Last updated on July 20th, 2018 at 12:57 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!
MY LATEST VIDEOSNo 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!
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.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
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.
- 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
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.
Recipe Video
Half and Half:ย 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.ย
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Leftovers:ย Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Make sure to refrigerate within two hours of cooking.
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Nutrition: Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
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Nutrition FactsCreamy Carbonara Amount Per Serving Calories 721 Calories from Fat 387 % Daily Value* Total Fat 43g 66% Saturated Fat 21g 105% Cholesterol 190mg 63% Sodium 939mg 39% Potassium 411mg 12% Total Carbohydrates 49g 16% Dietary Fiber 1g 4% Sugars 2g Protein 31g 62% Vitamin A 20% Vitamin C 1.9% Calcium 59.9% Iron 9.3%* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Originally published May 2012.
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! ๐
Awesome recipe. I absolutely loved it.
Thanks for sharing.
Jess
Thanks Jess! ๐