This is a real spaghetti carbonara recipe made the traditional Italian way, without a single drop of cream. It relies solely on egg and cheese to make a luscious, creamy carbonara sauce. Food fit for a king (or queen!) that proves simple can be magnificent.
Economical note – Use bacon instead of guanciale and parmesan instead of parmigiano reggiano for a very respectable version of carbonara that will still make Italians proud. But don’t add cream! 😊
Spaghetti carbonara
Carbonara is a beautiful, classic Italian pasta that’s so creamy, you’d swear there’s a good amount of cream in it. And indeed, there’s plenty of recipes that cheat by adding in cream.
But today, we’re making spaghetti carbonara properly, the authentic, traditional way. No cream. Just egg, cheese and a splash of starchy pasta cooking water.
15 minutes later, THIS is the sight that will be in front of you. And you’ll make 60 million Italians beam with pride!
You can imagine eating that mouthful of chewy spaghetti bathed in the creamy sauce, right? Don’t dream about it. Make it a reality!! It’s so quick and easy it will blow your mind!
What happens if I add cream?
Outside of Italy, lots of recipes “cheat” by adding cream into carbonara sauce, for various reasons. Not a bad thing, per se, it’s just that it’s no longer a real carbonara.
But more importantly for me (in addition to, of course, the fact that I’m sharing a recipe with the intention of respecting the origins), cream alters the mouthfeel and flavour. You see, real carbonara is rich and creamy to eat. But you don’t get that slick of dairy fat coating your mouth like you do when eating cream.
Put another way – carbonara is how you get your creamy pasta fix without feeling weighed down like you do when you indulge in pastas doused with heavy cream. Win!
Ingredients in carbonara sauce
Carbonara calls for raw eggs which are stirred vigorously off the stove with hot cooked pasta, guanciale (a cured pork like bacon), parmesan and a splash of pasta cooking water. Watch the magic unfold before your eyes as 4 simple ingredients transforms into a luxurious creamy sauce! NO CREAM allowed! 🙂
Economical note: Substitute guanciale with bacon and use parmesan instead of parmigiana reggiano. You’ll still capture the essence of real carbonara that will make Italians proud!
Guanciale – This is a key ingredient in carbonara, and is a cured fatty pork that is similar to bacon and pancetta. It adds adds flavour into the dish and the fat makes the sauce creamy when mixed with the egg and starchy pasta cooking water.
Find it at Italian delis, Harris Farms (Syd, QLD), and speciality produce stores. It’s a bit of a speciality product but can be substituted with pancetta or streaky bacon in a pinch! Best to get block form so you can cut it into thick batons. If pre-sliced is all you can get, try to get thick cut.
More information on guanciale below.
Parmigiano reggiano – This is basically a premium parmesan that’s been aged so it has more complex flavours. It adds salt into the sauce as well as thickening it. Pecorino romano, which is made from sheep milk, is also commonly used, or a combination of the two. Substitute with parmesan cheese.
Must grate your own! Whatever you use, don’t use store bought pre-grated as it won’t melt properly in the sauce.
Egg yolks and whole eggs – The egg combined with the guanciale fat is what makes the stunning creamy carbonara sauce that the world is obsessed with. There’s no need for cream for a creamy sauce! See section above for why.
We use a combination of whole eggs, plus egg yolks for richness. If only yolks are used, the richness is a little too off-the-charts!
Raw egg concerns? These days in developed countries, food safety standards are such that you should not have to be concerned about eating raw eggs sourced from reputable stores. In fact, raw eggs are used more commonly than you probably realise, such as in tiramisu and mayonnaise. So if you’ve ever had any of these at restaurants, you’ve had raw eggs!
However, if you are pregnant or immunity compromised, I would recommend avoiding raw eggs as a precaution. Make fettucine alfredo instead!
Spaghetti – While you can use any long pasta, the most common type used is spaghetti.
Pepper – For seasoning. Freshly ground black pepper recommended here.
No salt in sauce – The pasta cooking water is salted so it flavours the spaghetti as it cooks. And the carbonara sauce gets salt from the guanciale and cheese.
Garlic, optional – While not strictly traditional, garlic is a popular addition and it does add extra flavour into it. 🙂
Guanciale for (real) carbonara
Worth hunting down? Yes, if it’s accessible, within your budget and you are keen to experience an authentic carbonara. But bacon or pancetta makes a very respectable substitute!
Guanciale is a cured Italian pork that is made from pig jowls or cheek that looks like a block of bacon. It has more intense flavour than everyday bacon because of the pork cut used and it’s aged 3+ months.
It has a high proportion of fat, and that’s exactly as it should be and is needed for carbonara. The fat that melts out of the guanciale when sautéed until golden is a key flavouring for the creamy carbonara sauce.
Equally important is that the fat that melts out of the guanciale is required to thicken the carbonara sauce to make it creamy. Basically, what happens is that when the fat from the guanciale and in the egg yolks is mixed with starchy pasta cooking water, it thickens. This is what makes the sauce creamy and cling to the pasta strands rather than a watery pool in the base of your bowl. You’ll see in the recipe video below!
