How To Make Carbonara Sauce

Key Ingredients For Perfect Pasta Carbonara At Home

Note: Full ingredients list & measurements provided in the Recipe Card, below.

Among the many reasons youll love this recipe is its simplicity. Like many authentic Italian dishes, real-deal carbonara is made with just a few simple & easily accessible ingredients. You will need

• Pasta Youll commonly see carbonara served with spaghetti, fettuccine, or even rigatoni. Im personally partial to bucatini carbonara. Bucatini is a long, tubular spaghetti with the best bouncy texture. It makes carbonara even more satisfying. Delallos bronze die extruded bucatini is forever my go-to!
• Pancetta This cured, unsmoked Italian bacon is readily available at most conventional grocery stores these days. Youll typically find it pre-diced near other cured meats or cut-to-order at the deli counter.
• Cheese While classic Roman carbonara only makes use of Romes iconic cheese , I like to make pasta carbonara with a combination of both pecorinoromano& parmigianoreggiano. I like how parmigiano reggianos savory & nutty flavor complements the bright tanginess of pecorino romano.
• Eggs A traditional carbonara recipe typically makes use of the whole egg . But Ive found that using only yolks makes homemade carbonara a little more foolproof by eliminating the risk of scrambled eggs. The yolks also create an even richer & creamier carbonara sauce a fun added bonus!
• Ground black pepper Freshly ground black pepper is absolutely key!

What Is Carbonara Really

Carbonara is one of Rome’s four classic pastas . There are a slew of theories about its possible origins, including:

• It was invented by Italian carbonari who prepared the dish on their shovels over a fire.
• The name refers to the ground black pepper in the dish that resembles flecks of coal .
• It was a marrying of traditions between American soldiers in Italy during World War II and their bacon and egg rations with the local pasta dishes.

What distinguishes carbonara from other pasta dishes is its technique of combining eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper into a rich, silky sauce.

This recipe calls for raw eggs that are gently cooked by the hot sauce. If you prefer, you can use pasteurized eggs instead.

Creamy Carbonara Sauce Recipe With Milk

An Italian classic, made extra creamy with the addition of Canadian cream and milk, along with the egg. Try it with Canadian Parmesan cheese as well! This classic recipe is taken from the 1991 Milk Calendar.

• 8 oz bacon diced
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• Hot red chili flakes
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups Canadian Milk
• 1/2 cup Canadian 35 % cream or Milk
• 1 cup grated Canadian Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

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Things To Remember When Making Authentic Carbonara Sauce

The Trick To Good Carbonara

The trick to making a successful carbonara?

Stirring the egg mixture quickly into the pasta which should be hot enough to “cook” the egg to make a sauce but not so hot as to make it curdle.

Getting carbonara just right can take some practice so don’t despair if your carbonara sauce is a little lumpy the first time you make it.

Some people add cream to their carbonara. It’s not traditional, but you can certainly do this, and make an even creamier sauce for the pasta. Personally, I think it’s rich enough without it. Enjoy!

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What Is Carbonara Sauce

Carbonarasauce is made with bacon, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. To thin itout, you use pasta water and it magically turns into a sauce as you toss itaround with the cooked pasta

While it might sound like a luxurious dinner, I assure you that its not complicated! I mean, bacon, eggs, and cheese? Simple and delicious, which is why its one meal my entire family will eat.

Finish The Sauce And Serve

At this point, you can remove the pot from the stovetop. The ambient heat will cook the sauce without scrambling the eggs. Add the pasta to the pot first, tossing it to combine it with the bacon grease.

Then, drizzle in the egg mixture, stirring the mixture vigorously as you go. Add enough reserved pasta water until the sauce reaches the desired consistencytight enough to cling to the noodles but loose enough to create a palatable mouthfeel. Serve the pasta immediately, topping it with additional cheese if desired.

Dont stop with pasta carbonara: Try all our favorite Italian recipes! Or, learn to master marinara. We also have a complete guide to pasta sauce of all types!

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What If Carbonara Sauce Curdles

Theres always a chance the eggs in your sauce will cook too much, and almost look like bits of scrambled eggs.

First of all, dont worry! What causes it is the heat of the piping-hot pasta coming into contact with the eggs without enough room for it to steam. Your carbonara will still taste great, but try these steps to master the technique:

• Whisk the hot pasta water into the eggs just before adding the pasta.
• Mix the sauce and pasta in a large shallow bowl so that the heat doesnt concentrate at the bottom of the bowl.
• Toss the egg mixture and pasta quickly and repeatedly until all the strands are coated.

The Best Spaghetti Carbonara Sauce Recipe

You know those days where you want a quick and easy dinner where you can grab a couple of ingredients from your fridge and pantry and everyone is fed? Thats when I start to boil some pasta water and get this spaghetti carbonara sauce started.

Like you, I often find myself trying to figure out what to make for dinner on nights where I should be more prepared but luckily, I have this one-pan recipe to save the day and feed my hungry family.

