Spaghetti carbonara is one of my biggest food weaknesses. It’s also a dish that I used to mess up all. the. time. If you’re not familiar, spaghetti carbonara is made with bacon (you can use pancetta, guanciale, or even regular breakfast bacon), cheese, and eggs. The eggs create a silky smooth sauce, and the cheese and crisp bacon both add the perfect salty notes to the dish.
So what’s the problem?
Well, let’s start by talking about what happens to beaten eggs when you add them to a hot pan. Because that’s the biggest mistake that you can make when preparing spaghetti carbonara––accidentally creating a bowl of perfectly al dente spaghetti, with crispy bacon, parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper and scrambled eggs.
I’m not the only one, either. When I was traveling in Rome––the birthplace of this dish, in the mid-20th Century (thank you Wikipedia)––I ordered spaghetti carbonara and was given a plate of pasta with little pieces of scrambled egg yolk!
Well, I’ve discovered the solution. A lot of carbonara recipes will tell you to simply turn off the heat under the pan before stirring in the eggs, to prevent them from scrambling. But I’ve found that the residual heat in the pan can still cause that sneaky scrambling effect.
The key is putting the eggs (along with the cream and cheese) in the serving bowl, adding the hot bacon, bacon fat, and some of the pasta water to temper the eggs, and THEN tossing in the piping hot pasta. Slap a plate over the dish to allow everything to heat up, and voila! PERFECT spaghetti carbonara, every time. I have to thank Food Network personality Tyler Florence for this particular nugget of wisdom.
This spaghetti carbonara recipe uses whole eggs, rather than just egg yolks, and half and half to add a bit of richness. I think that adjustment adds a silkiness and lightness to the dish that you don’t get when you’re cooking only with egg yolks. I also add a pinch of nutmeg to my carbonara for added flavor, but it’s completely optional!
Just one more quick note before we begin: this recipe can contain some undercooked egg.
You’ll need:
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 oz. bacon, guanciale, or pancetta, chopped
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 pound dried spaghetti
- 4 large eggs
- 1/3 cup half and half
- 2/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
- freshly cracked black pepper
- pinch of nutmeg (optional)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon/pancetta and onion.
Cook until the onion is caramelized and the bacon is crisp.
By now, your water should be boiling. Add the spaghetti. Make sure to cook until al dente––don’t overcook the pasta! Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, and cheese.
Scrape in the bacon and onion, along with the cooking fat. If it’s really hot and sizzly, allow the bacon to cool off for 1-2 minutes in the pan before adding it to the bowl.
Before draining the pasta, scoop out about 1/3 cup of the cooking water and slowly whisk it into the bowl with the bacon and eggs. Drain the spaghetti and add to the bowl.
Toss quickly and place a plate on top of the serving bowl to cover completely. Let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the plate and toss with black pepper and nutmeg (if using).
Serve this delicious spaghetti carbonara hot!!
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 oz. bacon, guanciale, or pancetta, chopped
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 pound dried spaghetti
- 4 large eggs
- ⅓ cup half and half
- ⅔ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
- freshly cracked black pepper
- pinch of nutmeg (optional)
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon/pancetta and onion and cook until the onion is caramelized and the bacon is crisp. By now, your water should be boiling. Add the spaghetti. Make sure to cook until al dente––don't overcook the pasta!
- Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, and cheese. Scrape in the bacon and onion, along with the cooking fat. If it's really hot, allow the bacon to cool off for 1-2 minutes in the pan before adding it to the bowl.
- Before draining the pasta, scoop out about ⅓ cup of the cooking water and slowly whisk it into the bowl with the bacon and eggs. Drain the spaghetti and add to the bowl. Toss quickly and place a plate on top of the serving bowl to cover completely. Let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the plate and toss with black pepper and nutmeg (if using).
Ryan Johnson says
Wow.
Simple, outstanding.
:+>
* I used Pancetta, two 150gram bags of pre cubed, more than spec’d but why wouldn’t you. :+> And I used parmesan in quantity spec’d but added some Parmigiano-Reggiano, again more is better. :+>
Ryan Canada
Sarah says
Thanks Ryan!
johnf says
Tried this out tonight. I’m Italian. Your recipe is awesome!
Sarah says
Thank you so much John! Glad you liked it. :)
Ronnie says
As someone commented above, this is not carbonara. I am sorry, I’m not an uptight troll but this is simply wrong. It’s not a matter of being authentic, it’s simply about producing the dish the way it’s always been done for years.
You should call this Spaghetti con panna e pancetta as this is what it is. It’s simply not carbonara.
I cringe whenever I see cream mentioned in this dish.
I seriously urge you to try the real deal, it is totally mind blowing. I bet you’ll never add cream again. A proper Carbonara is oily rather than creamy. Furthermore, Guanciale is used (cured pork jowl), not pancetta.
As experts of Chinese cuisine with such a fantastic blog, I’m sure you cringe when you see people massacre traditional Chinese recipes. Well the same applies here.
Please try the original recipe and change the name of this.
