Last updated on December 28th, 2018 at 04:02 pm
This Creamy Carbonara is a plate of heavenly, creamy pasta. Silky spaghetti with crispy pancetta in a super creamy and cheesy sauce. Simply delicious and so easy to make them at home.
In case you were not aware, bacon, pancetta or prosciutto is a vegetable!
No lie.
In fact, bacon is my husband’s favorite vegetable. Or at least that’s what he’d like to hope it is. Recently we’ve been trying to eat more chicken and fish and less pork and beef. However, every once in a while, I like to cheat a little.
And if we’re talking about cheating, let’s cheat in style with this heavenly, creamy, cheesy carbonara that’s loaded with crispy pancetta. Because that’s how you cheat!
If you’re watching you’re calorie intake, you might want to skip this recipe and go straight to my healthy recipes. If you are not, stick around and you won’t regret it, because this could be the best creamy pasta you’ll ever eat!
WHAT IS CARBONARA
Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish that can be made with spaghetti, fettuccine, rigatoni or bucatini. The main ingredients in it are cheese, bacon, eggs and black pepper. It’s a simple dish, and I think that this simplicity is what makes this dish a star.
According to wikipedia, this dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers which gave rise to the term “coal miner’s spaghetti”, which is used to refer to spaghetti alla carbonara in parts of the United States. The word Carbonari means charcoalmen. Interesting, eh? I love finding out little facts like this.
CRAVING MORE PASTA DISHES? TRY THESE:
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Avocado and Spinach Pasta
- Pesto Shrimp Asparagus Pasta
- Baked Mac and Cheese
- Easy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
Creamy Carbonara
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti uncooked
- 6 oz pancetta chopped
- 2 cups half and half
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese freshly grated, plus more for garnish
- 1 tsp pepper freshly ground
- 4 tbsp basil chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Add the pancetta to a large skillet and saute over medium-low heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer the pancetta to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
- Add the half and half to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Whisk the egg yolks into the sauce. Whisk in the Parmesan cheese. Stir in the black pepper. Taste for salt and season if needed. I find no salt is needed since the cheese adds plenty of saltiness.
- Add the cooked spaghetti, bacon and basil to the skillet and toss well to combine.
- Garnish with more Parmesan cheese if desired and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Half and Half: Half and half has 12 percent fat content. Heavy cream can also be used. It is also called heavy whipping cream because it's whipping cream with a milk fat content between 36 and 40 percent.
- Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Make sure to refrigerate within two hours of cooking.
- Nutrition: Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition
Originally published May 2012.
I’m sure this is a great recipe, I’m just not a great cook. I had the half and half simmering and stirred in the egg yolk, but I ended up with scrambled egg.
How do I make sure this doesn’t happen again.
You can temper the yolks first. Take a few tablespoons of the hot cream, and slowly drizzle it in the yolks as you whisk quickly. Pour this mixture back into the pan while whisking everything together.
Can I use evaporated milk instead of half and half?
You can! It will definitely have an evaporated milk flavor, if you like that.
Made this tonight! Fantastic
Love this recipe. I’ve made this using bacon when no pancetta is available in a pinch. Never add more salt. Use variety of grated cheeses for this, tuemrns out wonderful always. Sometimes I add roaster red peppers or roasted red peppers. Omgoodness.
Oh I love roasted red peppers!
Tasted delicious! I used jalapeño bacon for a little kick. Although, the sauce got a little clumpy and wasn’t so much creamy. Not sure if I did something wrong but it was more like a cheese dip carbonara 😂
Is sounds like your sauce broke! There are any reasons this can happen to a creamy sauce. Give this a read!
Super yummy!!!
I’ve never had a carbonara before, but here I sit craving it as though it was my favorite dish! My daughter is pregnant, so I’m blaming sympathy cravings. First recipe I find is this one and it has made my mouth water. I will definitely be making this one! Thank you!! Incoming, new favorite meal!
Lol I love that, sympathy cravings! Enjoy your pasta 🙂
This is fantastic! Incredibly delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
My pleasure!
My sons made this for their father on Father’s Day. He can’t eat onion or garlic. This recipe was simple to make, full of flavour and delicious! Will definitely make again. Thanks Jo.
My pleasure, glad you guys enjoyed it!
Made this for the first time while camping with friends! We all loved it. Had some fresh green beans so sauteed them and added them to the fun.
I doubled the recipe and ended up being too much. So for the leftovers, we used it and made Spaghetti Pie – easy & amazing!
Glad you liked it, love spaghetti pie!
Beautiful!!
To make a more authentic and less calorific carbonara skip the half and half entirely. Cook the pasta for 10 mins. In a skillet gently fry off garlic, butter and pancetta (pancetta optional). Add the cooked drained pasta to the skillet. Add the beaten eggs and grated parmesan and stir through for a couple of minutes. Top with more parmesan and black pepper to serve.
Agreed, but this is a creamy carbonara, so the half and half is needed.
I made this for my family last night and they all love it. Thank you Jo for such a quick and easy recipe.
My pleasure!
I can’t wait to try this. My mouth started salivating by seeing this only. Pasta is my favorite and anytime you give pasta I will be ready to eat without any limit. And this is kind of different flavor I guess. Because I saw some extra ingredients in the recipe. So I’m definitely going to try this soon and will definitely let you know, how it turned out.
I’m sure you’ll love it!
Hello!!
Are you able to recommend a non pork meat substitute?
Thank you!
You could try uncured beef or turkey bacon. You could even skip it, I suppose.
My partner often cooks this for me (kinda the same). It’s so delicious all the time. I’m so into the pasta full of cream and bacon is also used for our dish. Such a best-ever pasta! xD
Agreed! 🙂
Awesome recipe. I absolutely loved it.
Thanks for sharing.
Jess
Thanks Jess! 🙂