Best 20 Carbonara Recipes

SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA: THE TRADITIONAL ITALIAN RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add guanciale (see Cook's Note). Cook, turning occasionally, until evenly browned and crispy, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 9 minutes. Drain and return to the pot. Let cool, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk eggs, half of the Pecorino Romano cheese, and some black pepper in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Pour egg mixture over pasta, stirring quickly, until creamy and slightly cooled. Stir in guanciale. Top with remaining Pecorino Romano cheese and more black pepper.

ITALIAN CARBONARA WITH BACON

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain bacon slices on paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon fat in the skillet and discard the rest. Chop bacon when cool enough to handle.
• Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and onion to reserved bacon fat in the skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour vermouth into the pan and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, about 1 minute. Mix in chopped bacon.
• Drain spaghetti, transfer to a large serving bowl, and mix in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add bacon-onion mixture, Parmesan cheese, cream, eggs, and pepper to the hot pasta; stir until spaghetti is well coated and sauce is creamy.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

Steps:

• Place a large pot of lightly salted water (no more than 1 tablespoon salt) over high heat, and bring to a boil. Fill a large bowl with hot water for serving, and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and pecorino and Parmesan. Season with a pinch of salt and generous black pepper.
• Set the water to boil. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the pork, and sauté until the fat just renders, on the edge of crispness but not hard. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Add pasta to the water and boil until a bit firmer than al dente. Just before pasta is ready, reheat guanciale in skillet, if needed. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain pasta and add to the skillet over low heat. Stir for a minute or so.
• Empty serving bowl of hot water. Dry it and add hot pasta mixture. Stir in cheese mixture, adding some reserved pasta water if needed for creaminess. Serve immediately, dressing it with a bit of additional grated pecorino and pepper.

CHICKEN AND SHRIMP CARBONARA

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Cook and stir chicken with 1 tablespoon garlic and 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a bowl and set aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon garlic and 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same pan. Fry shrimp until red on the outside and white on the inside, 6 to 8 minutes. Place with the chicken.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook linguine at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain.
• Add bacon to the pan; cook until just crispy, not crunchy, about 6 minutes. Drain on 2 paper towels. Saute onion in the bacon grease until translucent, about 5 minutes.
• While onion is sauteeing, mix cream, Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, salt, pepper, and remaining Italian seasoning together in a bowl.
• Pour wine into the pan with the onions. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cook until wine is mostly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the creamy egg mixture and reduce heat. Simmer until sauce begins to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken and shrimp; mix to coat. Serve on top of pasta.

CHICKEN CARBONARA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and garlic and saute until it is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, cheese, yolks, basil, and parsley to blend.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook until it is just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain.
• Add the chicken to the pan with the pancetta and stir to combine. Next, add the spaghetti and the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the chicken is heated through and the sauce coats the spaghetti thickly, about 4 minutes (do not boil or you might end up scrambling the eggs). Season the pasta, to taste, with pepper and salt if needed (the pancetta will likely add all the salt you need). Transfer the pasta to a large wide serving bowl. Sprinkle the walnuts and lemon zest over, and serve.

LOADED CHICKEN CARBONARA

Steps:

• Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon from skillet with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Drain fat from skillet, reserving 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon bacon drippings in the skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breast halves in the bacon drippings until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil. Rest chicken for 5 minutes before slicing; set aside.
• Heat remaining tablespoon bacon drippings in skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook and stir garlic and ground black pepper in skillet until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour wine into skillet; cook at a simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Whisk Parmesan cheese and eggs together in a bowl. Slowly stream wine mixture into the Parmesan mixture while whisking continually.
• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Remove 1/2 cup of the water from the pot for later use.
• Put the peas in a large colander. Drain the pasta in the colander with the peas. Return drained pasta and peas to the pot. Stir bacon, chicken, and wine mixture into the spaghetti. Thin sauce with reserved pasta water as desired.

