You won’t believe how easy it is to make pasta carbonara at home. Pasta carbonara, or spaghetti alla carbonara, is a classic Italian dish made with eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper. What sets it apart from other pasta dishes is that its creamy sauce comes together by tempering eggs with hot pasta water. Don’t let making the sauce intimidate you! This recipe is foolproof and the tips down below will ensure you have the perfect plate of pasta every time.
It’s a rich and indulgent dish perfect for a quick weeknight meal or to serve guests. It comes together in 30 minutes or less and is super flavorful despite the short ingredient list. You will absolutely fall in love with this dish when you take your first bite of the restaurant-worthy glossy and silky noodles. If you want to try more easy pasta recipes, then try my chicken pesto pasta, chicken alfredo recipe, or shrimp alfredo recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Eggs — you do not need any cream to make carbonara! The egg and extra egg yolks work together to create a luscious, creamy, and rich sauce. Save the egg whites for another recipe, such as my angel food cupcakes.
Parmesan — parmesan cheese adds a rich, tangy, and sharp flavor to the sauce that coats the spaghetti. If you do not have parmesan cheese, pecorino romano cheese is a great alternative. You can also use a combination of both!
Bacon — I’m using thick-cut bacon as its thickness allows the exterior to cook up nice and crispy while the middle has a meaty texture. Alternatively, you can use diced pancetta or guanciale, which is also called pork jowl. However, pancetta is less crispy than bacon, and guanciale, while traditionally used for carbonara, is difficult to find in regular grocery stores.
Pasta — I’m using spaghetti, but you can use your favorite pasta shapes, such as fettuccine, angel hair, bucatini, linguine, or rigatoni.
How to Make Pasta Carbonara
1. Whisk together the grated cheese, egg, egg yolks, garlic, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes.
3. While the water comes to a boil, heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain on paper towels.
4. When pasta is al dente, remove ½ cup of pasta water. Whisk ¼ cup of the hot pasta water into the cheese mixture.
5. Remove the pasta from the water using tongs and place in a large serving bowl.
6. Add the egg mixture and bacon to the cooked pasta and toss until creamy and the cheese melts. Add the remaining ¼ cup of pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to loosen the pasta mixture, if needed. Season the pasta mixture with additional salt, to taste. Serve the pasta carbonara with bacon immediately and garnish servings with parsley if desired.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- To prevent curdling, you need to whisk the ¼ cup of pasta water into the egg mixture.
- Don’t drain the pasta. Use tongs to remove pasta from the hot water. Pasta needs to be hot. It’s okay that the pasta is still dripping water when transferring it to the serving bowl.
- I highly recommend using freshly grated parmesan for this pasta carbonara recipe, not pre-grated parmesan or parmesan from a shaker bottle. Freshly grated parmesan melts much more smoothly, giving you a creamy and smooth sauce. You can also use parmigiano reggiano but be aware the flavor is slightly stronger.
- Make sure to use a large enough pot for cooking the pasta. You want there to be enough room for the noodles to move freely. Remember to stir the pasta to prevent the noodles from sticking together or to the bottom or sides of the pot.
- Prevent the pasta from becoming soggy by making sure the pot of water is at a rapid boil before adding pasta to the pot.
- Make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. While the recipe is simple, it moves fast, and the timing of each step is important. Read through the whole recipe thoroughly before starting the recipe.
- Feel free to add a little heat to this with some red pepper flakes. Peas, arugula, a splash of lemon juice, or lemon zest also make for great additions to pasta carbonara sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s important that you quickly whisk the hot starchy pasta water into the egg mixture so you temper it before tossing it with the hot spaghetti noodles. Do not immediately add the hot noodles to the whisked eggs.
Spaghetti carbonara is best served fresh. I don’t recommend making a large batch ahead of time to enjoy throughout the week, as the sauce loses its silky texture as it thickens in the fridge. However, you can cook the bacon ahead of time and keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
While pasta carbonara is best fresh, don’t throw away your leftovers! Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. I recommend gently reheating leftovers on the stovetop with a little bit of olive oil to help bring back some of the creamy texture.
While this pasta’s origins are unclear, the word “carbonara” is derived from the Italian word carbonaro, meaning charcoal burner, leading some to believe Italian charcoal workers first made the dish.
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If you’ve tried this Pasta Carbonara recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Pasta Carbonara
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Large Pot
- Large skillet
- Large serving bowl
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese (84g)
- 1 large egg
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces thick-cut bacon diced (340g)
- 12 ounces spaghetti (340g)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cheese, egg, egg yolks, garlic, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat.
- While the water comes to a boil, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain on paper towels.
- Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes.
- When pasta is al dente, remove 1/2 cup of pasta water. Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot pasta water into the egg mixture.
- Using tongs, remove the pasta from the water and place in a large serving bowl. (Do not drain the pasta.) Add the egg mixture and bacon to the pasta and toss until creamy and the cheese melts. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of pasta water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, to loosen the pasta mixture.
- Season the pasta mixture with additional salt, to taste. Serve immediately and garnish servings with parsley if desired.
Notes
- To prevent curdling, you need to whisk the ¼ cup of pasta water into the egg mixture.
- Don’t drain the pasta. Use tongs to remove pasta from the hot water. Pasta needs to be hot. It’s okay that the pasta is still dripping water when transferring it to the serving bowl.
- I highly recommend using freshly grated parmesan for this pasta carbonara recipe, not pre-grated parmesan or parmesan from a shaker bottle. Freshly grated parmesan melts much more smoothly, giving you a creamy and smooth sauce.
- Make sure to use a large enough pot for cooking the pasta. You want there to have enough room for the noodles to move freely. Remember to stir the pasta to prevent the noodles from sticking together or to the bottom or sides of the pot.
- Prevent the pasta from becoming soggy by making sure the pot of water is at a rapid boil before adding pasta to the pot.
- Make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. While the recipe is simple, it moves fast, and the timing of each step is important. Read through the whole recipe thoroughly before starting the recipe.
- Feel free to add a little heat to this with some red pepper flakes. Peas, arugula, a splash of lemon juice, or lemon zest also make for great additions to pasta carbonara.
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