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This Spaghetti Carbonara Is The Weeknight Comfort Food You Need

BySally Kuzemchak, MS, RDN Published: Updated on
22 Comments
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Inside: Looking for a quick and kid-approved dinner? This Bacon and Eggs Spaghetti (Spaghetti Carbonara) is a 30-minute weeknight meal your family will love. Creamy, savory, and made with simple ingredients. Comfort food at its best.

A bowl of Spaghetti Carbonara sits on a wood table next to a green salad.

Recipe At A Glance

  • Ingredients: Eggs, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, bacon, garlic, spaghetti, parsley, salt
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Makes: 4 servings

There are likely dinners that you love, dinners your partner loves, and dinners that each of your kids love. Then there are the rare, magical, sweet spot dinners that everyone at the table devours. This Spaghetti Carbonara is one of those meals for us.

This isn’t a “lightened-up” or “healthier” version. It’s the real deal: creamy, savory pasta with crispy bacon, eggs, and Parmesan cheese. If calling it “Bacon and Eggs Spaghetti” might entice your kids, go for it.

I serve it with crisp green salads on the side. And without fail, everyone cleans their plate.

Ingredients for Spaghetti Carbonara are laid out on a table: A package of bacon, a box of spaghetti, two eggs, a garlic bulb, and a canister of Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients for Spaghetti Carbonara

  • Eggs
  • Parmesan cheese: Grated works best here.
  • Olive oil
  • Bacon: You’ll need four slices. Feel free to use work if you want it super-bacony.
  • Garlic
  • Spaghetti: Use regular, whole wheat, gluten free, whatever you like.
  • Parsley: Fresh looks and tastes better, but feel free to use dried if that’s what you have.
  • Salt
The collage of the steps of making Spaghetti Carbonara: Cooking the bacon, adding the cooked spaghetti, and adding the eggs and cheese.

How to Make Spaghetti Carbonara

Here are three important things to keep in mind:

  1. Spaghetti Carbonara is all about timing: You’ll want to toss the drained pasta into the hot bacon, then add the cheese and egg mixture while tossing.
  2. You must save pasta water: I like to drain the pasta right into a glass Pyrex measuring cup. The pasta water is key for creating a creamier texture.
  3. This is best served immediately: The longer it sits, the more the sauce will absorb into the noodles and the drier it will become. You can always toss it with more pasta water to give it a refresh, but plan to serve this straight off the stove.
An overhead shot of bowl of Spaghetti Carbonara on a table.

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Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Need a fast, family-friendly dinner? Bacon and Eggs Spaghetti (aka Spaghetti Carbonara) is a rich, creamy pasta dish made with crispy bacon, eggs, Parmesan cheese—no cream needed! Perfect for busy weeknights and guaranteed to be a kid-pleaser.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnishing
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 4 slices bacon, chopped into 1-inch pieces
  • 12 ounces spaghetti (three-quarters of a 1-pound box)
  • 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
  • Handful of chopped fresh parsley (or dried)
  • 1-2 pinches salt

Instructions

  1. Mix Parmesan cheese and eggs together in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Set a large pot of water to boil.
  3. While you're waiting for the water to come to a boil, heat olive oil in a deep skillet or a Dutch oven and add bacon, stirring frequently.
  4. While bacon is cooking, add spaghetti to boiling water.
  5. Fry bacon pieces until crisp. Add garlic and cook together for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Turn heat to low.
  6. Drain the spaghetti, reserving 1 cup of pasta water, and immediately pour drained noodles into the pan with the bacon, tossing well to coat.
  7. Remove pan from heat. Add the cheese/egg mixture slowly to the spaghetti while tossing. The hot pasta will cook the eggs (but don't let them scramble!).
  8. Stir in some of the pasta water, a small amount of time, until you get a creamy texture.
  9. Add parsley and salt and toss again to coat.
  10. Serve immediately, garnished with additional Parmesan and parsley if desired.