AUTHENTIC PASTA CARBONARA

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain pasta, reserving pasta water; keep pasta warm. In same pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Add peas; cook until just heated through., Add pasta to pot; toss to combine. Stir in remaining ingredients, adding enough reserved pasta water for sauce to reach desired consistency. If desired, serve with additional cheese.

THE BEST CARBONARA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
• Whisk together the eggs, yolks, Parmesan, Pecorino, pepper and butter if using in a large bowl until well combined.
• Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta.
• Meanwhile, cook the pancetta in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the spaghetti and half the reserved pasta cooking water to the skillet and toss to combine.
• Add the egg mixture and toss to coat. Cook, tossing continuously to avoid scrambling the eggs, until the sauce is creamy, thinning it with the remaining pasta water if it becomes too thick (it should be saucy but not watery), about 1 minute.
• Divide the pasta among plates and sprinkle with more grated Parmesan.

FETTUCCINI CARBONARA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Saute shallots until softened. Stir in onion and bacon, and cook until bacon is evenly browned. Stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, then return it to the pot.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and shredded Parmesan. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir in the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

BEAUTIFUL ZUCCHINI CARBONARA

Steps:

• Carbonara is a classic pasta sauce made with cream, bacon and Parmesan and is absolutely delicious. Try to buy the best ingredients you can, as that's what really helps to make this dish amazing. I'm using a flowering variegated variety of thyme but normal thyme is fine to use. When it comes to the type of pasta, you can serve carbonara with spaghetti or linguine, but I've been told by Italian mammas (who I don't argue with!) that penne is the original, so that's what I'm using in this recipe.
• Before you start cooking, it's important to get yourself a very large pan, or use a high-sided roasting pan so you can give the pasta a good toss.
• Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Halve and then quarter any larger zucchini lengthwise. Cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits, and slice the zucchini at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. Smaller zucchini can simply be sliced finely. Your water will now be boiling, so add the penne to the pan and cook according to the package instructions.
• To make your creamy carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan, and mix together with a fork. Season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Heat a very large frying pan (a 14-inch is a good start - every house should have one!), add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon until dark brown and crisp. Add the zucchini slices and 2 big pinches of black pepper, not just to season but to give it a bit of a kick. Sprinkle in the thyme leaves, give everything a stir, so the zucchini is coated with all the lovely bacon-flavored oil, and fry until they start to turn lightly golden and have softened slightly.
• It's very important to get this next bit right or your carbonara could end up ruined. You need to work quickly. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Immediately, toss the pasta in the pan with the zucchini, bacon and lovely flavors, then remove from the heat and add a ladleful of the reserved cooking water and your creamy sauce. Stir together quickly. (No more cooking now, otherwise you'll scramble the eggs.)
• Get everyone around the table, ready to eat straightaway. While you're tossing the pasta and sauce, sprinkle in the rest of the Parmesan and a little more of the cooking water if needed, to give you a silky and shiny sauce. Taste quickly for seasoning. If you've managed to get any zucchini flowers, tear them over the top, then serve and eat immediately, as the sauce can become thick and stodgy if left too long.
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SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA

Steps:

• In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the pancetta and cook until it is browned and the fat has rendered, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and keep warm.
• In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, cheese, and pepper until uniform. Set aside.
• Fill a large pot with water and add enough salt so the water tastes like seawater. Bring the water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.
• Drain the pasta, transfer to the bowl with the egg mixture and add the pancetta, along with all the fat from the pan. Toss the pasta with the egg-cheese mixture and the pancetta until the eggs are cooked and the pasta is coated and creamy, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.

FETTUCCINE CARBONARA

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Discard drippings, reserving 1 tablespoon in pan., Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook fettuccine according to package directions. Drain; return to pan., Add onion to drippings in skillet; cook and stir over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in cream. In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of warm cream into eggs; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Cook 8-10 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°, stirring constantly., Stir cheese, salt, pepper and bacon into sauce. Add to fettuccine and toss to combine. Sprinkle with parsley and, if desired, additional cheese. Serve immediately.

