A super easy Italian carbonara pasta without cream – ready in 20 mins! Make this ultra creamy dish with simple ingredients – just pasta, egg, pancetta (or bacon!) and pecorino romano cheese.
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
This is a creamy and satisfying yet super EASY carbonara pasta, made the Italian way with eggs instead of cream.
It’s such a quick and filling meal to make using staple pantry items, a great one to add to your easy dinners collection.
Packed with flavour yet light and fresh, it’s perfect for weeknight meals or entertaining alike.
Related: Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta / Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake
Okay – what’s best for Carbonara? Guanciale vs Pancetta vs Bacon
When making a traditional and authentic version of carbonara there is always the debate of what cut to use when it comes to the pork. So let’s run through your options:
Guanciale – The king of the cuts. Coming from pork jowl, if it’s in a slab, you’ll notice it’s usually got fat top and bottom and a line of meat running through the middle. Guanciale will render you the most fat / oil when cooking, which will then cling to your pasta when tossed through, giving you the most flavour. It’s also the most expensive, and can be hard to source outside of Italy. If you can find it, get it.
Pancetta – Second best cut, made from pork belly, it’s often much easier to source. You’ll usually find it in thin slices at the supermarket. There’s usually a little more meat to fat ratio than guanciale. If you can find this in a slab (this is what we usually use), your eyes will roll back at that first bite of pasta, guaranteed!
Bacon – This is the cheapest option, and most widely available. If you can, try and buy the fattiest whole bacon rashers rather than the meatier middle bacon.
The most important take away when it comes to making your carbonara pork selection?
More fat = more oil = more flavour.
What is Carbonara?
Carbonara from the Parma/Bologna region of Italy is very different to how it’s made in other parts of the world. The sauce uses eggs instead of cream, and there’s usually no onions, garlic, or mushrooms either. Yet the result is a creamy and tasty pasta sauce that will have you licking your plate clean and looking for seconds.
Some regional variations of the recipe use egg yolks only, while others use a ratio of whole eggs + an egg yolk per person. Alberto’s nonno’s recipe uses whole eggs to keep it simple, while the egg whites also help give the sauce it’s smooth and creamy texture.
Where We Learned This
This recipe comes to you all the way from the source in Parma, Italy. Alberto launched into recreating his nonno’s incredible no cream carbonara pasta when we stayed with him on our journey through this beautiful country.
Out came the spaghetti, guanciale, eggs and cheese. A sprinkling of black pepper, a flick around the frying pan, and dinner was on the table before you could say molto bene.
What You’ll Need
- Pasta – For the most traditional carbonara serve it with spaghetti no. 5 or use our favourite fettuccine / tagliatelle. But don’t worry, it will go well with any kind of pasta you have on hand. We also love it with tube pasta like penne or rigatoni.
- Eggs – We use whole eggs in our recipe. You can use egg yolks only for a richer flavour if you prefer, however you’ll need to double the amount.
- Cheese – Go with finely grated parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino-romano cheese if possible, otherwise substitute with regular parmesan.
- Guanciale / Pancetta / Bacon – Carbonara is usually made with locally produced small goods such as guanciale if you can source it, pancetta or bacon. Whatever you use, choose the fattiest cut and buy it in a slab, then cook until nice and crispy to render out the fat for the best flavour to coat your pasta.
How to make Carbonara without Cream
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to boil and cook your pasta following the packet directions. Stop cooking a couple of minutes before the suggested time, so it’s cooked al dente. Note: The pasta will keep on cooking in the next few steps. Reserve half a cup of pasta water for later and drain the rest of the water and return the pasta to the saucepan off the heat.
- Fry up the guanciale / pancetta / bacon pieces in a large frying pan over medium heat. No added oil required! Cook for a few minutes until the pieces start to crisp up around the edges, and most of the fat has rendered out.
- Pour the guanciale / pancetta / bacon pieces along with the oil straight over the cooked pasta and toss to coat.
