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.
One of my favorite tweaks I use is to add some thinly sliced mushrooms to the meat. If you are a mushroom lover it is great.
Yummy idea!
I made this vegetarian style by replacing the pancetta with ground Beyond Meat, added a little extra pepper and salt. My husband and son loved it!
So glad your family enjoyed it, Gwen!
I made this recipe for my husband and absolutely love it. He has asked for it several times and its quick and easy to make.
This is my current go-to recipe for carbonara. So simple, delicious and open to some customization (amount of parmesan, type of herbs, pasta water, pancetta/high quality bacon, etc.), though I mostly follow the recipe to your specifications. We cook the bacon on our outdoor grill burner and reserve the bacon grease, so we can decide how much we want to use for the garlic and pasta.
It is an excellent and satisfying meal, elegant and yet comforting. It also creates anticipation for leftovers at lunch (or breakfast)! ;) Thank you!
I made this for dinner last night. I’m of Italian descent and this was very authentic. I had a container of leftover angel hair I needed to use up – probably 10 oz. uncooked (?) I used pancetta which I purchased chopped up in a 6oz. pkg. at Wegmans. I followed your directions pretty closely but added in 1/2 small onion finely diced. I also had some sliced ham – maybe 2 or 3 oz. that I chopped and added in. My hubby loved it! You should know I made this in a camper and it was quick and easy – who knew? Gourmet Camper Cooking! LOL Thank you for posting this recipe.
So glad you both loved it Jane, thank you so much for your feedback!! That’s my kind of camping ;)
Can spaghetti carbonara by frozen after cooked?
I haven’t tried freezing this so I can’t say for sure. Let us know how it goes!
I just made this for my family and it was delicious. Everyone loved it. Will definitely make again. And so fast and easy too.
I love the recipes. Making spaghetti tomorrow
Good. But how do I make it not so bitter? Was it the egg whites? Can’t figure it out. Thanks
It could be the parmesan cheese Des. Better quality parmesan cheese will have less of a bitter taste to it. I hope that helps!
If garlic is cooked-browned too long it will turn bitter.
Easy and super delicious!
I haven’t tried anything yet, though I saved a few. Right now I’m about to make this easy carbonara. It seems my kids will enjoy today’s lunch .
Recipes look quick and easy. Will definitely try all
Love those recipes.
First time I ever heard of this dish was on CI Joe Montegna. And first time making it right now. Wish Joe was in my kitchen. Really like him. He made this dish for the group on show and said he had so many comments. I know it will be good
Made this with bacon. Didn’t have pancetta on hand. I forgot to cook the garlic because I microwaved the bacon. Still DELISH! Didn’t need the water as I used an extra egg. Very helpful tip though. I expect I may need the pasta water with 3 eggs. So easy, quick and tasty. Thank you for the recipe. This is going in the regular rotation for sure.
Great substitutions Stephanie! That would be delicious.
Delicious, very quick and easy to make. A real family favorite!
Easy, delicious
Yummy
There are SO many carbonara recipes out there, but THIS is THE one to keep! Leave your eggs sitting out on the counter for a few hours before – – don’t worry, they won’t go bad. I think it helps them not scramble….and another thing is to continually toss the ingredients together for a minute or so. The resulting sauce is smooth, velvety, and nothing short of perfect comfort food!!!
Very bland. I’ve had this many times either in restaurants or at a friend’s house and I love it. I was very excited to try this myself. Very disappointed.
Did you use freshly grated cheese (it adds a lot of flavor) and pancetta (or bacon)?