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.
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I made this tonight, but sadly I burned the bacon. I could tell the flavor was great, but the bacon set it back. Next time I might bake the bacon in the oven and then chop it up. Also, love the idea of pancetta from other reviews, pre-chopped would have been dreamy. We added a Tb of butter. Will make again.
Oh that’s too bad! Glad you still liked it, but yeah, the burned bacon will override the other flavors. Better luck next time! Thanks for sharing 🙂
To.die.for. Added more bacon because…bacon. Also added a bit of cream which I know you technically aren’t supposed to have in carbonara, but if I’m making a cheat meal I’m going big! I very nearly had scrambled eggs on pasta (even after leaving the eggs out for 30mins prior), but the pasta water saved me at the last second. I would recommend tempering even more than I did and completely removing the pan for heat when mixing the egg in. And I don’t think I reserved enough of the pasta water (it was surprisingly thick), so mental note for next time.
Oh my goodness, this was an absolutely amazing recipe!!! We added peas to ours at the end. It turned out so delicious that my son was half way done with his plate by the time I served myself and sat down lol
This will definitely be on our weekday dinner list, thank you!!!!
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!