- Next, crack the eggs in a small bowl and add the grated pecorino romano cheese. Whisk until evenly blended, then pour over the pasta and toss again really well.
- Finally, optional add in 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water for an extra creamy finish. Once again mix well to make sure the pasta is evenly coated, then serve immediately while hot in pre-warmed bowls. Optional – garnish with black pepper and extra pecorino romano.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Olive Oil – If you’re using a non-fatty pork section such as middle bacon pieces, add a tablespoon of olive oil when adding the bacon into the pasta.
- Salt – We don’t recommend garnishing this dish with extra salt, as there’s quite a lot from the cured guanciale / pancetta / bacon.
- Test the Heat – If you’re unsure about when to add the egg mixture into the pan, you can test it by adding a splash of pasta water. When you hear no more sizzling sounds, you’re ready to add the egg mixture.
- Tiny Clumps in the Sauce? This may just be the cheese starting to melt when you first add the egg mixture to the pasta. Keep tossing the sauce through the pasta. As long as you’ve turned off the heat, you should end up with glossy carbonara sauce without scrambling the eggs.
- Storage – Best eaten immediately, but will last for 2-3 days in the fridge kept in an airtight container. We don’t recommend freezing this recipe. To reheat, do it in bursts of 30 seconds in the microwaving, thoroughly stirring each time. This will reduce the chance of heating up a big clump of scrambled carbonara!
FAQs
Pecorino-romano, parmigiano-reggiano or parmesan are the best varieties for this dish, because they’ll melt into the creamy sauce without becoming stringy. It’s best to avoid mozzarella or pizza cheese blends for this reason.
Make sure the cheese is finely grated – this will help it blend in with the eggs rather than becoming clumpy.
Taking it off the heat is essential so the sauce mixes through the pasta and gently cooks through without scrambling.
Try stirring through a little extra pasta water to thin it out. You always take out double what you need for a recipe just in case. So while we reserve 1/2 a cup, only 1/4 is popped through the sauce, so you’ll have a little wiggle room to add more if it’s not to your liking.
A recipe is only as good as it’s ingredients! Since there are so few ingredients in this one, it’s even more important. Sourcing a really good slab of guanciale or pancetta will give you the best depth of flavour.
Variations
- Herbs – Try finely chopping or blitzing fresh parsley in with the egg mixture before cooking as normal.
- Make It Your Own – Add your choice of extra ingredients like sundried tomatoes, onion, garlic, mushrooms or spinach and fry along with the guanciale / pancetta / bacon.
- Protein – Try it with chicken instead of pork. If you do, you’ll need to season with salt and add a little extra olive oil.
- For Something Different – Cook as normal then serve with a few slices of avocado and toasted pine nuts.
- Add Heat – Sprinkle with chilli flakes, cayenne pepper or shichimi togarashi.
- Add Umami – Add a sprinkling of dashi stock powder into the egg mixture.
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★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 300 g spaghetti 10.58 oz, sub fettucine / tagliatelle
- 200 g pancetta 7 oz, sub guanciale or bacon
- 3 eggs
- 50 g pecorino romano cheese 1.76 oz / 1/2 cup, sub with parmigiano-reggiano or parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup pasta water reserved from cooking pasta
Instructions
- Bring a large saucepan of water to boil and cook your pasta following the packet directions. Stop cooking a couple of minutes before the suggested time, so it's cooked al dente. Note: The pasta will keep on cooking in the next few steps. Reserve half a cup of pasta water for later and drain the rest of the water and return the pasta to the saucepan off the heat.300 g spaghetti, 1/2 cup pasta water
- Fry up the guanciale / pancetta / bacon pieces in a large frying pan over medium heat. No added oil required! Cook for a few minutes until the pieces start to crisp up around the edges, and most of the fat has rendered out.200 g pancetta
- Pour the guanciale / pancetta / bacon pieces along with the oil straight over the cooked pasta and toss to coat.200 g pancetta
- Next, crack the eggs in a small bowl and add the grated pecorino romano cheese. Whisk until evenly blended, then pour over the pasta and toss again really well.3 eggs, 50 g pecorino romano cheese
- Finally, optional add in ONLY 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water for an extra creamy finish. Once again mix well to make sure the pasta is evenly coated, then serve immediately while hot in pre-warmed bowls. Optional – garnish with black pepper and extra pecorino romano.1/2 cup pasta water
Video
Recipe Notes
- Olive Oil – If you’re using a non-fatty pork section such as middle bacon pieces, add a tablespoon of olive oil when adding the bacon into the pasta.
