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Easy Spaghetti Carbonara At Home

Spaghetti carbonara is a creamy pasta dish made with bacon, eggs, garlic, cheese and pasta water. While minimal ingredients are used, the flavor is outstanding, and a comforting dish worth repeating. We’ll walk you through exactly how to make a classic dish!

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Easy Spaghetti Carbonara At Home

You don’t have to go out to an Italian restaurant to enjoy delicious carbonara! Once you learn how truly simple it is to make and taste the deliciousness, it’ll become a staple recipe.

The light pasta sauce is made by combining eggs and cheese together and using the heat from the hot pasta and pasta water to warm the eggs into a buttery sauce.

Our Humane Harvest eggs come from hens raised in free-roaming environments and fed a pure vegetarian diet consisting of premium grains, seeds & meal.

Bacon or Pancetta?

Our recipe calls for thick-cut bacon, which is easily found at a regular grocery store. Traditionally pancetta is used to make carbonara.

What is the difference between the two?

Both are pork products and they are very similar, but the key difference is that bacon is smoked, whereas pancetta is cured with salt. They give a similar taste in this dish, but since pancetta is not smoked, it has a bit of a deeper and richer flavor compared to bacon.

While we call for bacon below, feel free to use pancetta in its place or experiment and see which you prefer more!

What you need for spaghetti carbonara

  • 1 lb spaghetti pasta

  • 6 thick cut bacon slices, diced

  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced

  • 4 Humane Harvest Eggs

  • ¾ cup fresh parmesan cheese, shredded

  • ¼ tsp black pepper

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How to make carbonara at home

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until “al dente”. Before draining the noodles, set aside 1 cup of the hot pasta water to use as part of the sauce.

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  2. While the noodles are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crispy. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat.

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  3. In a bowl mix the eggs, cheese, and pepper together.

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  4. Add the hot drained pasta into the pan with the bacon, along with ⅓ cup of the hot pasta water. Toss to combine and immediately pour the egg/cheese mixture over the noodles and toss the noodles continuously. The heat from the noodles warms the eggs and cheese to create a creamy sauce. Add more pasta water if needed, up to the 1 cup set aside.

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  5. Serve with extra parmesan cheese and fresh parsley and enjoy!

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How to store

Store leftover carbonara in an airtight container once fully cooled to room temperature. You can reheat the pasta in a warm pot or in the microwave. You’ll want to add some additional liquid (water or cream) when rewarming as the sauce will soak into the noodles.

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If you try this we’d love to see it and hear what you think! Tag us @chinovalleyranchers on Instagram and we’ll re-share it!

Also read: Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Dairy-Free Coffee Crème Anglaise