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Ingredients In This Recipe:

• Dried pasta: You can use your preference of spaghetti, bucatini or linguine. Long strands of pasta noodles are the best for slurping!
• Cheese: Use fresh hunks of Parmesan cheese and Pecorino Romano cheeses and grate them fresh for the very best flavor.
• Bacon or pancetta: Look for thick-sliced unsmoked bacon, if possible. You can also use pancetta if you want to be very close to the original. Ask the meat or deli counter to slice it into 1/2-inch thick rounds, then slice it yourself into 1/2-inch cubes.
• Eggs: My recipe uses a higher ratio of large egg yolks to whole eggs , which is true to the authentic Roman-style carbonara.
• Peas: Not at all a traditional ingredient in carbonara, but frozen peas are an add-in option. I started adding peas to pasta carbonara when my kids were little for an extra hit of vegetables and green color.
• Fresh Italian parsley: Sprinkle chopped parsley over the pasta to garnish the dish.

Carbonara Sauce Cooking Instructions

Making the sauce

• Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, around 10-15 minutes.

• While the bacon is cooking, whisk egg yolks and egg together in a medium-sized bowl. Add in the grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Continue whisking until fully mixed.

• When the bacon is ready, reduce heat to low. Add the egg and cheese mixture, the peas, and the pasta substitute. Add 1 tbsp of boiling water at a time until the sauce is at the consistency to your liking.
• Add in the spinach and cover. After a minute, stir to incorporate the wilted spinach with the rest of the dish.

Serving the Carbonara Sauce

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Make It Your Own Easy Carbonara Variations

Over my years of making carbonara, I have strayed away from tradition a little bit by adding my own twists. Since carbonara sauce is quite rich, I love using fresh arugula, parsley, & a bit of lemon zest to create some contrast. The fresh & bright flavors cut through all the richness of the sauce for a perfect, well-balanced bite of bucatini carbonara.

This is totally up to you though. Skip any add-ins to enjoy a traditional carbonara, or make it your own with a dash of freshness!

Even with a few extra add-ins, pasta carbonara is still a super quick dish to make. In 20 minutes or less, you can create the ultimate lazy girl pasta thats super satisfying & packed with flavor.

I cant wait for you to master making Pasta Carbonara at homeonce you do, Im pretty positive itll be your new signature dish! If you do give it a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @playswellwithbutter on . I LOVE hearing about & seeing your PWWB creations!

• Yield:serves 2 generously 1x
• Category:Pasta Recipes, Main Dishes
• Method:Stovetop

• optional: 4 ounces baby arugula
• optional: 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• for serving, as desired: additional grated cheese, chopped parsley, crushed red pepper, etc.

Filipino Carbonara Vs Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara

The Filipino version of Carbonara, as featured in this recipe post, is different from traditional carbonara in terms of preparation and ingredients used.

Filipino Carbonara is more of a pasta Alfredo with bacon. It is richer and creamier than the traditional version. This is attributed to the use of heavy cream. Italian carbonara, on the other hand, makes use of beaten eggs with Pecorino Romano cheese and lots of ground black pepper for the sauce.

The process in making the sauce for both versions varies. Filipino style carbonara sauce needs a little bit of cooking. The sauce for traditional carbonara is poured raw over warm pasta towards the end of the cooking process. The spaghetti is tossed while the sauce gets cooked slowly using residual heat from the pasta.

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How To Make Spaghetti Carbonara

Attention to detail is important in this recipe since it has an incredibly short ingredient list. The flavour rests on the quality of those ingredients plus little finishing touches.

When making pasta, always salt your water before adding the noodles. Thats a crucial step as it allows the pasta to get flavoured all the way through. If you salt it your spaghetti later it will only be on the surface.

While thats happening, add pancetta or bacon to a pan with butter along with garlic. The garlic is a little trick for adding flavour as it infuses the pancetta with flavour.

I usually add one clove of garlic to the pan when I cook the pancetta, then remove it before the pasta goes in. This way the garlic adds to the delicate flavour of the carbonara sauce without overwhelming it.

When everything is ready, add the hot pasta directly to the pan with cooked pancetta, then add some pasta water. Because there is no added cream in this recipe, we need some extra liquid to create the sauce and carry the flavours that coat the pasta.

Pasta water is perfect for this role as it has absorbed some starch from the pasta which will help thicken the sauce as well.

Now the the trickiest step is adding the egg and cheese mixture to the pasta to create the famous carbonara sauce.

I personally find it works best if I add the beaten eggs while the pasta is taken of the burner. This way you get gentle heat that will cook the egg but not curdle it.

Cream In Carbonara: Yes Or No

The reason carbonara sauce is kind of magical has to do with chemistry. It happens when the heat of the cooking water and hot pasta quickly cook the egg mixture. Thats all there is to it!

The egg proteins thicken when you combine hot pasta with raw eggs, transforming into a creamy-textured sauce that coats the noodles.

