This is a real spaghetti carbonara recipe made the traditional Italian way, without a single drop of cream. It relies solely on egg and cheese to make a luscious, creamy carbonara sauce. Food fit for a king (or queen!) that proves simple can be magnificent.
Economical note – Use bacon instead of guanciale and parmesan instead of parmigiano reggiano for a very respectable version of carbonara that will still make Italians proud. But don’t add cream! 😊
Spaghetti carbonara
Carbonara is a beautiful, classic Italian pasta that’s so creamy, you’d swear there’s a good amount of cream in it. And indeed, there’s plenty of recipes that cheat by adding in cream.
But today, we’re making spaghetti carbonara properly, the authentic, traditional way. No cream. Just egg, cheese and a splash of starchy pasta cooking water.
15 minutes later, THIS is the sight that will be in front of you. And you’ll make 60 million Italians beam with pride!
You can imagine eating that mouthful of chewy spaghetti bathed in the creamy sauce, right? Don’t dream about it. Make it a reality!! It’s so quick and easy it will blow your mind!
What happens if I add cream?
Outside of Italy, lots of recipes “cheat” by adding cream into carbonara sauce, for various reasons. Not a bad thing, per se, it’s just that it’s no longer a real carbonara.
But more importantly for me (in addition to, of course, the fact that I’m sharing a recipe with the intention of respecting the origins), cream alters the mouthfeel and flavour. You see, real carbonara is rich and creamy to eat. But you don’t get that slick of dairy fat coating your mouth like you do when eating cream.
Put another way – carbonara is how you get your creamy pasta fix without feeling weighed down like you do when you indulge in pastas doused with heavy cream. Win!
Ingredients in carbonara sauce
Carbonara calls for raw eggs which are stirred vigorously off the stove with hot cooked pasta, guanciale (a cured pork like bacon), parmesan and a splash of pasta cooking water. Watch the magic unfold before your eyes as 4 simple ingredients transforms into a luxurious creamy sauce! NO CREAM allowed! 🙂
Economical note: Substitute guanciale with bacon and use parmesan instead of parmigiana reggiano. You’ll still capture the essence of real carbonara that will make Italians proud!
Guanciale – This is a key ingredient in carbonara, and is a cured fatty pork that is similar to bacon and pancetta. It adds adds flavour into the dish and the fat makes the sauce creamy when mixed with the egg and starchy pasta cooking water.
Find it at Italian delis, Harris Farms (Syd, QLD), and speciality produce stores. It’s a bit of a speciality product but can be substituted with pancetta or streaky bacon in a pinch! Best to get block form so you can cut it into thick batons. If pre-sliced is all you can get, try to get thick cut.
More information on guanciale below.
Parmigiano reggiano – This is basically a premium parmesan that’s been aged so it has more complex flavours. It adds salt into the sauce as well as thickening it. Pecorino romano, which is made from sheep milk, is also commonly used, or a combination of the two. Substitute with parmesan cheese.
Must grate your own! Whatever you use, don’t use store bought pre-grated as it won’t melt properly in the sauce.
Egg yolks and whole eggs – The egg combined with the guanciale fat is what makes the stunning creamy carbonara sauce that the world is obsessed with. There’s no need for cream for a creamy sauce! See section above for why.
We use a combination of whole eggs, plus egg yolks for richness. If only yolks are used, the richness is a little too off-the-charts!
Raw egg concerns? These days in developed countries, food safety standards are such that you should not have to be concerned about eating raw eggs sourced from reputable stores. In fact, raw eggs are used more commonly than you probably realise, such as in tiramisu and mayonnaise. So if you’ve ever had any of these at restaurants, you’ve had raw eggs!
However, if you are pregnant or immunity compromised, I would recommend avoiding raw eggs as a precaution. Make fettucine alfredo instead!
Spaghetti – While you can use any long pasta, the most common type used is spaghetti.
Pepper – For seasoning. Freshly ground black pepper recommended here.
No salt in sauce – The pasta cooking water is salted so it flavours the spaghetti as it cooks. And the carbonara sauce gets salt from the guanciale and cheese.
Garlic, optional – While not strictly traditional, garlic is a popular addition and it does add extra flavour into it. 🙂
Guanciale for (real) carbonara
Worth hunting down? Yes, if it’s accessible, within your budget and you are keen to experience an authentic carbonara. But bacon or pancetta makes a very respectable substitute!
Guanciale is a cured Italian pork that is made from pig jowls or cheek that looks like a block of bacon. It has more intense flavour than everyday bacon because of the pork cut used and it’s aged 3+ months.
It has a high proportion of fat, and that’s exactly as it should be and is needed for carbonara. The fat that melts out of the guanciale when sautéed until golden is a key flavouring for the creamy carbonara sauce.
Equally important is that the fat that melts out of the guanciale is required to thicken the carbonara sauce to make it creamy. Basically, what happens is that when the fat from the guanciale and in the egg yolks is mixed with starchy pasta cooking water, it thickens. This is what makes the sauce creamy and cling to the pasta strands rather than a watery pool in the base of your bowl. You’ll see in the recipe video below!
