Ahhh creamy carbonara! It’s the original poor man’s pasta with its bare bones ingredient list and rich, belly satisfying flavor. But, as times change so do the availability and prices of ingredients. The once inexpensive guanciale (pork) and Pecorino Romano cheeses that made this pasta so scrumptious are not as readily available or affordable in modern day America as they may have been when and where this dish originated. So, today, we’re making a modern day budget-friendly version of Spaghetti Carbonara that is every bit as creamy, delicious, and weeknight friendly as the original, but a little less heavy and a lot more accessible for American cooks.
What is Spaghetti Carbonara?
Spaghetti Carbonara is the epitome of simple, satisfying pasta dishes. It’s just spaghetti, pork (guanciale, but I use bacon), egg, cheese, and freshly cracked pepper. The creamy egg yolk and cheese form a super velvety luxurious sauce that lightly coats the pasta, and that’s about all you need in life.
Can I Use a Different Kind of Pasta?
Absolutely! This simple comfort food can be made with whatever shape pasta you happen to have floating around in your pantry. The idea here is that it’s fast, easy, cheap, and delicious. No one is watching to make sure you use the “correct” type of pasta. Just go with it! :)
Use Ingredients Wisely to Keep Costs in Check!
I used only a small amount of bacon in my carbonara to keep prices low and make the dish a little lighter (because honestly, I sit at a desk all day). Luckily, bacon has such a strong flavor that it still permeates throughout the dish. Good Pecorino Romano can be pretty expensive, so I used the grated Parmesan that I have on hand. But it’s true, the better the cheese you use for this dish the better the end product will be, so if you can spring for a wedge of Parmesan, go for it! But by all means, don’t use a “Parmesan topping” or something that is blended with fillers. No ma’am.
Variations on Classic Carbonara
There’s a lot of room for personal interpretation with spaghetti carbonara, so it’s a great staple recipe to learn and know. One of the easiest ways is to add your favorite vegetable. Peas, asparagus, or roasted cauliflower are all great options! If you have a favorite spin on carbonara, I’d love to hear it! Drop me a line in the comments below and let me know how you like yours. :)
Spaghetti Carbonara
Servings 4Ingredients
- 3 oz. bacon ($0.88)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 12 oz. spaghetti ($0.66)
- 3 large eggs ($0.92)
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan ($1.44)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.10)
- Salt to taste ($0.05)
- Handful fresh parsley (optional) ($0.10)
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water for the pasta and season with salt. Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a boil over high heat.
- While waiting for the water to boil, cut the bacon into small pieces. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat until brown and crispy. Remove the cooked bacon from the skillet, then turn the heat down to low. Mince two cloves of garlic, add them to the warm skillet, and sauté for about one minute or until fragrant and softened, then turn off the heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, and a generous dose of freshly cracked pepper.
- The water should be boiling at this point, so add the pasta, stir well, and continue to boil the pasta until al dente. Reserve one cup of the starchy pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta in a colander.
- Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet that was used to cook the bacon. Stir the warm water in the skillet and dissolve the browned bits from the surface of the skillet. Add the steaming hot drained pasta to the skillet and toss in the bacon liquid in the skillet.
- Pour the egg and Parmesan mixture over the hot pasta and immediately begin to stir or toss the pasta. Continue to stir the hot pasta in the egg mixture until a creamy sauce forms. Add the remaining Parmesan, a little more freshly cracked pepper, and the reserved bacon bits, and toss again. If the pasta becomes too thick or dry, add a splash more of the reserved pasta water.
- Finally, taste the pasta and adjust the salt, Parmesan, or pepper if needed. Top with a pinch or two of roughly chopped parsley leaves.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Pasta and parmesan never gets old! Check out my Spicy Orecchiette with Chicken Sausage, Bowties and Broccoli, or Parmesan and Pepper Kale Pasta.
How to Make Spaghetti Carbonara – Step by Step Photos
To make this recipe a little more affordable, I’m using bacon (a small amount) instead of guanciale or pancetta. I only used 3oz., or 1/4 of this 12oz. package. I like to cut my bacon packages into quarters and then freeze the rest. That way I can grab out 1/4 at a time to use as needed.
Cut the bacon into smaller pieces, then brown the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Remove the bacon from the skillet, then turn the heat down to low and add two cloves of minced garlic. Sauté the garlic for about one minute, or just until it loses its raw edge. Then turn the heat off.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the pasta. Stir the pasta, then continue to boil until tender. Reserve 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta in a colander.
While you’re waiting for the pasta to cook, whisk together 3 large eggs, about 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, and a hefty dose of freshly cracked pepper.
Add about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet that was used to cook the bacon. Stir the hot cooking water to dissolve the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Toss the drained (but still steaming hot) pasta in the skillet with the bacon water.
Pour the egg and Parmesan mixture over the hot pasta. Immediately begin stirring or tossing the hot pasta to distribute the egg mixture and prevent it from curdling. Stir until a creamy sauce forms (this happens quickly).
