Spaghetti carbonara is creamy, delicious, and incredibly easy! Spaghetti alla carbonara combines crispy pancetta, parmesan cheese, and a creamy sauce made from simple ingredients you likely have on hand.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Creamy and cheesy with crispy, savory pancetta in every bite.
- Budget Tip: To keep costs down, swap pancetta for bacon or try Pecorino Romano in place of Parmesan.
- Swaps: Fettuccine, linguine, or angel hair pasta can be used instead of spaghetti.
- Serving Suggestions: Top with fresh parsley and extra cheese, and serve with a Caesar salad and garlic bread for an easy weeknight meal.
Pantry Staple Ingredients
- Meat: In Italy, carbonara is made with guanciale (cured pork cheek), but since it’s hard to find, I use pancetta for that smoky, salty flavor. Swap it for bacon if that’s what you have.
- Cheese: Classic carbonara uses Pecorino Romano, but I use Parmesan since I always have it on hand.
- Eggs: Eggs make the sauce rich and creamy (without cream!). Make sure they are at room temperature to combine smoothly.
- Pasta: Any long pasta, like bucatina or linguine, works well in this recipe; I use spaghetti for a classic carbonara.
More Italian Inspired Favorites
Did you enjoy this Spaghetti Carbonara? Leave a rating or comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 6 slices pancetta or guanciale or bacon, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese or pecarino ramano
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, cook pancetta over medium heat until crisp. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Drain well but do not rinse.
- Add the hot drained pasta to the skillet with the garlic, and toss to coat.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and pour in the egg mixture, mixing well with tongs. If needed, add reserved pasta water to adjust the consistency of the sauce.
- Add the pancetta and toss to combine. Season with additional salt to taste.
- Serve hot, garnished with parsley or additional parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- This dish comes together fast. Prepare all ingredients before beginning.
- Cook the pasta until it is ‘al dente’ or firm.
- Do not rinse the pasta, the starch helps the sauce cling.
- Add a bit of pasta water if needed to create a creamy consistency.
- Carbonara will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Because of the creamy sauce it is not recommended to freeze.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 441 | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 114mg | Sodium: 400mg | Potassium: 250mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 270IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 230mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Nice recipes. I enjoy carbonara and I’m going to try it.
Good recipe, tastes authentic. It was a bit on the dry side so next time I will add an extra egg or a splash of cream .
So glad you enjoyed it Megan! We save a little pasta water to moisten if needed.
What do u do with the garlic?
The garlic is added in step 2 and cooks for 1 minute. The pasta is added back into the pan with the garlic in step 4.
Very delicious recipes. Thanks
Many thanks Pauline!
Fabulous recipes
Many thanks Yamini!
OMG!!!! I was pressed for a new recipe and never considered using egg as the base. This might be my family’s new FAV! I substituted deli ham because it’s what I had. Bacon would also do just fine. I ended up adding some of the starch water at the end and it was PERFECT!
So happy your family loved it Nicole!
I want the recipes! They look delicious!!!
Hi Toni, for the recipe you can scroll to the bottom of the post or select the jump to recipe button at the top! Enjoy.
Love your recipes and Italian food in general❣️
Mmmm, we agree! Italian food is so yummy Ronie.
Easy and yum
Well thanks Ann! :)
Love your recipe.thanks
No, thank you Hauwa! So happy to share them with you.
Love your recipes!! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much Alison!
Good & simple recipe however a bit bland even though I used home Grown Russian Garlic I think I would maybe add some red pepper flakes next time
That would be a great addition Sandra!
Do I drain the spaghetti first before putting it in the mixture?
Yes, the pasta is drained in step 3.
Thank you so much for this recipe! Made this tonight with spaghetti I made in my instant pot and there was just enough water left for the sauce. I used a parmesan romano mixture, but it still worked well. My family has asked me to add this to the regular dinner rotation, lol.
I am so glad your family enjoyed the recipe Moriaelini!
This was delicious! And so easy and fast. The only change I made is that I fried the pancetta in 2 tbsp. Of EVOO
Thanks Marion. So happy you enjoyed it!
I cant speak for the rest of the country but Hog jowls can be found in most groceries stores in the South East.
Thanks for letting us know Ben!
LOVE your recipes! I just printed out the Caesar Salad recipe, the raw egg for dressing throws me off but will try it
It is a bit surprising but delicious in the end Cecilia! Enjoy.
Thanks Leanne. We think this one is a winner too. Hope your family enjoys it!
Spaghetti a la Carbonara.. Looks very yummy.
Thanks for the recipe.
It tastes even better than it looks Gabu! Enjoy!!
I’m always afraid to try it because I’m afraid I’ll have pasta with scrambled eggs! Lol.
Just be sure to remove it from the heat before adding the egg mixture. I hope it works out beautifully for you, let us know how it goes!