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!
My 12yrs old order this and I follow this recipe….it turned out very good! i am not a spaghetti fan but this turns out the best spaghetti I ever had. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Beautiful recipe. Simple and straightforward yet ultimately traditional. I used to make carbonara with my father who grew up in Italy. We always had to use bacon because out in California we couldn’t find jowl. Today I made this according to your recipe using smoked pork jowl procured from a smokehouse in Virginia. Incredible. Dad would have been proud.
Absolutely delicious! I was cooking for 2 so working out the quantities was not an exact science. No way I wanted to get out the weighing scales but it didn’t matter because it turned out great, even with bacon. I had tried a different recipe before and scrambled the eggs. This worked like a dream. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! I was cooking for 2 so working out the quantities was not an exact science. No way I wanted to get out the weight scales but it didn’t matter because it turned out great, even with bacon. I had tried a different recipe before and scrambled the eggs. This worked like a dream. Thank you!
It turned out simple quick and even when using economical ingredients that I already had at home it was good.
I just had basic bacon, eggs, pregrated parmesan cheese and cheap pasta. And it worked and didn’t need cream, it was still creamy and the flavour was present! I’m saying this in case anyone can’t be bothered going to the shops but still wants to give it a go it is worth it.
Some other time I would love to find that Italian meat and use better pasta and a good block of parmesan to see how good it can actually be. 🤗
I know you don’t have to and because you don’t know the exact ingredients people are going to use I understand if you say no… but it would be amazing if for new recipes you could either add this as a meal in my fitness pal and provide the name for the meal so we can search it and find it (that way it has all the macro info preset based on your recipe), or could you provide (again based on your recipe) the dietary info so we can add it in ourselves (ie carbohydrates, sodium etc).
Very authentic compared to what we have had in Italy. For those who worry about finding the right ingredients try shopping online for them. You can even get guanciale and Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano on Amazon. It ships from Italian markets with everything vacu-sealed and with adequate cold packs.. I’ve tried several different vendors and have never been unhappy. I slice my guanciale about 1/4″ thick, wrap individually in parchment paper the freeze in an airtight container. Then I can defrost a slice or two as needed. It can be pricey but a little goes a long way and the rest freez4es nicely.
Super simple and tastes amazing. Better than any I’ve had at restaurants.
Super simple and taste amazing.
This is by far the best! I have made several times, using heritage pork bacon, Italian parm and pecorino mixed and Italian pasta. Next level delicious! Thank you!!
Stunning. I feel I made a real Italian recipe. No leftovers says it all.
Does anyone have a way to modify this recipie to make it vegetarian? Thanks
No. Sometimes vegetarians and vegans need to learn that everything is not for you.
Wow… this wasn’t a “What about ME” comment, they genuinely were asking if someone knew of a substitute. Chill.
I just fried up the garlic in half a tablespoon of olive oil, then followed the rest of the recipe as usual, and it turned out great! I think frying up some mushrooms in place of the guanciale would work really well too. I was worried it might miss a salty element by omitting the meat, but there’s enough in the Parmigiano, so it wasn’t missed, and there were no complaints from my meat-eating boyfriend haha 😂
I would think you could use a hearty mushroom and crisp them up instead of the bacon. Would have the Smokey flavor but would lend to the meatiness of the bacon well maybe.
Made this tonight for dinner, it was quick and so easy. I did use a bit more pasta water. The family loved it! This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Amazing! Fabulous recipe and easy! Saved the egg whites for high protein breakfast the next day, win win! Thank you so much for such great recipes!
Literally one of my favorite recipes ever. Have made it for just about everyone I know. Thank you!!
Made this tonight for dinner with your ceasar salad and it was so good Nagi!
It may just be me but I thought Parmigiano Reggiano was a little strong flavoured for my liking, but it may have also been the meat making it salty. I wish I had just kept a little more than 1/2 cup pasta water as the sauce stiffened up so much once done. I would still make this again and again! So easy and tasty
We have tried several carbonara recipes attempting to get close to what we’ve had in NYC and Chicago. Finally this recipe is it. Not just the ingredients but the method resulted in the taste and creamy texture we wanted. Thank you.
Hands down, the BEST carbonara. I use pecorino to make (as per the note) and it turns our perfect every single time. Have not one single critique or adjustment to be made. Make it as explained, and eat it while it’s hot! (Also makes for delicious leftovers!)
Made this tonight & honestly I was a little dubious……. I’ve made carbonara before but using the taboo cream!
But Nagi hasn’t steered me wrong yet so I was willing to give it a shot!
Omg! SUPER yum! I used mushrooms as well & half an onion, diced extremely small. Everyone loved it!
Thank you so much for another great recipe
This recipe is amazing and definitely another Nagi staple!
But for those of you who just hate only using one part of an egg, then I have an alternative version that adds a few more minutes of cooking time. I use 1 egg per person, mix it in a separate bowl with cheese as instructed. I then temper it with a bit of hot pasta water. Add very slowly while stirring to bring egg temperature up without cooking it, (especially important when straight from fridge). It’ll look like it’s curdling, but that’s just the cheese. If in doubt, temper first then add cheese.
I get concerned over raw egg as well, so once I’ve drained the pasta I wash the pot with a bit of cold water so it’s not piping hot. I then bring all ingredients together in the pot, with a splash of garlic infused olive oil and pop it back on the stove on the lowest setting. Stirring constantly over a few minutes until it’s thickened. Due to this I cook pasta a bit less, since it’s going to continue cooking a bit more.
It’s carbonara with extra steps, but it takes the anxiety out of it, as it’s not the kind of spice I want with my food 😀
Loved this recipe. My favourite carbonara recipe I’ve made so far . Your recipes never let me down! Thanks x