This ultra-creamy Spaghetti Carbonara is incredibly easy to make and comes together in under 30 minutes! The rich sauce—made with a couple eggs, Parmesan, butter, and garlic—is blended in a food processor and tossed with hot spaghetti and crispy browned pancetta. It’s the perfect recipe to make for a special occasion or holiday dinner that feels fancy but is secretly simple!
This recipe is a follow-up to a VERY popular recipe on Mom’s Dinner for Shrimp Carbonara. It is a similar recipe to Spaghetti Carbonara, but it includes shrimp and is made with bacon instead of pancetta. You will love either one!!
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Pancetta, Guanciale OR bACON
Traditional Italian Carbonara is made with guanciale, which is a cured meat made from Pork Cheek. Here in America guanciale can be hard to find, and if you’ve been around Mom’s Dinner a while you know we are all about accessible ingredients.
For ease and accessibility I use pancetta in the recipe below. It is rather easy to find, and it tastes great in the Carbonara Pasta.
If you have a hard time finding pancetta you can sub in thick cut bacon. The bacon will have a bit more grease so you will want to drain it before adding the pasta and sauce to the pan.
Additional Ingredients
Carbonara doesn’t have a ton of ingredients, but what it does include comes together so beautifully! Here is what you will need:
Spaghetti & Reserved Starchy Cooking Water – Use about ¾ of the box of spaghetti for this recipe. It should be enough to serve 4 people, with a side salad and bread added. Don’t forget to reserve the starchy pasta cooking water.
Mom’s Tip
Place a glass measuring cup in the colander in the sink, then when you go to strain the pasta there is NO WAY you can forget to save some of the starchy water.
Large Eggs- You will need a total of 3 eggs, using 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg. This makes for such a creamy and deluxe sauce! Make sure the whole egg is at room temp so it blends into the sauce well.
Room Temp. Eggs
To easily get your egg to room temperature, place it in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes.
Butter – Salted Butter is the only butter I recognize as butter. I said what I said.
Garlic – Using 3-4 raw garlic cloves in the sauce creates such a DELICIOUS garlic flavor in the carbonara. The heat of the pasta warms the garlic just enough to take the edge off, but it still packs a garlicky punch!
Parmesan – Opt for a good parmesan cheese that you grate yourself. Look for a block that is craggy and dry looking with a rind on the end. This isn’t the time for the green parmesan shaker.
Black Pepper – I LOVE a little extra black pepper in this creamy pasta. I am not a huge pepper lover, but it goes perfectly with this Carbonara recipe, it adds a perfect spicy warmth.
Parsley – A little fresh chopped parsley finishes the recipe and adds a nice bright freshness to each bite.
Peas are 100% optional!! – sometimes when I have frozen peas I will the in at the end, straight out of the freezer! The heat of the pasta cooks them through in about 1 minute.
How To Make Spaghetti Carbonara
Step 1
Cook the spaghetti, in the meantime blend together the sauce – butter, eggs, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper.
Step 2
Brown the pancetta in a pan. Then pour in reserved pasta water to deglaze.
Step 3
Add in the pasta. Pour the sauce over top and toss with tongs to coat.
Step 4
Finish with chopped parsley, extra parmesan and pepper.
Serving
Spaghetti Carbonara is a rich pasta dish, so keep the side dishes light and bright. I love to serve a green salad dressed with vinaigrette and garlic bread on the side.
Storing and Reheating
This Spaghetti Carbonara actually stores really well in the fridge, you can keep it for up to 4 days. To reheat simply add a couple splashes of water or broth to the pasta, microwave for up to a minute. Or you can add it to a skillet over low and toss to heat.
Recipe tips to remember
- USE PANCETTA or BACON – if you have a hard time finding pancetta, you can use thick cut bacon in it’s place. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Crisp it up in the pan and remove all but a couple teaspoon of grease in the pan before moving on.
- USE A GOOD QUALITY PARMESAN – this is not the time to use that green shaker of parmesan. Choose a good quality parm wedge; it will look kind of dry and craggy and have a rind.
- RESERVE THE PASTA COOKING WATER – place a glass measuring cup in the colander in the sink and you won’t forget to reserve the water.
- WARM THE WHOLE EGG TO ROOM TEMP. – that allows the egg white to break down easier into the sauce.
More Delicious Pasta Recipes
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Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large egg - at room temp.
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoon butter - at room temp.
- ½ cup parmesan cheese - grated
- 3-4 cloves garlic - chopped
- ¼ teaspoon course ground black pepper - more if you like!
- pinch kosher salt
- 12 oz spaghetti - about ¾ of a pound box
- 4 oz pancetta - small diced, or guanciale *see note for bacon
- 1 cup RESERVED starchy pasta cooking water
- ⅓ cup Italian parsley - finely chopped
Option Add In
- ⅔ cup frozen peas
Instructions
Prep
- This recipe comes together really quickly, so I HIGHLY RECCOMEND that you prep all the ingredients before getting started- Called Mise en Place
- Put salted water on to boil for the pasta, place the eggs in warm water to bring to room temp, chop the parsley, grate the parmesan cheese and chop the garlic. Also measure the butter, black pepper, salt, and parmesan cheese.
Carbonara
- In a food processor or blender add the egg, egg yolks, minced garlic, black pepper, kosher salt, softened butter, and parmesan cheese.1 large egg, 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoon butter, 3-4 cloves garlic, ¼ teaspoon course ground black pepper, pinch kosher salt, ½ cup parmesan cheese
- Blend for about 15 seconds until it is creamy. You may need to stop and scrape the sides down.
- Set the butter mixture aside for now.
- Pop the pasta in the boiling water to cook to al dente per package instructions.12 oz spaghetti
- Reserve 1 cup starchy pasta cooking water and then drain the pasta through a colander.Pro Tip: Place a measuring cup in your colander and you won't forget to reserve the starchy pasta water!!
- In a large non-stick skillet sauté the pancetta over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If there is more than a couple teaspoon of grease in the pan drain the excess.4 oz pancetta
- Pour in ⅓ cup reserved starchy pasta water and deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Remove the pan from the heat.1 cup RESERVED starchy pasta cooking water
- Add in the pasta and the butter/egg mixture. Using tongs give it a good toss to coat the pasta in the sauce. (toss in the frozen peas now, if using)Add more pasta water as needed to make the sauce creamy.
- Garnish with the fresh chopped parsley.⅓ cup Italian parsley
- Serve immediately topped with parmesan cheese and lots of cracked black pepper.Add some red pepper flakes if you like a little heat!
Storing and Reheating
- Leftovers actually store really well in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To reheat add a splash or two of water or chicken broth to the bowl and microwave for a minute, or toss in a skillet.
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