If you don’t have enough fat (for example, if you try to make this with lean bacon), your sauce will never thicken.
Substitute guanciale with pancetta or bacon, preferably in block form so you can cut it into batons. Biting into the golden brown chunks of guanciale is a highlight of this dish!! Whichever you use, it’s essential to ensure there’s plenty of streaks of fat.
Pre-sliced bacon? It will work but because the slices are thinner than the ideal baton size, you will end up with a lot more bacon bits throughout your dish than pictured in this post. Perhaps not considered a negative, by some! 🙂
How to make (real) carbonara
Sauté guanciale until golden. Mix hot cooked pasta vigorously with the guanciale, egg, cheese and a splash of pasta cooking water and watch as it transforms into a luxurious, creamy sauce.
HOT TIP: Use the handle of a wooden spoon to mix. Fast and effective!
Batons – Cut the guanciale into thick batons. Biting through the golden brown crust into meaty bits of salty guanciale is part of the awesomeness that is carbonara!
Finely grate the parmigiana reggiano or pecorino. I use a microplane – one of can’t-live-without kitchenware items!
Sauce – Whisk together the egg, cheese and pepper in a large bowl. It needs to be a large bowl because the pasta will be stirred into the sauce in the bowl, off the stove, to avoid scrambling the eggs.
Cook pasta – Bring 4 litres (4 quarts) of water to the boil with 1 tablespoon of salt. Cook the pasta per packet directions. It should be firm, not soft, but fully cooked through.
Reserve pasta cooking water – Just before draining, scoop out one cup of pasta cooking water. Then drain the pasta in a colander.
Cook guanciale until golden while the pasta is cooking. You don’t need any oil, the guanciale will fry in its own fat.
Toss pasta in guanciale – Tumble the hot pasta into the pan with the guanciale then toss so the pasta gets coated in the guanciale fat.
Transfer into sauce bowl – Tip the hot pasta into the bowl with the egg and use a rubber spatula to scrape out every drop of the guanciale fat into the bowl. That stuff is gold! 🙂
Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water into the bowl.
Mix vigorously with the handle of a wooden spoon, spinning the pasta around, for around 30 seconds to 1 minute. Watch as the watery pale yellow liquid magically transforms into a creamy sauce.
You know it’s ready when the sauce is no longer watery and pooled in the bottom of the bowl. Instead, it will be thickened, creamy, and clinging to the pasta!
Serve immediately in warm bowls. Pasta waits for no one!
Warm bowls? Yes. I don’t usually warm bowls for serving food, but for pasta, I almost always do. This is because pasta is at its best when it’s freshly made with the sauce is slick and the pasta is juicy. As it cools, the sauce thickens and the pasta gets stodgy. A warm bowl prolongs the life of pasta. I just warm bowls by placing a stack in the microwave for 1 minute. Else, run it under hot water or put in a low oven.
And there you have it. One of the most luxurious pasta dishes in the world. Did you know it was this quick and easy to make? Such is the beauty of Italian food. The simplicity, letting produce take centre stage with a few little tricks to make magnificent good with so few ingredients.
5 ingredients.
15 minutes.
It’s an absolutely stunner. I really hope you try this one day. – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Carbonara (real)
Ingredients
- 175g/6 oz guanciale (pancetta or block bacon), weight after skin removed (Note 1)
- 2 large eggs (Note 2)
- 2 egg yolks (Note 2)
- 100g/3.5 oz parmigiano reggiano , finely shredded (or pecorino romano, sub parmesan, Note 3)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 400g/14 oz spaghetti
- 1 tbsp cooking/kosher salt (for cooking pasta)
- 1/2 cup pasta cooking water
- 1 garlic clove , finely minced (optional, Note 4)
Garnish (optional):
- Parsley , finely chopped
- Parmigiano reggiano
Instructions
- Guanciale – Cut into 0.5cm / 1/5" thick slices then into batons.
- Carbonara sauce – Place eggs and yolks in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Then stir in the parmesan and pepper.
- Cook pasta – Bring 4 litres (4 quarts) of water to the boil with the salt. Add pasta and cook per the packet directions.
- Reserve pasta water – Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
- Cook guanciale – While the pasta is cooking, place guanciale in a non stick pan over medium high heat. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until golden. No oil needed – as the guanciale heats up, the fat will melt so it fries in its own fat. If using garlic, add it in the last minute.
- Pasta in pan – Tip the hot pasta into the pan and toss to coat in guanciale fat.
- Mix pasta in sauce – Transfer the pasta and any residual fat in the pan into the bowl with the egg. Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) pasta cooking water. Stir vigorously using the handle of a wooden spoon for 1 minute and watch as the sauce transforms from watery to creamy and clings to the pasta strands!
- Serve – Transfer into warm bowls. Serve immediately, garnished with a little extra parmigiana reggiano if desired, and a pinch of black pepper and finely chopped parsley.
Recipe Notes:
Life of Dozer
Recently discovered iPhone photo Memories on my phone. Here’s the one that came up today!
