Spaghetti Carbonara
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The easiest pasta dish you will ever make with just 5 ingredients in 15 min, loaded with Parmesan and crisp bacon goodness!
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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).
reasons to make carbonara
- 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 carbonara
Carbonara is an Italian dish typically made with pasta (most commonly spaghetti), eggs, guanciale (cured pork), hard cheese, salt and pepper.
Carbonara versus alfredo
Carbonara is made with eggs as its primary thickening agent whereas alfredo uses butter and heavy cream for a more richer, creamier consistency.
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 and tricks for success
- 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 This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Spaghetti Carbonara: Frequently Asked Questions
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).
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
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I had this dish in Rome, Italy a few months ago. That’s when I got SO hooked on it. However, they served it with a RAW egg yoke right in the middle of the fresh steamy pasta and it was very pepper-y. My husband nearly freaked out. LOL You just have to immediately stir the yolk into the hot pasta. The restaurant made their pasta fresh everyday. I asked how they made the Carbonara and was surprised that they actually told me. I make it every few weeks now and everyone I serve it to, loves it! My recipe is very much like this one but sometimes I change up the herbs and spice it up a bit. Yes, they do use pancetta for this dish in Italy, they stir the beaten eggs and cheese together to combine, then take the pan OFF the stove when they add the egg mixture in. I’ve never had a problem with the eggs scrambling if you stir them in vigorously and add a little pasta water to make the sauce more “saucy”. We LOVE this dish!!!
Added peas tomatoes green onion and served over a bed of arugula. Awesome sauce! Thank you!
Why would anyone, YES ANYONE, want to make spaghetti carbonara without bacon? This would be an absolute sin in the bible cook book.
Could you tell me please which of the 8 ingredients are the five
Salt, pepper and parsley (used as a garnish) are not included in the five ingredients. Does that make sense?
Great answer. Makes perfect sense to me.
Made this tonight! So quick, easy and delicious!! Thanks for sharing! Also the comments were spot on with tempering the eggs first which I did and had no issues! 🙂
This was amazing! Big hit with the kids!
Haha this is exactly how I learned to cook it in Italy! Only we used pancetta instead of bacon (but either are delish) and pulled the pan off the fire before we added the egg/cheese mixture.
If you grate a bit of fresh nutmeg over after plating it will give the flavor profile a third dimension that’s amazing.
Look very tasty. Thanks!
Very nicely done, one of my favourite dishes for sure (:
So reserved bacon fat not used in recipe? Saved for later
It is used for step #4 for the garlic.
This recipie is super easy and it was so delicious!
This might be a silly question but can I do this without the egg? My husband cannot eat eggs. Thank you!
Believe it or not, the egg is actually a crucial element to this dish! You can certainly omit but the flavors/consistency of the dish may be completely altered. As always, please use your best judgement regarding substitutions and modifications.
Made this for the first time tonight and it was perfect! Very yummy, will definately do it again.
Here is my recommendation to keep the eggs from scrambling:
Once the pasta is done, place it into a large mixing bowl. Then, add the bacon/ garlic once cooked. After that’s all stirred together, you add the egg mixture.
The eggs will still cook from the residual heat, but aren’t less likely to scramble up since there’s not a direct heat source.
This was insanely easy. Tasted creamy and delicious. I used a whole box of thin spaghetti and added one additional egg and total 3/4c parm. Even used someone’s tip to temper egg mixture w a little drizzle of pasta water. Used a very large bowl. Put in bacon and garlic. Once pasta was done used tongs to transfer to bowl. Added egg parm mixture. Everyone loves it!
This is NOT how you make a carbonara!
At least here in Italy the only things to use are:
Spaghetti
Pancetta or guanciale (please, not bacon!)
Eggs (raw! they should be like a cream)
Pepper (a lot of pepper)
Pecorino (Grana is commonly used)
There is absolutely NO way that parsley is used in this dish
Grazie per portare avanti la battaglia!
I will try it your way one night too 🙂
I loved it despite my eggs scrambling throughout. I didn’t think to look at the comments, so next time I will leave the eggs out a while and/or remove the pan from the stove before mixing them in. Otherwise, I thought it tasted great. I would even like to add more bacon, as there definitely wasn’t enough throughout the dish. When it comes to bacon, more is more! 🙂 Thanks for an relatively easy, weeknight meal I can add to my previously humdrum rotation!
Hi! I love this recipe! My picky 5 year old loves it too and it’s so easy! Thank you so much!
New blogger here, what plugin do you use for your images? They’re so big and beautiful! Love your site!
I’m actually not using a plugin! 🙂
I first saw this on a TV series “Criminal Minds” and had to look it up as it looked pretty yummy. Your pics grabbed me and when I realized how simple…I was smitten. So glad I read the comments because I had no idea about the tempering of eggs. Because I had no fresh parsley I added fresh basil. One last change was a splash of white wine. Just couldn’t help myself–I’m American (wink). Was pretty darn good. So glad I found your site and look forward to tying another delicious dish.
Hi,
may I suggest you to try the original pasta alla carbonara?
No garlic and no parsley, just like we Romans use to make it 🙂
http://www.lacuochinasopraffina.com/en/pasta-and-rice/the-authentic-italian-pasta-alla-carbonara/12427
Aaaahhhh…. Thank you!