Sarah says
Hey Ronnie, thanks for your comment. Just my two cents on this issue, as it’s one that comes up often on food blogs––and in the wider food world in general. For me, the idea of “authenticity,” or even the idea of “producing the dish the way it’s always been done for years” will always be subjective. Whether it’s Italian or Chinese, cuisines evolve over time––and thank goodness they do. Because things are way more interesting that way.
The influences of trade, travel, and the availability of ingredients are just one factor. Tomatoes didn’t make it to the Mediterranean until the 16th century, at about the same time chilies were first introduced to India. Does that make a marinara sauce less “authentically” Italian than what they were eating in ancient Rome, or a curry made in an Indian kitchen today any less worthwhile?
Carbonara itself didn’t come on the scene until the mid-20th century, and may have even had an American influence. The movement of people, cultures, and food is so much more complex than the idea of making one recipe the same way every time. Our Chinese recipes are always our family’s version of a dish, but there’s definitely more than one way to skin a cat (which is why we encourage kitchen experimentation at TWOL).
While I’m always up for different ways to make a dish (like a carbonara with out cream) this just happens to be the way I like making it for my family.
Ronnie says
Hey Sarah,
I appreciate you taking the time to respond and to defend your recipe.
I’ve had the good fortune to travel quite a bit. I’ve had carbonara in the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa. In fact, it is my wife’s favourite pasta. The best we’ve ever had was by an Italian restaurateur in Africa, prepared in the ‘authentic’ manner without cream.
Why the word ‘authentic’ has become so unfashionable is beyond me. I have a large repertoire of Chinese, Swiss, French, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai recipes that I have altered to my tastes and I’ll be the first to agree that they are inauthentic and I have no problem with that. However, there are thousands of recipes around the world that can be termed authentic. Each family may have their own version but that does not make them inauthentic.
IMO adding cream to a carbonara is akin to adding lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves to an Osso Bucco, it totally alters the dish. And yes I have had the misfortune of being served that.
The origins of carbonara are actually quite mysterious, no one knows for sure how and by whom this recipe was first created but the ingredients are not disputed. There is an authentic recipe and it’s one that I prefer to eat whenever I want carbonara.
You guys have a fantastic website, I often refer to it for recipes, and I will continue to do so.
Thanks for your time.
Gene says
The way I see it, it’s not that “authentic” has become unfashionable, but that some use it as an excuse for not improving. Some Carbonara that I have had in Rome, ostensibly “authentic,” has been heavy and oily, dripping with oil that had separated. If a different technique means that I can do better at home and without buying an airline ticket, who’s to say, “No?”
Besides, if the small amount of dairy is the hang-up, try leaving it out, perhaps replacing it with a bit more of that starchy pasta water.
This recipe is good. It is not like what I was served at a chain restaurant here in the USA, “carbonara” that tasted like Alfredo with bacon bits.
Olivia says
Do you think making this with other types of pasta (i.e. rotini, penne) would work? :)
Sarah says
Hi Olivia, it should work with any type of pasta, if you prefer another kind!
Sandy says
Shaking in my boots with the uncooked eggs sitting in the big bowl… but everything turned out perfectly as per instructions.
Family polished it off in now time.
This is another keeper.
Thanks, Sandy
Sarah says
Yay! Glad you and the family liked it Sandy!
Channon says
I can’t. Stop. Drooling. MMMMM Thank you for the recipe and tips!!
Sarah says
You’re welcome!
EllieC says
I live in France and carbonara is made differntly here, probably not traditional at all. The pasta is served with cooked bacon (poitrine) and a sauce of creme fraisch, a bit of pasta water and grated cheese of one sort or another, often emmental – certainly not trqaditional! In the center of the pile of pasta on each plate will be an egg yolk in a half shell, and you mix it all together. It’s delicious, but I’m eager to try this recipe too.
Kaitlin says
OMG, that sounds AMAZING!!! What a great variation–thanks for sharing! :)
Ting says
Like others here, I too have never made carbonara from scratch. The ones from the jar are just not good enough. I do love carbonara very much! When I saw this recipe yesterday (and how simple and clearly laid out it is! Thank you!) I decided to make it for our dinner tonight. And I did. So happy. My kids (age 6 & 4) absolutely loved it they have second helpings. My husband complained that he ate too much. :p
Love the idea that this recipe uses whole eggs rather than just egg yolks. Haha! It’s so simple to make (have I mentioned that already?!) my 6 yr old could help with whisking the ingredients together. And so delicious too. I followed everything except using nutmeg. :)
I think I am going to get requests for this dish very soon. :D Thank you so much!
Ting says
We are going on holiday soon and I know we will be in a place where it will be difficult to get cream. I am already thinking of using whole milk to substitute cream. Do you think it’ll work?
Sarah says
So glad you guys enjoyed it! Yes, you should be able to substitute whole milk in a pinch.
Gregory Anderson says
Finally, I can justify eating spaghetti for Breakfast! Yea-a-a-a-a!!!
Sarah says
hahaha an excellent thought, Gregory!
Diana says
My all time favorite dish! Yummy! I don’t feel comfortable eating eggs without cooking them, so after your last step, I put it all back in the pan to heat more. At that point, the eggs won’t scramble.
Sarah says
Cool, whatever works for you, Diana! I’ve never tried that method, but it sounds interesting. :)