Ramen Carbonara
This Ramen Carbonara sounds strange, but it is a creamy little flavor bomb. Full of crispy, salty bacon, a beautiful egg based cheese sauce, and of course tender ramen noodles, it’s hard not to love this dish. Before anyone gets upset, this dish is by no means traditional or authentic in any way. It’s merely a combination of two of my favorite dishes, ramen and carbonara.
Carbonara is one of those dishes that if made right it can make your eyes roll back in your head with pleasure. Let’s be serious, how can you not love something that requires only 15 minutes to make! So let’s get into it.
What Is Carbonara?
Carbonara is a super simple pasta dish, usually served on fettuccine, rigatoni, or bucatini. The pasta is topped with a sauce made up of eggs, pepper, parmesan cheese, and bacon or pancetta. However, true carbonara is made with guanciale and not bacon or pancetta. Guanciale is cured pork made from the cheeks of the pig.
Rather than use pasta I wanted to opt for something that scales down the time required to make this dish and that’s where ramen noodles come in. If you’re looking for something quick that the kids will love, well my dear you’ve found it. So besides using ramen and bacon instead of guanciale, I’d say this is a pretty authentic recipe. Don’t kill me!
Ingredients In Ramen Carbonara
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Noodles – I used ramen noodles today. I’ve tested this recipe before with rice ramen noodles and found they broke apart too much when tossing everything together, so try to aim for a standard pack.
- Bacon – The salty, crispy component of our dish. Feel free to use pancetta if you have some on hand instead.
- Garlic – a couple cloves is all you need for some added flavor!
- Eggs – No need for cream in carbonara! That silky texture is achieved through our egg mixture.
- Parmesan cheese – there’s no carbonara without Parmesan cheese. Grate your own Parmesan cheese, it makes a world of difference to your dishes.
- Basil – I used fresh basil as it’s so aromatic, but if dried is all you have that is fine. Keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals one tablespoon of the fresh stuff.
- Seasoning – a bit of salt and pepper is needed. Watch it with the salt as bacon can be quite salty, especially when cooked.
How To Make Ramen Carbonara
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Cook the noodles: cook the ramen noodles according to package instructions. They shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes to cook.
Prepare the egg mixture: in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs with the Parmesan cheese. Set aside until ready to use.
Cook bacon: In a large skillet cook the bacon until brown and crisp. If too much fat is in the skillet, drain leaving 1 tbsp of bacon fat. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds until aromatic.
Finish the carbonara: Add the ramen noodles to the skillet and toss together with the bacon. Remove from heat. Pour the egg/cheese mixture over the noodles and toss well. The heat of the noodles should cook the egg as needed.
Garnish and serve: Garnish the carbonara with some fresh basil and some more freshly ground black pepper and serve while still warm.
The Key To Great Carbonara Is To Prevent The Eggs From Scrambling
The crucial moment in making carbonara is at the very end, when you add the eggs to the pasta. You want to make sure you pay attention because you’re adding raw eggs to hot pasta in a hot pan, and you don’t want to scramble the eggs. Your final sauce should have the consistency of a thin custard that coats the noodles.
This is why tossing the noodles, off the heat, with the egg mixture is so important. The tossing of the noodles with the egg mixtures helps reduce contact with the hot pan and aerates the eggs, keeping them from curdling, while the heat of the pan and of the pasta cooks the eggs through.
How Do You Store Leftover Carbonara
Allow the carbonara to cool completely before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge. It should last up to 4 days refrigerated.
Carbonara can be frozen but it will lose quality, as the noodles will become mushy and the egg-based sauce will not freeze well.
Oodles Of Noodle Recipes To Try
- Shrimp Shiitake Noodles
- Mongolian Beef Ramen Noodles
- Asian Style Noodles with Pork and Mushrooms
- Creamy Carbonara
- Spicy Black Pepper Shrimp with Udon Noodles
- Tofu Drunken Noodles
- Crockpot Chinese Pork with Noodles
- Spicy Thai Chicken and Veggie Noodles
- Easy Pasta Alfredo
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Ramen Carbonara
Ingredients
- 9 ounce ramen noodles 3 packages, discard the seasoning
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 slices bacon chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 4 tablespoon basil fresh, chopped
Instructions
- Cook the noodles: cook the ramen noodles according to package instructions. They shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes to cook. Toss them with the olive oil to keep them from sticking together.
- Prepare the egg mixture:Â in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs with the Parmesan cheese. Set aside until ready to use.
- Cook bacon:Â In a large skillet cook the bacon until brown and crisp. If too much fat is in the skillet, drain leaving 1 tbsp of bacon fat. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Finish the carbonara:Â Add the ramen noodles to the skillet and toss together with the bacon. Remove from heat. Pour the egg/cheese mixture over the noodles and toss well. The heat of the noodles should cook the egg as needed.
- Garnish and serve:Â Garnish the carbonara with some fresh basil and some more freshly ground black pepper and serve while still warm.
Thank you for sharing indeed great looking !
So glad you enjoy it!
Delicious flavor and super easy to make. Any reason why ramen noodles and not angel hair? Or something else? Just curious:) l
Ramen is made to withstand being in hot soups without getting soggy and overdone. Egg noodles, soba, and rice vermicelli are all great alternatives.
When do you add the olive oil?
In step 1, sorry missed that. Recipe has been fixed now. You use it to toss the noodles with the olive oil to keep them from sticking together.
Yummm! Could you share the recipe of Parmesan Chicken Pasta sometime soon?