- Salt – We don’t recommend garnishing this dish with extra salt, as there’s quite a lot from the cured guanciale / pancetta / bacon.
- Test the Heat – If you’re unsure about when to add the egg mixture into the pan, you can test it by adding a splash of pasta water. When you hear no more sizzling sounds, you’re ready to add the egg mixture.
- Tiny Clumps in the Sauce? This may just be the cheese starting to melt when you first add the egg mixture to the pasta. Keep tossing the sauce through the pasta. As long as you’ve turned off the heat, you should end up with glossy carbonara sauce without scrambling the eggs.
- Storage – Best eaten immediately, but will last for 2-3 days in the fridge kept in an airtight container. We don’t recommend freezing this recipe. To reheat, do it in bursts of 30 seconds in the microwaving, thoroughly stirring each time. This will reduce the chance of heating up a big clump of scrambled carbonara!
- Herbs – Try finely chopping or blitzing fresh parsley in with the egg mixture before cooking as normal.
- Make It Your Own – Add your choice of extra ingredients like sundried tomatoes, onion, garlic, mushrooms or spinach and fry along with the guanciale / pancetta / bacon.
- Protein – Try it with chicken instead of pork. If you do, you’ll need to season with salt and add a little extra olive oil.
- For Something Different – Cook as normal then serve with a few slices of avocado and toasted pine nuts.
- Add Heat – Sprinkle with chilli flakes, cayenne pepper or shichimi togarashi.
- Add Umami – Add a sprinkling of dashi stock powder into the egg mixture.
Nutrition
26 Comments
Mark Hoffman
19/04/2023 at 3:38 pmI added about 1/2 cup of homogenised milk to the egg and cheese and it worked OK – but still need to watch heat as the mixture will go doughy otherwise. My family didn’t notice the difference from the usual cream recipe.
Wandercooks
20/04/2023 at 3:19 pmIf your stove runs hot, you can almost just turn the heat off and stir it through. See how that goes next round. Glad the family enjoyed it!
Kathleen Connellan
13/07/2021 at 8:52 pmHeart warming! Just what we needed in front of the fire on a Tuesday night. We added crispy fried garlic for a bit of crunch. 💕
Wandercooks
16/07/2021 at 3:19 pmSounds amazing Kathleen – thanks so much for trying our recipe! 😀
Melanie
16/10/2020 at 5:52 amThanks for sharing! I feel like every family has its own variant of certain things, and Carbonara might well be one of them. My paternal grandmother, whose dad’s family is from Ticino, Switzerland, taught me to make this. She taught me lots of things like that, but always the poor person’s variant (i.e. saltimbocca alla romana made with sage, bacon, and pork loin or tenderloin, not veal, so it’s actually stecchini alla ticinese)…
Anyway, her Carbonara also includes plenty of parsley, so I was surprised not to see any in your recipe. It and the eggs (one per 100gr of pasta) go into the food processor, and the mixture gets poured over the drained pasta back in the hot pot (though the burner’s off). Then it gets tossed until the eggs are beautifully creamy, and the drained bacon gets crumbled on top. Usually the bacon is so salty, that no extra is needed, and then we add a bit of pepper to taste. Nonna’s family never added parmesan because they couldn’t afford it, but I’ve never missed it…
Greetings from Western Canada!