If you don’t have enough fat (for example, if you try to make this with lean bacon), your sauce will never thicken.
Substitute guanciale with pancetta or bacon, preferably in block form so you can cut it into batons. Biting into the golden brown chunks of guanciale is a highlight of this dish!! Whichever you use, it’s essential to ensure there’s plenty of streaks of fat.
Pre-sliced bacon? It will work but because the slices are thinner than the ideal baton size, you will end up with a lot more bacon bits throughout your dish than pictured in this post. Perhaps not considered a negative, by some! 🙂
How to make (real) carbonara
Sauté guanciale until golden. Mix hot cooked pasta vigorously with the guanciale, egg, cheese and a splash of pasta cooking water and watch as it transforms into a luxurious, creamy sauce.
HOT TIP: Use the handle of a wooden spoon to mix. Fast and effective!
Batons – Cut the guanciale into thick batons. Biting through the golden brown crust into meaty bits of salty guanciale is part of the awesomeness that is carbonara!
Finely grate the parmigiana reggiano or pecorino. I use a microplane – one of can’t-live-without kitchenware items!
Sauce – Whisk together the egg, cheese and pepper in a large bowl. It needs to be a large bowl because the pasta will be stirred into the sauce in the bowl, off the stove, to avoid scrambling the eggs.
Cook pasta – Bring 4 litres (4 quarts) of water to the boil with 1 tablespoon of salt. Cook the pasta per packet directions. It should be firm, not soft, but fully cooked through.
Reserve pasta cooking water – Just before draining, scoop out one cup of pasta cooking water. Then drain the pasta in a colander.
Cook guanciale until golden while the pasta is cooking. You don’t need any oil, the guanciale will fry in its own fat.
Toss pasta in guanciale – Tumble the hot pasta into the pan with the guanciale then toss so the pasta gets coated in the guanciale fat.
Transfer into sauce bowl – Tip the hot pasta into the bowl with the egg and use a rubber spatula to scrape out every drop of the guanciale fat into the bowl. That stuff is gold! 🙂
Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water into the bowl.
Mix vigorously with the handle of a wooden spoon, spinning the pasta around, for around 30 seconds to 1 minute. Watch as the watery pale yellow liquid magically transforms into a creamy sauce.
You know it’s ready when the sauce is no longer watery and pooled in the bottom of the bowl. Instead, it will be thickened, creamy, and clinging to the pasta!
Serve immediately in warm bowls. Pasta waits for no one!
Warm bowls? Yes. I don’t usually warm bowls for serving food, but for pasta, I almost always do. This is because pasta is at its best when it’s freshly made with the sauce is slick and the pasta is juicy. As it cools, the sauce thickens and the pasta gets stodgy. A warm bowl prolongs the life of pasta. I just warm bowls by placing a stack in the microwave for 1 minute. Else, run it under hot water or put in a low oven.
And there you have it. One of the most luxurious pasta dishes in the world. Did you know it was this quick and easy to make? Such is the beauty of Italian food. The simplicity, letting produce take centre stage with a few little tricks to make magnificent good with so few ingredients.
5 ingredients.
15 minutes.
It’s an absolutely stunner. I really hope you try this one day. – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Carbonara (real)
Ingredients
- 175g/6 oz guanciale (pancetta or block bacon), weight after skin removed (Note 1)
- 2 large eggs (Note 2)
- 2 egg yolks (Note 2)
- 100g/3.5 oz parmigiano reggiano , finely shredded (or pecorino romano, sub parmesan, Note 3)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 400g/14 oz spaghetti
- 1 tbsp cooking/kosher salt (for cooking pasta)
- 1/2 cup pasta cooking water
- 1 garlic clove , finely minced (optional, Note 4)
Garnish (optional):
- Parsley , finely chopped
- Parmigiano reggiano
Instructions
- Guanciale – Cut into 0.5cm / 1/5" thick slices then into batons.
- Carbonara sauce – Place eggs and yolks in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Then stir in the parmesan and pepper.
- Cook pasta – Bring 4 litres (4 quarts) of water to the boil with the salt. Add pasta and cook per the packet directions.
- Reserve pasta water – Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
- Cook guanciale – While the pasta is cooking, place guanciale in a non stick pan over medium high heat. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until golden. No oil needed – as the guanciale heats up, the fat will melt so it fries in its own fat. If using garlic, add it in the last minute.
- Pasta in pan – Tip the hot pasta into the pan and toss to coat in guanciale fat.
- Mix pasta in sauce – Transfer the pasta and any residual fat in the pan into the bowl with the egg. Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) pasta cooking water. Stir vigorously using the handle of a wooden spoon for 1 minute and watch as the sauce transforms from watery to creamy and clings to the pasta strands!