Orii says
This was super easy and quick! Big hit with the fam! Thanks Nagi for always delivering the best!!! X
Adi Pillai says
Made this tonight! EPIC!!
Used guancale which was expensive but soooo worth it ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Jen says
Fun, simple, yummy 😊. Love your 1 pager of basic Italian pastas too. The oil and garlic pasta is for eating with Italian friends after a night on the town, or for a 2am snack when my son arrives home from ski racing. 🥳
Mark says
You can try pasteurized eggs
Duncan clark says
Had your real carbonara last night it was great five stars
Gordon Tansey says
Hi Nagi, I used pancetta as the local Nonna had run out of the Guanciale.
The sauce was a lovely velvety, cheesy flavour, but I may have struggled with the pancetta batons/lardons size. Can you let us know what would be the best size for each of the Guanciale/Pancetta to be cut?
Nagi says
Hi Gordon! So glad you enjoyed the sauce! Cut the pancetta into Cut into 0.5cm / 1/5″ thick slices then into batons that are the same width, if that makes sense. So the ends of the batons are square, if that makes sense? N x
Corinne says
Yummy – made this last night and was so quick, easy and delicious! I used streaky bacon because I had limited time to shop, but otherwise followed exactly and it was loved by the entire family (no mean feat let me tell you haha!). This will be on a regular rotation for sure. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Nagi says
LOVE hearing that the whole family enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know Corinne! N x
kim jacomo says
Hi – I was wondering if the guanciale that you use in your real carbonara is the same thing my dad calls salt pork (sold in a block), thanks, kim
Nagi says
Hi Kim! Salt pork is a different cut of pork, it’s the belly. It will work great here as a sub to guanciale, probably the next best thing actually 🙂 N x
Julie says
Cooked this today for Lunch and it was a winner! Great with Gluten free pasta as well. Thanks Nagi
Nagi says
Wow! Awesome to hear it worked great with GF pasta! N x
CP says
There are many pitfalls with this seemingly straightforward dish. Your clear instructions helped work out the timing beautifully. Thank you for another spectacular dish. You help keep my family well fed!
Nagi says
Thanks for the compliment CP! N x
Vicki says
Hi Nagi
I am writing this from a bitterly cold but beautiful Scotland. I have followed you for some time and have tried a fair amount of your scrumptious recipes, love them.
Back in the early Seventies my husband was a student & for four years he worked during summer holidays running’s berry camp (mainly raspberries). For approx 3 months the camp would cater for 60-80 students per week with around 23 nationalities. One year some Italian students asked to use the camp as a base at the end of the season so they could travel around Scotland. My husband agreed to this and as a thank you, the Italian students offered to cook us a meal with the main dish that we had never heard of before, namely Carbonara, or miners wife spaghetti as they called it. it was superb, became a regular meal in our home, but YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO USES EXACTLY THE SAME RECIPE, the Italian boys made for us all those years ago, NO CREAM.
My heartfelt thanks to you for bringing back so many precious memories with your recipe. Deeply appreciated. My warmest regards to both you and your adorable Dozer
Nagi says
LOVE reading this 🙂 Thanks Vicki! N x
Peter Clough says
Perfect recipe. I would omit garlic and add some pecorino romano, but your explanations are 100%. So often this recipe is butchered in US, but you captured exactly the way it is made in Italy.
Brava! And give Dozer a scratch behind the ears from me.
Ileana says
Hi, Nagi!
Great recipe! As always!
I was also looking for the nutritional info… You don’t provide them anymore?
Cathy Gotts says
Hi Nagi,
I too would be interested in a non pork replacement, that is if one could exist for such a decadent dish. Thank you
Peter Clough says
There is no way to get carbonara flavor without the cured pork. You could use something like turkey bacon, which I would like to using ketchtup for pasta instead of tomato sauce
Maryanna says
I literally was saying the other day ‘how does Nagi NOT have a carbonara recipe’ and bang!! Cannot wait to try it, love carbonara …now I’ll just keep thinking ‘why does Nagi NOT have a Philly cheesesteak recipe’……..
Tracey says
My husband refuses point blank to eat carbonara if the restaurant states it has cream in it.
Barry says
Real italian never use cream
Kersti says
In the UK you can look for the red tractor symbol on eggs to ensure you’re getting raw eggs that are safe for pregnant consumption. I’ve also been told that duck eggs are a good, safe alternative.
Fizza says
Hi Naggi! What if I don’t want to use any form of pork meat?
Nida says
I’ve tried it with beef bacon. It’s a good substitute!
Ed says
Are we talking 400g dry spaghetti or cooked spaghetti (apologies if I’ve missed this)?
Blork says
Dried. Nobody ever weighs cooked pasta. (How would you even know how much pasta to use if you could only weigh it AFTER it’s cooked?) Pasta weight in recipes is always uncooked weight.
Jan Rhoades says
Im definitely trying this. I NEVER order carbonara when out because the cream usually goes straight through me. I’m not a fan of cream anyway so your recipe looks great.