Wandercooks
16/10/2020 at 5:49 pmHey Melanie! G’day from Aus! 😀
Yes, you’re totally right. I feel like the variations are even wider when it comes to popular dishes like this as well. How cool though, we’ve never heard of using lots of parsley in carbonara – we’ll have to try that variation next ;). This version is from Parma, Italy (the home of Parmesan cheese!), so it leans quite heavily on the parmesan to bring in that bitey cheese note. The Aussie version that we grew up with is COMPLETELY different again – lots of cream in the sauce and usually tasty cheese on top – sometimes no egg in it at all haha. Crazy hey?
Thanks so much for sharing your stories, this was a great read!
Cindy
25/04/2020 at 3:09 pmI scrambled it 🙁 that will teach me for trying to multi-task! was still yum tho, will definitely try it again
Wandercooks
27/04/2020 at 10:23 amOh so close! It is lucky it still tastes good when it does that – we’ve done it before too!
What a pity you have to cook and eat it again hehehe 😉 Thanks for letting us know how you went.
As a quick tip, I turn it off just before I think it’s ready as it will still cook a little more from the existing heat anyway. Good luck on the next round!
Wandercooks
28/04/2020 at 10:17 amThanks Scott – this is a great tip. We might have to give this a go next time too!
Jackie Kiely
12/11/2019 at 6:55 pmI always use 4 eggs 2 whole eggs and two egg yokes, I was taught by some Italian students that stayed with me. Delicious
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:07 pmGreat variation Jackie! This is a Parma version we learnt, I bet using whole egg yolks would give you quite a rich, golden sauce. 🙂
Ronelle Tyson
13/09/2019 at 7:55 pmIs it possible to just use egg yolks instead of whole eggs?
I thought it might take the risk of scrambling the eggs away slightly
Wandercooks
18/09/2019 at 9:42 amHey, hey! Great question. Using only egg yolks might make the sauce quite thick. The best way to avoid scrambling is keeping the heat low, stir quick and serve immediately. 🙂
Tonya Richardson
26/05/2016 at 2:33 amI’ve always used eggs instead of cream! It was the way my mom taught me so I didn’t know it wasn’t normal until a couple years ago! This looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Wandercooks
26/05/2016 at 4:06 pmWe wish we’d found out about it sooner, this version is super tasty and so much lighter than the cream version too. Win win!
Mike
15/07/2021 at 8:15 amDon’t worry, it *is* normal! There’s no such thing as carbonara with cream. If it has cream in it, it’s by definition not carbonara, it’s cream sauce! Your mom taught you right!
Mandee Pogue
25/05/2016 at 2:41 amI love a good carbonara, and you make it sounds so easy and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Wandercooks
25/05/2016 at 9:45 amThanks Mandee, this is such a handy recipe to have in your repertoire – super easy, totally delicious, win win!
Molly Kumar
25/05/2016 at 2:39 amSuch a gorgeous looking Pasta Dish and so simple to make too. Bookmarking to make later.
Wandercooks
25/05/2016 at 9:44 amThere’s nothing more satisfying in life than a massive bowl of pasta… unless it’s a glass of wine to wash it down with!
Sharee @ Savory Spicerack
24/05/2016 at 11:42 pmWow you made a beautiful carbonara with no cream! Pinning for later!
Wandercooks
25/05/2016 at 9:43 amHope you enjoy Sharee!
Tara
24/05/2016 at 9:51 pmYou had me at creamy, glossy sauce. This looks incredible and I love that it is perfect for a weeknight meal!
Wandercooks
25/05/2016 at 9:42 amThanks Tara! Who would have thought a no-cream sauce could be so creamy?? 😀
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy
24/05/2016 at 9:11 pmNothing beats a great pasta dish, and this sounds awesome. Perfect for any night of the week.
Wandercooks
25/05/2016 at 9:41 amThanks Gloria, it’s definitely got our vote for mid-week pasta awesomeness 😀