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A creamy, delicious and flavorful pasta dish filled with cream cheese, parmesan, garlic and bacon. For only having a few ingredients, this Pasta Carbonara has big flavor!
I love white sauce pastas, especially when they only require a few ingredients! This carbonara is a little more cheesy than our alfredo, and filled with bacon, similar to our chicken bacon ranch pasta!
Simple Pasta recipe
You can never go wrong with pasta!
Am I right?? Pasta recipes are always well received with my family. And in fact, pasta is one of a few dishes that my entire family will eat without any complaints.
Because of that, we are always on the look out for delicious pasta dishes. I had always wanted to try Spaghetti Pasta Carbonara knowing that cheese and bacon were involved, and the whole family loved it!
But, what is carbonara?
Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with egg, hard cheese, guanciale, and pepper. The recipe is not fixed to a specific type of hard cheese or pasta. The cheese is usually Pecorino Romano. – Wikipedia
Sounds delicious right?! You guys know I’m all about simple, yummy dinner ideas and this Spaghetti Carbonara is one of those. Our version doesn’t call for eggs – but instead uses cream cheese making it extra creamy!
I haven’t decided whether I like it better than our regular Spaghetti, but I’m thinking it’s pretty close.
How to Make Carbonara
PASTA. This recipe really is quite simple. Begin by cooking the spaghetti as directed on the box. Drain and set aside reserving ½ cup of cooking water.
SAUCE. Make the carbonara sauce by mixing together the cream cheese, milk and Italian seasoning in a bowl.Add garlic to a large skillet, then add bacon, pepper and cream cheese mixture. Cook for a few minutes or until heated through. Add ½ cup reserved Spaghetti water and mix well.
COMBINE. Combine spaghetti with the cream cheese mixture. Add most of Parmesan cheese and mix.
Top with reserve Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. Serve warm and ENJOY!
Additional tips and questions
What type of pasta can be used for pasta carbonara? Spaghetti is the usual pasta. You can also use fettuccine, rigatoni, linguine, or bucatini
What add ins can I use in pasta carbonara? To change up this delicious dish try adding grilled chicken, broccoli or cauliflower florets sliced cherry tomatoes, peas or sliced mushrooms
Reheating. The best way to reheat this pasta dish in on the stove top. Over medium heat, toss the pasta in a skillet for about 5 minutes. If your dish is looking a bit dried out add 1 tsp of olive oil.
For more pasta recipes, check out:
- Easy Fettuccine
- Classic Spaghetti
- Creamy Penne Pasta
- Chicken Tetrazzini
- Garlic Butter Pasta
- Italian Sausage
Pasta Carbonara Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ pound spaghetti uncooked
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 4 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese divided
- fresh parsley chopped
- pepper
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti as directed on box. Drain and set aside reserving ½ cup of cooking water.
- In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, milk, and Italian seasoning.
- Add garlic to a large skillet, then add bacon, pepper, and cream cheese mixture. Cook for a few minutes or until heated through. Add ½ cup reserved Spaghetti water and mix well.
- Combine spaghetti to cream cheese mixture. Add most of Parmesan cheese and mix.
- Top with reserved Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. Serve warm and ENJOY!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious, quick and easy to prepare. Multiple ways to vary the recipe. We added red pepper flakes, Italian sausage ( in place of bacon), mushrooms. Can’t go wrong this recipe.
Not bad….but this is definitely NOT Carbonara.
Hey, here Is a common italian guy writing you.
Every decent italiano people know the right recipe.
I give you some useful correction:
PLEASE: no parsley, no seasoning, absolutely NO CREAM!!!!!, or milk or CREAM of cheese!
Instead of Parnesan you would Need Pecorino (Is made with sheep milk)
Creamy egg and cheese has ti be done in a Bowl: RAW eggs, Parmigiano, some pepper
And boiled water you save After spaghetti are cooked. (Cook them 2 minutes less because they Will be soaked into the hot sauce you prepared)
You fry guanciale with no oil, (It Is Better to slice guanciale in 1/2 inch. Cubes, boil them first in water for 20 seconds before frying them)
But in case of EMERGENCY you could use Real PARMIGIANO (not Parmesan that Is the awful imitation)
In addition but Most important is absolutely NO BACON!
you Need “Guanciale” Is a almost Total fat parte of pig’s cheek. That’s not salted but often has a crumby black pepper surface.
You guarnish with some rugged Parmigiano, maybe pepper of you like It strong.
Eat immediately.
Italian food Is some serious stuff!!
🙂
Look so good I think I will have for
Dinner
This was really dry for us. The flavours were nice, but it was not saucy at all.
Pasta Carbonara isn’t not suppose to be saucy or creamy, but if you want it to be that way you can add a little more milk or sub with half and half or whipping cream.
This was quick, easy & deliciOus! The sauce was tasty and i see how You could vary the add-ins to “mix it up”. I used leftover ham from easter instead of bacon and tossed in some peas at the end. Doubled the recipe for my family of 5 and only have a little leftover for someone’s lunch tomorrow. Thanks for posTing, i’ll definitely be making this again!