Notes

*This recipe has been updated. In case you were a fan of the previous version, it called for 8 ounces of bacon and 10 ounces of spaghetti noodles (about two-thirds of a 1-pound box). Otherwise, the ingredients and measurements are the same.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 portion
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 351Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 126mgSodium: 759mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 19g
© Real Mom Nutrition
Cuisine: Italian / Category: Dinner

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22 Comments

  2. I’ve read dozens of carbonara recipes, because I’ve always heard it was good but I could never bring myself to believe the hype enough to give it a go until now. For some reason this one finally spoke to me and I’m totally going to try it tonight. Sally, you have a magical gift for writing accessible, encouraging, enticing food stories. I would be always stuck in a major rut if I didn’t have your experience to tow me out!!

    Reply

    1. Thank you Cheryll! I am so glad you are finally going to make it–it’s soooo good! Just keep an eye on the timing–the pasta needs to go from being drained right into the bacon then mixed with the eggs (because the hot noodles cook the eggs). Thank you so much for your kind words, they mean so much to me. 🙂

      Reply

  3. Silly question (maybe)….what do the eggs look like in the finished product or do you even see them/are they just creaminess?? I have this bad feeling that when mine hit the pan they will scramble…

    Reply

    1. Liz–it mostly ends up being creamy, but there is still some texture to it. You shouldn’t see big clumps of scrambled egg, but if you add the egg/cheese mixture slowly and toss the hot pasta quickly with it (off of the heat) that shouldn’t be a problem.

      Reply

  4. Thank you for helping me figure out what’s for dinner tonight!! These are all ingredients that I almost always have on hand, so it’s perfect. And really, who doesn’t love bacon and pasta?!

    Reply
  6. Pingback: Tips for Feeding an Underweight Child

    1. I also need to feed an underweight child who has what seems to be taste/ and or sensory issues with food. However we may be dealing with some GI issues with him,. There are 2 older relatives who are on the autism spectrum but will not get diagnosed nor will discuss it in any way with our family. And so we are a tad more stuck because we cannot get more medical history from any of them. Just a few bits and bobs from some family chatter about irritabel bowel and other intestininal , kidney issues etc. Anyway the child in question will not eat a standard meal. He will only eat the broth in the soup and not the meats veg or starch, will eat only a small fried potatoe but not the egg or rasher, bacon. Only will eat the tippity tops of broccoli (at least broccoli is getting in there yay!) or generally only half the plate or half the calories for a day. We have brough him to an MD, several in fact done lots of case history, blood tests, other testing, but not much to help us in this quest came out of it. Even been trying many many new dishes making salads and mains as pretty and appealing. Its very very difficult.

      Reply

      1. Hi Darla–

        Thank you for sharing that with me, and I understand why that is difficult. Selective eating and GI issues are both very common among kids with autism. Here’s a podcast that might be helpful, hosted by a fellow dietitian: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tnc-105-selective-eating-and-autism/id1149940384?i=1000468179733

        And here’s another article that might help: https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/Exploring%20Feeding%20Behavior.pdf

        All the best to you!

        Reply
  7. Pingback: Dietitian Mom Interview W/ Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD | Create Kids Club

  8. Thank you for this! I have been trying to find the perfect carbonara recipe that reminded me of the one I had as a kid, but slightly healthier.
    I made some personal tweaks, but this one is great!

    Reply

  9. Sally, this recipe sounds so yummy and I’d love to make it but it sounds like the egg isn’t fully cooked and I don’t feel comfortable giving it to my 4 year old. I have never seen pasteurized eggs at the store before. Do you have any advice? Thanks so much!!

    Reply

  10. Hi Sally,
    I am finding it really hard with my 3 year old. He hasent eaten a proper meal in months. He won’t try anything and then I panic as he is not eating and will give him cereal or toast just so he has something. He eats a lot of sweet snacks but won’t have anything else. Not sure what I can do??

    Reply

  11. This recipe is on constant rotation at our house–we have it at least 2x a month! My family prefers flatter pasta, like linguine or fettucine, so that’s what I use. I also throw in some mixed greens (Aldi has a fabulous baby mix of spinach, kale, and chard) after adding the garlic, just for added nutrition. My family loves this recipe, and so do any guests we serve this to. It’s a winner!

    Reply