My recipe stays true to the classic method. Its rich-tasting and satisfying with egg yolks alone. Heavy cream would make the dish feel a bit too rich, more like an alfredo sauce than a humble carbonara sauce.

Heavy cream in carbonara sauce: This much is true the authentic recipe for carbonara does not contain heavy cream. I imagine that if you told an Italian to pour cream in a carbonara sauce they would moan dramatically while rolling their eyes. In other words, its considered a no-no.

That said, I can see why cream is often used by cooks. Americans like lots of sauce on their pasta , where Italians are a bit more light-handed in that department.

But honestly, people can find carbonara sauce tricky to master. In my opinion, adding cream is a way to get around executing the recipe properly. I hope this recipe will encourage you to give true carbonara sauce a try!

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What Ingredients Do You Need For The Carbonara Sauce

For simplicity, I use bacon instead of guanciale , its a good readily available option that doesnt compromise the taste of the sauce. I also use freshly grated Parmesan cheese if I cant get my hands on Pecorino-Romano cheese.

This recipe uses 3 egg whites. I use fresh eggs and separate them. I refrigerate the whites and use them the next day to make an omelet. You can also buy a carton of egg whites if you prefer.

• 5-6 slices of bacon
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Perfect Carbonara Sauce Cooking Tips

Assimple as the ingredients are, carbonara sauce is all about technique! Butdont sweat it, just follow the recipe and these tips and your pasta carbonarawill be #perfection.

Start with room temperature eggsA couple of hours before you cook, remove the eggs from the fridge and set them out on the counter. Room temp eggs create a smooth, light sauce and theres less chance of them scrambling.

Make Sure the Eggs Dont Scramble in the sauceAdding the egg and cheese mixture can be the trickiest part of carbonara sauce. If done wrong, youll end up with a pan full of frazzled pasta and scrambled eggs. To avoid that monstrosity, be sure to remove the pan from heat before adding the egg and cheese mixture.

Theeggs will cook from the heat of the pasta into a delicate, buttery sauce.Mission accomplished!

Swap bacon with pancettaSome people swear by pancetta while others go for the bacon. Pancetta which is a much smokier, meatier form of bacon but I prefer the latter since its always in my fridge and easier to find at the local grocery. Just know that both are delicious and you need one or the other for pasta carbonara.

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How To Serve Carbonara Sauce

While you might want to eat your spaghetti carbonara right out of the pan and wipe it clean with some soft-in-the-middle and crusty-on-the-outside garlic bread, the best way to serve the spaghetti carbonara sauce is in a bowl topped with additional Parmesan cheese!

Carbonara sauce is a rich, silky sauce made with bacon, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper tossed with cooked pasta. Its the perfect weeknight meal when you need something delicious and fast.

• ½cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
• 4 slices bacon, diced
• ½ large onion, diced small
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

What To Serve With This Carbonara

Lots of side dishes go great with a carbonara pasta, and below are just a couple of my favorites.

A side dish that always goes great with pasta is some crunchy homemade garlic bread. It takes just minutes to prepare and only a little longer to cook in the oven. Alternatively, you can buy some garlic bread from the supermarket.

For something a little different, you can make a gluten-free cornbread. The cornbread is loaded with cheese, bacon, semi-dried tomatoes, and so much more. I highly recommend making it as its so delicious.

The video below will take you through all the steps on how to make this easy carbonara. Alternatively, the full-text version of the recipe is right below the video and can be printed if required.

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How To Make Pasta Carbonara

Learning to make an authentic carbonara sauce isnt just an incredible experience its a must! The process is simple, but just as important as the integrity of the ingredients themselves. This traditional Italian dish is made in just a few steps, but each step requires some attention to detail.

Carbonara is made by combining hot, just-cooked pasta with pork that has been sautéed in olive oil. Next, you add in a generous mixture of beaten eggs* and grated hard Italian cheese. The ratio of whole eggs to egg yolks is important to note. When introduced, the eggs should just start to curdlethis is what gives carbonara its signature natural creaminess. If not, this is where your hot, pasta-cooking water comes in to play. With just a few tablespoons of this hot, starchy pasta water, your carbonara sauce becomes the luscious, creamy masterpiece its famous for.

Carbonara is a dish that needs to be made and enjoyed. All of your guests should be sitting at the table, ready and awaiting its arrival. The sauce tends to dry out as it cools, so enjoying carbonara while its piping hot is crucial!

Recipe: Bucatini alla Carbonara

Whole Egg to Egg Yolk Ratio Guide

Carbonara for 1 = 1 Whole EggCarbonara for 2 = 1 Whole Egg + 1 Egg YolkCarbonara for 3 = 1 Whole Egg + 2 Egg YolksCarbonara for 4 = 1 Whole Egg + 3 Egg YolksCarbonara for 5 = 2 Whole Eggs + 3 Egg Yolks

To simplify, remember that its 1 whole egg for every 4 people and 1 yolk each.