Rich and decadent meets quick, cheap, and easy in this creamy Spaghetti Carbonara.
I have a controversial opinion, I think spaghetti carbonara is like the fried rice of Italian food. It’s cheap and filling. It’s super quick and easy. And it just takes a handful of ingredients to make it amazing. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite versions of this classic pasta dish. It’s not a traditional spaghetti carbonara, but it is tasty and more importantly, it has easily accessible ingredients!
What does carbonara even mean? The word carbonara is used to describe a sauce made with bacon, eggs, and cheese. It’s basically bacon and eggs tossed with spaghetti which I thought was odd the first time I ever heard that description. So let me do the foodie thing and pretty it up a bit. Carbonara is a creamy and rich parmesan sauce created when beaten eggs are tossed with hot cooked pasta along with crispy bacon and veggies.
Easy and indulgent, this is one that you pull out for guests!
How to make Spaghetti Carbonara
You’ll need: 
- Spaghetti or another long pasta noodle like linguine or bucatini
- Eggs
- Parmesan Cheese
- Bacon
- Onion
- Green Bell Pepper
- Mushrooms
- Garlic
- Salt and pepper
- 1.Start by prepping all your ingredients. Chop the veggies and bacon. Whisk together the eggs with a cup of the parmesan cheese and pepper. This is a recipe that you need to be prepared for before you start cooking.
- Boil the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, fry the bacon and then cook the veggies in the bacon grease.
- Toss part of the hot cooked pasta with the eggs. The hot pasta will thicken and cook the eggs. The idea is to gradually bring up the temperature of the eggs so they will thicken and cook, but not scramble.
- Mix everything all together and add a bit of the cooked pasta water if needed to get the sauce consistency you desire. Top with more shredded cheese, parsley and fresh cracked black pepper.
Serve this up with a green salad and some pull-apart garlic rolls or a slice of focaccia bread.
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Spaghetti Carbonara
Rich and decadent meets quick, cheap, and easy in this classic creamy Spaghetti Carbonara.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of spaghetti
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, divided
- 6-8 slices of bacon
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs with 1 cup of parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. Set aside.
- Boil the water to cook the spaghetti and cook the spaghetti according to the package directions until the pasta is al dente. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat.
- When the bacon has crisped, add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat or until the onions and bell peppers have started to soften. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes, until just softened.
- When the pasta has finished cooking carefully remove and reserve about a 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta.
- Add 1/3 of the hot cooked pasta to the egg and cheese mixture and quickly stir to bring up the temperature of the eggs gradually.
- Add all the pasta and the egg mixture to the pan with the bacon and veggies and stir vigorously as the eggs thicken. Do not let the eggs scramble! Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved cooking water if desired.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and top with remaining parmesan to serve.
Notes
Let your eggs come to room temperature as you chop and prepare the veggies and bacon. Have everything set out and ready to go before you start cooking.
Do not rinse your spaghetti. The starch helps the consistency of the sauce and you need the heat of the pasta to cook the eggs.
It is important that you have everything ready and prepared when you add the hot pasta to the eggs. The finishing steps move quickly.
Depending on how you like your sauce, you might add a bit of the reserved pasta water to thin the carbonara a bit.
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MiC
Wednesday 27th of January 2021
Made this for my family tonight. My 5 year old cleared his plate in less then 5 minutes. My husband and I both had seconds. Even my daughter who is the pickiest, ate it all with no complaints. This is definitely one we will repeat. Thank you for a yummy recipe!
Amy D
Friday 29th of January 2021
Yay! Thanks for leaving a comment to let me know how much your family enjoyed it. Comments like these make my day. :)
Gabriele
Monday 26th of October 2020
You got it totally wrong, the only ingredients of pasta alla carbonara are the following: - pasta - water (with salt) - eggs - guanciale (and if you can't find it then use smoked pancetta or smoked bacon) - Pecorino (or a mix of Pecorino and Parmigiano Reggiano) - black pepper
There are no vegetables whatsoever nor garlic, onion or bell peppers and there's no need of oil since guanciale or anyway bacon will melt releasing oily grease.
Amy D
Monday 26th of October 2020
Gabriele, Thanks for your feedback. You might notice, this recipe isn't for authentic pasta alla carbonara, it's for Spaghetti Carbonara. I don't claim that it's a traditional version of the recipe. I say that it's how I like to make spaghetti carbonara based on my tastes and the ingredients that are available to me locally. Have a great day! Amy D.