This Cacio e Pepe is a traditional, authentic Italian dish that needs only 4 simple ingredients and about 20 minutes of your time to cheesy noodle heaven! Dinner couldn’t get any easier!
When it comes to making pasta dishes, this cacio e pepe is as easy as it gets. It’s a classic Italian recipe where the main ingredients are cheese and pepper. Super simple, super quick and this is guaranteed to be an instant favorite.
Classic Italian pasta dishes are all about a few simple but great ingredients, simple sauces with a handful of ingredients. Pasta is not usually smothered in sauces but are kept simple where the ingredients have a chance to shine.
What Is Cacio e Pepe
When translated Cacio e Pepe literally translates to cheese and pepper which is why this dish is just about the cheese and pepper. We want lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or Pecorino, none of the packaged kind, and lots of freshly ground pepper.
Pasta Water Is Your Friend
The other key ingredient in this recipe is the pasta water. When it comes to great pasta dishes, your magic ingredient really is the pasta water. So before you drain your pasta, reserve a full of cup of this magic water. It’s what will make your sauce smooth and glossy, and it emulsifies with the butter and cheese and just make everything delicious.
Trust me, this pasta water really is the secret to magical pasta dishes. Once you try it, you’ll never go back!
Ingredients In Cacio e Pepe
It’s true! You really only need 4 ingredients to make this delicious pasta dish. Keep scrolling for the full recipe and ingredient amounts.
- Pasta – you can use either spaghetti for this which is probably the more common ingredient, or the other great pasta to use for this is bucatini! Bacatini, at first glance, looks just like spaghetti, but upon a closer look, you’ll notice it’s a bit thicker than your regular spaghetti, and has a hole going through the middle which makes it great because that little hole gets filled with sauce.
- Parmesan cheese – lots of it, as a matter of fact, double the cheese. Don’t let me tell you how much cheese to put on your pasta, this is something you do with your heart. But I will tell you that you must use freshly grated, none of the packaged stuff. Trust me on this. Pecorino is also traditionally used in this dish, so use whichever one you have.
- Pepper – this is the other main ingredient in this dish so be free with it. The more the pepper the better, also only use freshly ground pepper. It makes all the difference.
- Butter – this ingredient is more optional than anything. Traditionally there’s no butter in this dish but I love a little butter in my sauce, it just gives it a little extra flavor.
How To Make Cacio e Pepe
There’s a little more finesse required than just tossing in pasta with some cheese and pepper. Here’s how you make it:
- Cook the pasta: Fill a large pot with water and generously salt it, use at least 1 to 2 tbsp of salt. Bring it to a boil then add the past and cook it until just barely al dente. Do not over cook the pasta as it will continue cooking a bit more in the sauce itself. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of water, then drain the pasta.
- Make the sauce: While the pasta is cooking and has been cooking for 5 minutes, start on the sauce. In a large skillet, large enough to hold your pasta, met the butter over medium-high heat. Once melted add the pepper and saute the pepper for a good 1 minute. We just want to “bloom” the pepper to deepen the flavor. Add about 1 cup of the pasta water to the skillet. You’ll notice it will immediately bubble up. Stir it to combine with the butter. Remove the pan from heat.
- Finish the pasta: Add the pasta to the skillet and about 1 cup of the cheese. Toss everything together well and add remaining pasta water if the pasta starts looking a little dry. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and more freshly ground pepper.
How To Master Cacio e Pepe
If you’re making this for the first time, you might make a few mistakes, but I’m here to help you through them and make sure you end up with a delicious creamy cacio e pepe every single time.
- The pepper should be toasted in with the butter or olive oil. Don’t just add it to the finished dish, you want to toast it with that butter to ensure the flavor is as deep as possible. Freshly ground the pepper, do not use pre ground, makes a world of difference.
- Use the best cheese that you can afford here. This dish is all about the cheese and pepper after all, so you want to make sure you’re using a good sharp Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano. Don’t forget to grate it yourself, don’t buy the pre grated cheese, not for this dish.
- The pasta water is the secret. Not only is this pasta water a magic ingredient in this dish, but it really is what makes this dish creamy. Don’t reserve the pasta water too early, we want to make sure there’s enough starch in that water, it really is the secret to a rich and saucy consistency. Also, don’t be stingy with the water, use the full 1 1/2 cups of it.
Storing Leftover Cacio e Pepe
Let’s be serious here, this recipe doesn’t make a lot, I say 3 servings, but if you’re hungry you get 2 nice servings out of it. So unless you’re making this for yourself only, you probably won’t have any leftovers.
But if you are making this for party of one, the good news is that you can store leftovers in the fridge for about 3 days. However, this is one of those dishes that really is best served fresh.
More Incredible Pasta Dishes To Try:
- Creamy Carbonara
- Aglio e Olio
- Baked Mac and Cheese
- Easy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
- One Pot Creamy Parmesan Pasta
- Easy Pasta Alfredo
- Spaghetti Bolognese
- Ramen Carbonara
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Cacio e Pepe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta such as bucatini or spaghetti
- 4 tbsp butter unsalted, cubed
- 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese or Pecorino or Grana Padano, freshly grated
Instructions
- Cook the pasta: Fill a large pot with water and generously salt it, use at least 1 to 2 tbsp of salt. Bring it to a boil then add the past and cook it until just barely al dente. Do not over cook the pasta as it will continue cooking a bit more in the sauce itself. Reserve 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water, then drain the pasta.
- Make the sauce: While the pasta is cooking and has been cooking for 5 minutes, start on the sauce. In a large skillet, large enough to hold your pasta, met the butter over medium-high heat. Once melted add the pepper and saute the pepper for a good 1 minute. We just want to "bloom" the pepper to deepen the flavor. Add about 3/4 cup of the pasta water to the skillet. You'll notice it will immediately bubble up. Stir it to combine with the butter. Remove the pan from heat.
- Finish the pasta: Add the pasta to the skillet and about 1 cup of the cheese. Toss everything together well and add remaining pasta water if the pasta starts looking a little dry. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and more freshly ground pepper.
Video
Recipe Notes
- The pepper should be toasted in with the butter or olive oil. Don't just add it to the finished dish, you want to toast with that butter to ensure the flavor is as deep as possible. Freshly ground the pepper, do not use pre ground, makes a world of difference.
- Use the best cheese that you can afford here. This dish is all about the cheese and pepper after all, so you want to make sure you're using a good sharp Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano. Don't forget to grate it yourself, don't buy the pre grated cheese, not for this dish.
- The pasta water is the secret. Not only is this pasta water a magic ingredient in this dish, but it really is what makes this dish creamy. Don't reserve the pasta water too early, we want to make sure there's enough starch in that water, it really is the secret to a rich and saucy consistency. Also, don't be stingy with the water, use the full 1 1/2 cups of it.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Judi Marquard says
can you use angel hair pasta? Or does have to be thicker pasta? Thank you
jo says
It should be fine.
Julie says
Question about gluten free pasta?
You said the secret is the starch in the pasta water but I’m not sure about the GF pasta…has anyone done this recipe with GF?
jo says
I haven’t myself, Julie and I want to say you can use gluten free pasta and there are recipes out there for cacio e pepe that use gluten free pasta. While it will still taste ok, I think you won’t have that creaminess that the starch water brings.
Leoni Davis says
I am anxious to try this- you recommend doubling the cheese so I want to know if the 1 1/2 Cups listed is already doubled or do I add 3 Cups? Thanks,
jo says
Ha! That was more of a joke, but feel free to add as much as you like. I did add 1 1/2 cups and found it cheesy enough for my taste. 🙂