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!
I have yet another super easy pasta dish for you all today. And the best part about this dish is that you only need 5 ingredients to whip this up! No wait, the best part is the bacon. Yeah, the bacon.
No, but really, this is one of those dishes that comes together in 15 minutes or less with just 5 ingredients of spaghetti, bacon, garlic, Parmesan and eggs. And if you’re skeptical about the raw eggs, 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. Plus, with the crisp bacon bits, you just can’t go wrong with this dish!
Spaghetti Carbonara
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 2 large eggs
- 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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The eggs scrambled a bit. How do I prevent this? Still was delicious.
Your heat source may have been set too high.
I’m all in with everyone else who loves your site. So glad I found you!
loving your recipes. was able to download recipes before and enjoying them.
recently , it is coming through as a blank page.
Can you help
Internet Explorer has recently made some updates that are causing print problems. I recommend using a different browser, such as Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari. But if you can only use Internet Explore, you can highlight the recipe, left-click, and print from there. Easy peasy!
Hi Chungah!
This recipe looks so delicious and simple! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I hope you don’t mind I have a two questions-
When you say reserve the fat after cooking the bacon, do you mean leave all the oil/ cooked off fat from the bacon in the pan? Don’t remove any?
Also, when you add the egg/Parmesan mixture do you take the pan off the heat?
Thank you!
Yes, the fat should be reserved in the pan completely. And no, you should not take the pan off the heat for the egg/Parmesan mixture. You need a little bit of heat to ensure that the eggs cook through without scrambling.
How long do you cook after you add the egg?
Andy, there really is no time limit here. As indicated in the directions, you will stir in the pasta and egg mixture and toss to combine. That’s it!
Love this recipe! I used pancetta and added rotisserie chicken to make it a complete meal!
Made it for supper tonight. I did add mushrooms when I was cooking the bacon. It turned out perfect. What a simple but delicous recipe!!!!!
Be sure to use eggs that are at room temperature. If they are straight out of the fridge they will be too cold and will not be cooked by the heat of the pasta. I leave my eggs out on the counter top before before going to work in the morning.
Many people have recommended pancetta and call it italian bacon. It is made from the same belly muscle as bacon but its rolled so the slices are round not long. But the major difference is the taste.pancetta is hung with herbs where bacon is smoked. So the sustitution will change the flavor slightly but will work just fine. Serve with a green salad with a vinegar and oil based dressing wich helps to balance the richness of the carbonara and you have a wonderfull meal faster than pizza delivery
I can’t eat bacon so I used chicken instead. It tasted really good! Definitely will be making it again 🙂
I made this tonight. It was a total hit with everyone, even my 3 year old! I added chicken though, and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
This is the easiest recipe and the fastest carbonara I have tried and it is delicious. I have also made it with pancetta, which is saltier but good. If you need a fast, gourmet dinner on the table, this is it.
Thank you for the recipe. I made it yesterday and liked it.
I pinned a lot of other recipes they look delicious.
Can’t wait to try the recipe. Have a question though, normally for my family I make a 900 gram bag of pasta, so does this mean I have to quadruple everything?
Tracey, 8 ounces is equal to about 226 grams. With 900 grams of pasta, it would be appropriate to quadruple the recipe.
Do you use pancetta or smoked bacon?
Lynn, feel free to use either of these choices – both go great in this dish.
After years of making carbonara, I reserve some of the crispy bacon & sprinkle it on top. Has a nice texture.
I haven’t read all the comments so not sure if this has been brought up. Traditionally with carbonara (I’ve made it a million times), you temper the eggs as to not consume raw eggs. Mixing it with the hot pasta may not cook them all the way. I would suggest tempering the eggs with the pasta water, then adding it to the pasta, and then adding the parm. It is still absolutely fantastic! 🙂
I just made this but instead of pasta noodles i used my spiralizer and used zucchinni…delish! thanks for this amazing recipe that i literally made in 10 minutes flat!
I’d love to try this with zucchini – it sounds amazing!
This recipe is so simple and DELICIOUS!!!
Okay, I’ve never commented on a blog before, but OH. MY. GOODNESS. this was the most delicious meal I have ever made!!! I cannot thank you enough for this amazing and simple recipe. I’ll definitely be coming back to your blog again and again ;).