You’re about to meet your new favorite weeknight meal: carbonara pasta. If you enjoy this Italian specialty when out at a restaurant, carbonara is simple enough to make that you could be enjoying it any day of the week. 

What’s more, this egg and bacon pasta isn’t just satisfying comfort food, but it’s packed with protein. Each serving has a whopping 21 grams of protein. If you’re tired of getting this nutrient from omelets or shakes, opt for this creamy pasta dish that’s garlicky, savory, and cheesy. 

We know it’s hard to rank pasta recipes, but a good fettuccine carbonara recipe may be the best. After all, this dish does have most of the ingredients we love in other popular styles of pasta—just rolled into one. It’s loaded with fresh parmesan cheese, crispy bacon, and the sauce achieves a perfectly thick texture that’s reminiscent of heavy cream. 

Speaking of cream, there’s none in this easy carbonara recipe. In fact, despite the rich texture of this dish, the only milk products here are cheese. That’s part of the magic of carbonara. It takes eggs, bacon, and a few other basic ingredients to make your new favourite weeknight dinner.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients 

• 8-10 slices bacon (you can also use pancetta; see the FAQs section for more information on the difference between these two products)

• 8 ½ cups water

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 pound pasta of your choice (we recommend spaghetti or linguine, but all noodles work)

• 1 ¼ cups fresh parmesan cheese, grated (you can also use pecorino romano)

• 4 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• Fresh parsley, chopped 

Preparation instructions 

1. Simmer the bacon in one-half cup of water in a large skillet over medium heat for around 6 minutes. Turn down the heat and let the bacon crisp up. This will take roughly 6 additional minutes. 

2. Turn off the heat and strain the remaining liquid bacon by placing a fine-mesh strainer over another bowl to catch the drippings. Don’t clean the leftover fat from the pan. If there is none left, you can add in a tablespoon from the drippings in the bowl. 

3. Turn the heat back on, and sauté the garlic in the fat just until fragrant, around 30 seconds. 

4. Remove the garlic from the heat and transfer it to a medium bowl. In that bowl, whisk in 3 whole eggs, the egg yolk from a 4th egg (no egg whites), the parmesan cheese, black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon juice. 

5. Boil water and then cook the pasta based on the package instructions. ‍

‍Chef’s tip: Salted water is best for boiling pasta, as this infuses the noodles with flavor. The noodles don’t rely on the sauce alone for their flavor, allowing the sauce and pasta to harmonize flavors. We recommend coarse sea salt. Some chefs recommend making the water as salty as the ocean, so sea salt seems like the natural choice. Oversalting isn’t common but it can happen, so play around with the quantities as you get used to cooking this way. 

1. Before you drain the pasta, carefully reserve 1 cup of the salted water. The starches in the pasta water will help the sauce to bind to the noodles later on in the recipe.

2. Finish the sauce by whisking one-half cup of the reserved pasta water into the cheese and egg mixture. 

3. Add the drained hot pasta to the skillet and immediately add in the sauce and bacon. Toss with a spatula. Cook for just a minute or two, or until the sauce has thickened. You can add in more pasta water if needed to thin out the sauce. Be sure not to take too long with this step because the pasta can become over-cooked. 

Chef’s tip: It’s a good idea to drain your pasta when it’s still a touch too undercooked so that you don’t overcook the noodles while tossing it in a hot sauce where they can cook a bit more.

1. Remove the pasta from the stove. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Garnish the finished carbonara with cheese and chopped fresh parsley.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

Nutrition information

• Calories: 414

• Fat: 10 grams

• Saturated Fat: 4 grams

• Cholesterol: 132 milligrams

• Sodium: 761 milligrams

• Potassium: 233 milligrams

• Carbohydrates: 58 grams

• Fiber: 2 grams

• Sugar: 2 grams‍

• Protein: 21 grams

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FAQs

The roots of this dish: What is carbonara? 

Traditional carbonara recipes hail from Rome. The version we know and love today came about in the 20th century, but there were many similar dishes before the invention of this contemporary version. Classic carbonara recipes contain eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper. 

Pancetta vs. bacon: What’s the difference? 

Many carbonara recipes call for pancetta. Bacon is smoked, while pancetta is not, but both of these pork products are cured and neither can be eaten unless cooked. Pancetta can be a touch saltier than bacon, but you can generally use the two items interchangeably in recipes. 

Can you make a carbonara sauce recipe with milk?

Yes. A milk-based recipe won’t be traditional carbonara, but it will be delicious. Some recipes use cream sauces thickened by butter and flour, while others stick closer to the original carbonara preparation, adding in milk and cream for added creaminess.

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If you’re ready to take your pasta game to the next level, Gopuff will do the grocery shopping. Whether you’re a carbonara or a marinara fan, they’ll be able to source all the ingredients you need and have them at your door in minutes.