QUICK AND CREAMY PASTA CARBONARA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 13 minutes. Drain.
• Meanwhile, place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving drippings in pan; set bacon aside.
• Cook and stir garlic in the remaining bacon grease over medium heat. Add milk, cream cheese, and butter to skillet; stir until smooth. Stir Parmesan cheese, peas, ham, and bacon into cream cheese mixture; cook until peas are heated through, about 5 minutes more. Mix pasta into sauce to serve.

SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA TRADIZIONALI

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain.
• Heat a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir guanciale until crisp, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Whisk egg yolks and egg together in a bowl; add Pecorino-Romano cheese, salt, and pepper and whisk well. Stir in guanciale. Add spaghetti and toss until evenly coated.

TORTELLINI CARBONARA

Steps:

• Cook tortellini according to package directions; drain., Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Pour off drippings., In same pan, combine cream, cheese, parsley and bacon; heat through over medium heat. Stir in tortellini. Serve immediately.

CHEF JOHN'S SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA

Steps:

• Cook guanciale with olive oil and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat until almost crisp, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
• Whisk eggs, 3 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese, and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
• Pour reserved pasta water and drained spaghetti into the bacon-pepper mixture; stir to combine.
• Slowly pour egg mixture into the pasta mixture; cook, stirring constantly until the egg mixture forms a thick sauce, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Stir remaining 3 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and 3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese into the pasta mixture and serve.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

Steps:

• Set a large pot of water to boil (for pasta). In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 8 to 12 minutes; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
• Salt boiling water generously; add pasta and cook until al dente, according to package instructions.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, Parmesan, and half-and-half. Set aside.
• Drain pasta, leaving some water clinging to it. Working quickly, add hot pasta to egg mixture. Add bacon; season with salt and pepper, and toss all to combine (heat from pasta will cook eggs). Serve immediately, sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese.

CHICKEN CARBONARA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large, heavy frying pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and garlic; saute until brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• Whisk cream, Parmesan, egg yolks, basil, and parsley together in a large bowl until well blended.
• Stir chicken into the pancetta mixture until combined. Add cooked spaghetti and cream mixture. Toss over medium-low heat until chicken is heated through and sauce forms a thick coating over the spaghetti, about 4 minutes. Do not boil or the eggs will scramble. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a large, wide serving bowl.

OLIVE GARDEN CHICKEN AND SHRIMP CARBONARA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Whisk extra virgin olive oil together with hot water, seasoning and chopped garlic. Add the chicken strips (or shrimp). Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and bacon bits. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add flour, Parmesan cheese, heavy cream, milk, pepper and salt to your bacon/butter base. Use a wire whisk to whip all ingredients together. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer.
• Combine Romano, Parmesan, mozzarella, panko, chopped garlic, melted butter and chopped parsley in a mixing bowl. Stir until well blended. Set aside.
• Preheat large skillet. Add chicken (or shrimp) to pan. Add red peppers and bacon bits. Cook for 3 more minutes or until cooked on both sides and internal temperatures reach 165ºF for chicken and 155ºF for shrimp.
• Add sauce. Stir until well blended.
• Place hot, precooked pasta on a lager serving platter. Top with chicken (or shrimp) and sauce. Evenly distribute topping over top of chicken (or shrimp). Place in oven until top is golden brown.
• Serve immediately and enjoy.

10-MINUTE MUSHROOM CARBONARA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain.
• Meanwhile, place mushrooms in a dry skillet over medium heat. Cook until they begin to brown and release moisture, 3 to 5 minutes. Add oil and garlic. Fry until softened, about 3 minutes more.
• Beat eggs together in a bowl. Add 1/2 the Parmesan cheese. Mix well and stir into cooked mushroom mixture.
• Serve the pasta topped with mushroom sauce and remaining Parmesan cheese.