghetti Carbonara
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Ready in 15 minutes with just 5 ingredients. This ultra-easy pasta is packed with crispy bacon and rich Parmesan flavor. Perfect for a quick, satisfying meal!
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This is one of those dishes that comes together in 15 minutes or less with just 5 simple ingredients – spaghetti, bacon, garlic, Parmesan and eggs. A lightening fast weeknight meal yet still fancy enough for date night or weekend company. And if you’re skeptical about the raw eggs, have no fear! It actually gets cooked through completely from the residual heat. Just be sure to work quickly so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs (not that scrambled eggs would be the worst thing in the world here).
Why Spaghetti Carbonara Is a Must-Try Recipe
- Weeknight superhero made in less than 30 min
- Super short ingredient list, most of which you probably have on hand
- Restaurant-worthy rich, silky, velvety pasta dinner the whole family can enjoy
What Is Spaghetti Carbonara?
Spaghetti Carbonara is an Italian dish typically made with pasta (most commonly spaghetti), eggs, guanciale (cured pork), hard cheese, salt and pepper.
Spaghetti Carbonara vs Alfredo: Key Differences
Spaghetti Carbonara relies on eggs for its silky texture, giving it a lighter, savory finish. In contrast, Alfredo is richer and creamier, made with butter and heavy cream as its base. Both are delicious, but their flavors and textures are distinct.
Ingredients
Spaghetti
Spaghetti pasta is typically used in carbonara as its long strands can easily soak up the silky, creamy goodness but linguine, fettuccine or bucatini can be used as well.
Eggs
Room temperature eggs are key here! It serves as a thickening agent without scrambling, binding with the fat from the bacon (or pancetta) and creating that favorited smooth, silky sauce.
Parmesan
Use hard cheese such as pecorino romano or Parmesan. Pre-packaged cheese contains anti-caking agents that can hinder their ability to melt smoothly. Freshly and finely grated cheese is best here, adding a handful at a time for a smooth consistency.
Bacon
Bacon is more readily available but pancetta or guanciale can also be used for a more authentic carbonara.
Garlic
Although garlic is not traditionally used in carbonara, it will add a lovely boost of flavor.
Parsley
Add your finishing touches with a sprinkle of fresh parsley (or basil).
Tips for Perfect Spaghetti Carbonara
- Use room temperature eggs. Using room temperature eggs will ensure a smooth, well-emulsified silky consistency (cold eggs can seize when added to hot pasta). To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes. According to the USDA, eggs should not be left at room temperature for over 2 hours.
- Make it richer. For an even richer, creamier consistency, use egg yolks only.
- Lower the heat. Working quickly over low heat, stir in the egg mixture, allowing the residual heat from the pasta to cook the eggs gently to yield that velvety, silky sauce. Remove the pan from heat if needed.
- Reserve pasta water. Thanks to the starch in the pasta water, this will help the sauce stick to the pasta as well as thicken the sauce for extra creaminess.
- Halve the recipe. If cooking for 2, say for date night or a romantic night in, this recipe halves very well. Utilize the same cooking time with a smaller cast iron skillet.
Tools For making spaghetti Carbonara
Frequently Asked Questions about Spaghetti Carbonara:
Spaghetti is a classic choice for carbonara but linguine, fettuccine or bucatini are all great alternatives.
One of the most common reason for scrambled eggs in carbonara is cooking at a high temperature. Lower the heat and add the egg mixture into the center of the skillet over the pasta, avoiding the edges, tossing immediately and quickly to avoid overcooking and scrambling.
Spaghetti carbonara is best served immediately but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days, adding a splash of water when reheating (to loosen if needed).
Pecorino Romano is the classic choice, but Parmesan can be used as a milder alternative.
Yes! Traditional carbonara doesn’t use cream. Eggs, cheese, and pasta water create the creamy texture.
Remove the pan from heat before adding the egg mixture, and stir quickly to create a smooth sauce.
Yes, you can use other long pastas like fettuccine or bucatini, or even gluten-free options.
Pancetta is more traditional, offering a richer, saltier flavor, but bacon works well in a pinch.
Spaghetti Carbonara
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; reserve 1/2 cup water and drain well.
- In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and Parmesan; set aside.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes; reserve excess fat.
- Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low.
- Working quickly, stir in pasta and egg mixture, and gently toss to combine; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add reserved pasta water, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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Excellent! So easy to make. I actually added an extra egg, and parsley!
No leftovers & I can’t wait to make it again! Such a satisfying dish and really easy to bring together.