- Serve – Transfer into warm bowls. Serve immediately, garnished with a little extra parmigiana reggiano if desired, and a pinch of black pepper and finely chopped parsley.
Recipe Notes:
Life of Dozer
Recently discovered iPhone photo Memories on my phone. Here’s the one that came up today!
Loved this recipe. My favourite carbonara recipe I’ve made so far . Your recipes never let me down! Thanks x
Made this today beautiful came together perfectly
Thanks for mentioning the speck Lauren. I bought some on impulse and was wondering whether it could be used in place of the pancetta. Internet research indicated potential problems with it but I am going to go ahead and use it, thanks to your input.
Super easy and tasty. Getting guanciale really elevates this imo – and plenty of pepper!
I didn’t want to dirty a bowl so I started cooking the guanciale in a large saucepan, and then switched it off while the pasta cooked. Made the egg and cheese mix in a purex jug. Took out the cup of pasta water and reserved.
When the pasta was ready I added the cup of water to the egg, added the drained pasta to the guanciale pan (which was no longer very hot) and then quickly mixed in the egg liquid and stirred like mad. Came out perfectly and it ended up hotter than when I did it in a different bowl the first time.
Carbonara is a very intimidating dish. There’s a fine line between having carbonara for dinner, or getting Taco Bell. Thanks to this recipe, we were able to enjoy a delicious homemade bowl of carbonara. Glad I was brave enough to try it!
It turned out wonderfully!
I only had smoked streaky bacon and store bought grated Parmesan(unfortunately where I live we don’t get the real thing). I did however use an extra egg yolk to make sure there was enough for our family.
Will definitely make it again.
Loved the recipe. thanks for helping me understand how cool a simple carbonara can be
5 stars!
Hello Nagi! I started following you in 2018 when I lived in Japan and wanted to know how to make the delicious food I particularly enjoyed.
And now I tried your carbonara recipe and was so impressed with your rendition of this great classic. Your instructions, tips and video were so easy to follow. It was a beautiful transformation how the sauce went from watery to creamy and coated the spaghetti so beautifully! My guests raved how good it was. Thank you 🙂
This was delicious and I managed to make it without scrambling the eggs. I’ve tried carbonara previously without success, but thought I’d try your recipe. My husband loved it and so did I. I won’t hesitate too make it again. Thank-you!
Thanks for this one Nagi, I used streaky bacon and parmesean so I could use the leftovers in other dishes & turned out great, first time making a carbonara so happy it was this one
Unfortunately I couldn’t find the proper protein so I just used bacon and it didn’t have enough fat therefore my sauce was so liquidy! I had to heat it through and it curdled
You people are the worst! When you alter a recipe it’s your recipe and not the original. How do you not understand that?
So you didn’t follow the instructions of the recipe, didn’t get a good result, and left 3 stars on a recipe that worked for everyone who followed the instructions properly?
Thank you for calling this out. The amount of people who do this is ridiculous. “I just switched this, this and this in the recipe, and it was only okay”. So you didn’t make this recipe and yet you decided to give it a rating? That just screws it up for people looking for a recipe with honest ratings.
I agree.
This was so yummy, and so easy to make! Thank you so much for the recipe, I’ll be using it again!
What is the nutritional content of this dish, or where can I find that information?
Not as unctuous as hoped, Think I had too much egg for my scaled down pasta quantity which was fresh. The recipe page could benefit from stating the number of servings; guessing 4 or 5 from 400g dried pasta.
Another banger, Nagi! We all loved it, including my 3 and 1 year olds, who both had thirds! It was indulgent, but still felt light. Also loved that it came together pretty quickly, and I could still make it easily with my toddlers circling me like sharks. Definitely adding to our rotation.
I’ve always made carbonara like this, the only difference is I mix it in the pan not in a separate mixing bowl (probably so I have less cleaning up!). I will be doing it separately in future as it does make it more creamy. Thanks for the tip Nagi!
Carbonara is made with pecorino Romano. Not Reggiano Parmesan. This is garbage. May be a little Parmesan to finish, but always pecorino Romano.
Recipe cooked for four. Three people for dinner, no leftovers!
Best Carbonara I’ve made
I think this is the first time I’ve had proper carbonara! Absolutely delicious. All I can say is that it is so rich for such minimal ingredients and very filling. Don’t halve the recipe, just halve your portions. This is truly delicious and quick to make. I used speck just fyi
Thanks for mentioning the speck Lauren. I bought some on impulse and was wondering whether it could be used in place of the pancetta. Internet research indicated potential problems with it but I am going to go ahead and use it, thanks to your input.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was absolutely amazing. I can’t believe how straight forward the recipe was too. I used fake bacon and parmesan and it turned out perfectly. I’ll definitely be keeping this on the rotation for my pasta fix. So good, thank you!
Used pancetta, turned out amazing. Added in fresh parsley towards the end. Can’t believe I’ve made this recipe with bacon before; it doesn’t come close in flavor to pancetta. It’s not the same in the best way possible!