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Easy pasta carbonara with only 5 main ingredients and it takes 20 minutes to make. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.
Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet.
Since it is the beginning of the week, I have the perfect easy pasta carbonara recipe for you to incorporate into your weekly meal plan.
This is one of my favorite pasta dishes, that I love to make, because it is very straight forward and always works great!
Carbonara is a pasta dish based on bacon, eggs, Parmesan and black pepper.
I almost always use spaghetti for this dish, but any pasta like fettuccine, rigatoni or linguine could be substituted.
You can also use pancetta instead of bacon, if you’d like.
What I like about this pasta is the crunchy bacon, light sauce and I also like it topped with lots of cheese.
I’ve seen recipes using cream for the sauce, but there isn’t a single drop of cream in this recipe.
The eggs and cheese make this spaghetti carbonara perfectly creamy!
Just make sure you work quickly and lowed the heat (even remove the pan from the heat), when adding the sauce to the cooked pasta, so the sauce sticks to the spaghetti and you don’t end up with scrambled eggs.
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20 Minute Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients
- 5 ounces spaghetti
- 4 slices bacon, , cooked and chopped
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 medium eggs
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt. Cook pasta according to the instructions on the package. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain.
- Meanwhile - whisk eggs and combine with Parmesan cheese. Set a side.
- Heat 1 tsp olive oil and add garlic, cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant. Add cooked bacon and pasta. Remove from heat and working quickly, stir in pasta and egg/Parmesan mixture. Add some if the reserved pasta water and stir to combine.
- Season with salt and black pepper. Top with chopped parsley and additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Pasta Dishes:
Fettuccine With Homemade Red Pasta Sauce
Quinoa Pasta With Tomato Mushroom Sauce
Wow! This pasta looks and sounds incredible, Mira! Love that it is so quick and easy. Perfect for a week night dinner option.
Love how delicious and healthy this pasta carbonara looks. And the best parts it is so easy and quick! Nom nom!
Quick and easy pasta dishes are my favorite! Love that this pasta carbonara has no cream, it looks gorgeous and super tasty! The perfect weeknight meal!
Thanks Kelly!!! It is so easy!
One of my favorite pasta dishes is carbonara and yours looks delicious. I love how quickly it comes together.
Thanks Janette!
No cream AND this only takes 20 minutes! This is fantastic! Quick and easy, and relatively guilt-free pasta has my name written all over it! 🙂
Thanks Kathleen!
I had a super busy weekend and I seriously need easy recipes like this because my kitchen is a mess right now! :/ Pasta looks delicious Mira!
First of all, that fork is just the CUTEST! I love carbonara, and I love it even more when it’s ready in 20 minutes! Pinned!
I’ve never made carbonara before, but really love it. This looks super easy and delicious!
i LLOVE pasta! this looks great I love that it only has 5 ingredients! easy and de-lish is the best 😉
Pasta carbonara is one of my favorite dishes, Mira! This looks fantastic! Love how easy this is to make. Pinned!