Simple and perfect
Very nice. Super easy and would make again. I used 2 very late homegrown garlic cloves and 10 rashes of streaky bacon. I didn’t drain off the bacon fat and it really added to the flavour. Nom nom
Made this first time last night for dinner. Super easy
and delicious. Will make this again,
I loved the recipe. Only I baked my bacon first to reduce the grease. I cooked mushrooms with the garlic and then added everything together. It was delicious! Thank you!
Not bad it too much fat from the bacon and next time I’d omit the garlic.
Very nice! Thank you for sharing the recipe. – I am not usually a Pasta person, but I ate this like there was “No Tomorrow” 😀 — I had to add three eggs for the amount of Pasta I had to cook for my family, I was great. – Also I cooked the Bacon (had no pancetta) with the Garlic (just before the Bacon was ready) and YUM! it gave it a much more Garlicky Taste. 🙂 We are Garlic lovers around here. 😉 — Once again, Thank YOU and God bless.
It was amazingggg! I added 2 extra eggs, sausage, and shrimp to mines and it was delicious!!
Delicious. I only had linguine in my cupboard, and I added some peas, just because I like peas and it added a veggie to my meal. The recipe is perfect, though. I chose to add the bacon grease. The recipe says to “reserve excess fat”, like we would use it later… but I didn’t see where to add it later, so I added it. I figured I usually add olive oil, and this recipe didn’t call for any, so I used the bacon grease instead. It would have been good without, too. I cooked the bacon while the pasta was cooking, then put the bacon pieces on a paper towel and cooked the garlic in the bacon grease, just as the pasta was finishing. I drained the pasta and put it right back in the pot that I cooked it in and added the egg/cheese mixture with NO heat from the burner, just the head of the pot and the pasta. The egg did not scramble. Mixed in everything else and served. Mmmmmmm… I’ll be making again. Thank you for the recipe!
I have a question not really a review.. this probably is super naive but do you drain the bacon grease before continuing with the rest of the recipe? I’ve made a different version of this before and it tasted like our pasta was swimming in bacon grease and made a bad carbonara impression.. probably the cook’s fault HAHA. But just curious if that was what you meant by reserve the bacon fat?
Hi There is a video on her site I noticed as I was reading the recipe. Im gonna attempt to make it tonight but Im planning on draining it. Her videos are super helpful as they show exactly how, plus for me Id rather watch how its done vs read a recipe And its therapeutic for me lol
Just made this and….WOW! I was a bit wary at first since it’s SO SIMPLE, but it ended up tasting CRAZY DELICIOUS! We just went to Italy last Fall and it just transported us back! It tastes so authentic and pure the way it just presents this symphony of flavors.
Some tips that really took it to another level for us:
1. Use good, thick-cut bacon as this made it taste more like pancetta.
2. Use artisanal, bronze-die pasta. We used Morelli, which tastes delicious on its own. This helps the sauce stick to the pasta better and because carbonara in general is very simple (just 5-6 ingredients in this recipe), it’s best to use good pasta.
3. Salt the water with a LOT of salt — enough to make it taste like seawater. The salt infuses into the pasta, so it adds more flavor when you put it all together in the pan.
4. Add the pasta before the egg mix and then turn off the stove. This way when you add the eggs, they won’t scramble as much.
Overall, the perfect, easy, simple recipe — we made it in 20-25 min for real!
Thank you Chungah for this incredible, elegant recipe!
Hi, Phil from Bulgaria and that recipe is the dogs nuts! I even tried changing the parsley with fresh coriander and wow it blew us away, you guys stay safe and well!
Ill try this athome looks yummy
It was delicious! Can definitely recommend this recipe.
This is the tastiest Carbonara recipe I have eaten. It is quick and easy. As I live in the country and didn’t have any bacon I substituted the bacon with some ham off the bone and salami. The fresh garlic was a wonderful addition to the average Carbonara.
can we use mozzarella instead?
I used a mozzarella / provolone mix instead of parmesan bc it’s all I had and it came out delicious !
Per request from my son; he wanted Spaghetti Carbonara for his birthday dinner. I found this recipe, it
turned out perfectly, he loved it! Was great, I had never had it before & will certainly make it again.
Looks classy and a pleasant change from regular spaghetti sauce!
I made this and it was simple and delicious. You know how people often say they changed this or that in the recipe? I followed it to the letter and it was as pleasing as lunch in Tuscany last year.
Looks great
going to try it tonight while we’re on lockdown.
I read somewhere that I should only use egg yolks? Do you subscribe to this version?
I’m doing the same thing! Comfort food! Stay safe
It looks tasty…aside from the parmesan cheese. Could I substitute the cheese??? I would really like to try this ..
The perfect simple carbonara recipe. The only thing I changed is that I sautéed onion with the bacon. Delicious.