Finally, add the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan, the reserved bacon, and more pepper. Toss the pasta until the Parmesan melts into the sauce.
See that creamy sauce on the bottom? MMmmmm
To finish the pasta, just give it a taste and add salt, pepper, or Parmesan if needed.
Top with a little fresh parsley, if you like a lil’ green with your creamy dreamy pasta.
Fork yeah, carbonara!
This is awesome! I used turkey bacon and cheap parmesan and it was still great!!!! This is cheap, delicious, and it takes little time to make. Thanks so much for all of your great recipes.
We love this recipe! I 2x for my family and the leftovers are eaten for b’fast the next day. I add onion and lots of garlic. So good!
This is a recipe I’ve been missing for too long without knowing it. I also made it similarly to the other GERD sufferer (same) but severely limited the amount of bacon grease allowed in the dish. I also avoid garlic. Is there a good garlic substitution to this recipe that you’ve tried, or have I butchered it?
Hmm, yeah, I think that would be venturing too far from the original concept of the recipe.
I subbed in spiced salami as we had no bacon on hand, and it tasted amazing! I watched the cooking time closely as salami burns in the blink of an eye. Plus, splurging on Pecorino made the difference here. Last time I used Gouda to be frugal and it was much too gooey and added zero flavor. This time it was truly perfect. Thank you again, Beth!
Is the egg raw when poured onto the noodles?
Correct.
This is exactly the recipe I’ve been looking for! I kept trying to get carbonara right, and it never quite made it. This recipe was perfect.
I loved it! I don’t think the egg came out quite right but the combination of pasta, salty bacon, and cheese was a decadent treat. I wouldn’t make this all the time since it is on the heavier side but it hit my craving for creamy pasta just right. Thanks once again for yet another recipe to add to the repertoire Beth :-)
This was wonderful! Thanks so much for the recipe. I did mine up with a spinach/arugala apple salad with prescutto and some mozarella stuffed roma tomatoes on the side.
Thanks for helping me make an impressive date night for the girlfriend! :D
Hooray, homemade carbonara! Thank you so much for this cheap and quick recipe. My husband thanks you too! I just found your blog and you’re everything I’ve ever wanted and I’m going to try alll the recipes! <3
I made this recipe and I thought it was amazing! (along with other recipes I’ve tried from your site, Beth!!) Thanks for sharing. My husband and I ate it all up and took it for lunch the next day as well. It was delicious. I actually shared this recipe in my most recent post on my blog, “Tried and True Pinterest Recipes 2.0”. Link: http://www.meshkomoments.com/tried-true-pinterest-recipes-2-0/ If anyone was interested in checking it out :) Thanks!
Thank you!!
I think it’s a horrible recipe. The water in the pan for the brown bits really add a brownish color to your sauce and is unappealing visually. If you’re cutting down the recipe it’s very hard to get the proportions just right. The pasta has to be HOT…mine probably wasn’t hot enough. You also have to be very careful that you don’t end up with scrambled eggs (I didn’t). I’m not particularly concerned about raw eggs, but you’re expecting the heat of the steaming pasta to cook the eggs and that’s what makes this a very tricky recipe to get right. This gets good reviews, but at the end of the day I prefer the butter and cream style.
#1 – The pasta does not have to be HOT. I cooked mine ahead of time and it was lukewarm.
#2 – In order to not scramble the eggs, keep the heat very low while continually stirring the pasta. Eggs are often overcooked to the point of being dry. Perfectly cooked eggs should still be creamy so they only take about a minute or so to fully cook and should always be done over low heat.
#3 – Them brown bits may not be “pretty” but they add a lot of flavor! To the point where no extra salt is needed (in my opinion) for this dish.
Instead of immediately bashing a recipe which has rave reviews (because Beth is awesome) maybe seek out some tips from Beth or her fans about how you can make this a successful one :-)
Butter and cream is not a true carbonara. I agree creamy pastas can be delicious but they’re not carbonaras.
A true carbonara is just egg, bacon, pasta and cheese.
cooking in pot next time…way to messy for me to toss in skillet lol Wasn’t a fan of putting raw eggs and just tossing. Didn’t say how long to cook…….so I heated it for a while
oh yeah only using lil bacon and use chicken . WAY to salty with bacon. Hot smoke sausage is great too
Goes great with a cold beer help the salty bacon out lol
I made this, only I subbed half and half (left over from making your zuppa toscana last night) for the pasta water,, and chopped up chicken thighs and onions that I cooked with the bacon. Then mixed in spinach when I combined it. Very good. Will make this again.
I tried this one since I am avoiding all tomato sauces now (due to GERD) and used low sodium turkey bacon. It was easy and even better, the kids loved it! I doubled it for my crew. We actually finished the leftovers the next day for lunch, which is a rare event. Thanks for the new recipe, Beth!
For the first time in a long time I messed one of your recipes up and it all came down to the wrong type of parmesan, believe it or not!
Will definitely double check the pictures in future.