This Whole Wheat Spaghetti Carbonara is a fast weeknight meal that uses just a few simple ingredients and will please everyone around your dinner table.
There are some dinners that I really like (fish tacos), some my husband really likes (pork chops), some my older son really likes (pot roast), and some my younger son really likes (tomato alphabet soup). There are dinners half of the family digs and a few that three-quarters of us enjoy.
If you were to map out all of these meals into a Favorite Dinners Venn Diagram, there would be one meal at the magical intersection point of all four of us: Spaghetti Carbonara.
This isn’t a lighter version or a healthier makeover. This is pasta, bacon, eggs, and cheese. It’s hearty and filling. And it’s sure to please.
I serve it with crisp green salads.
And everyone cleans their plate!
Whole Wheat Spaghetti Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese plus more for garnishing
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 8 ounces bacon chopped into 1-inch pieces (I like Applegate Uncured Sunday Bacon)
- 10 ounces whole wheat spaghetti about two-thirds of a 1-pound box
- 3 garlic cloves pressed or minced
- Handful of chopped fresh parsley plus more for garnishing
- 1-2 pinches kosher salt
Instructions
- Mix Parmesan cheese and eggs together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Set a large pot of water to boil.
- 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.
- While bacon is cooking, add spaghetti to boiling water.
- Fry bacon pieces until crisp. Add garlic and cook together for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Turn heat to low.
- Drain the spaghetti, reserving some pasta water, and immediately pour drained noodles into the pan with the bacon, tossing well to coat.
- 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!).
- Stir in some of the pasta water, a small amount of time, for extra creaminess.
- Add parsley and salt and toss again to coat.
- Serve immediately, garnished with additional Parmesan and parsley if desired.
Nutrition
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Is this the same recipe as what’s in your cookbook? It was great! we’ll have to revisit it again soon.
Hi Elana–no, that was a lighter Cooking Light version. 🙂 This is more of the classic version.
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!!
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. 🙂
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…
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.
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?!
Eileen–Hope you enjoy it!
Yum!! This looks so delicious and simple! I love a good quick and easy weekday meal!
Thanks Chelsea! Hope you give it a try.
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!
Joanna–glad you liked it!
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!!
Hi Jen–I understand. If you’re not comfortable using regular eggs, you could look for brands like Davidson’s Safe Choice eggs. If you can’t find those, it looks like you can mimic the pasteurization process at home though I’ve never tried it: https://bakingbites.com/2011/03/how-to-pasteurize-eggs-at-home/