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Pasta Chicken

Garlic Pasta Carbonara

Published: Apr 04, 2013 | 53 Comments

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Garlic Pasta Carbonara Recipe with an interesting twist.

Pasta carbonara

Pasta carbonara is one of my favorite dishes to cook on weeknights, because it’s very easy to prepare and usually takes me only 25 minutes. I also like to make pasta carbonara when I am short on ingredients, since it requires such basic ones: bacon (or prosciutto for less fat), eggs, stock, pasta, and Parmesan cheese.

The other night I was looking for an easy pasta carbonara recipe that was a bit different from my usual way of preparing it, and I found an interesting recipe on Pioneer Woman that uses 3 additional ingredients: lots of garlic, onion, and quite a lot of fresh parsley. I happened to have several bunches (!) of fresh parsley (due to my recent obsession with the Chimichurri sauce), so I was especially excited to use up the parsley instead of throwing it away.

Pasta carbonara

This recipe takes a little bit more time to prepare than the 25 minutes I usually spend on pasta carbonara – but still under an hour – due to all the chopping and incorporating of additional ingredients. I also halved the recipe because I do not like to reheat the egg-based pasta sauces the next day – the texture can really suffer. So I just cooked what I needed – half a pound of pasta, which makes perfect 4 servings.

What I really liked about this recipe is that it doesn’t use heavy cream, and with the minor changes I incorporated (reducing the amount of butter and reducing the amount of grease from bacon), the dish comes out not even being that heavy on the fat. However, keep in mind that this pasta carbonara recipe is somewhat heavy on fresh parsley, so, if you don’t like a lot of parsley in a single dish – you might want to limit it to a couple of tablespoons instead of using a bunch as Pioneer Woman recommends. I thought using a lot of parsley added a really nice fresh touch to this version of pasta carbonara.

Pasta carbonara

Pasta carbonara

easy pasta carbonara
Print
Garlic Pasta Carbonara Recipe
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
40 mins
 

Pasta Carbonara with an interesting twist.  In this recipe, we use lots of garlic, onions, and parsley.  Great weeknight dinner recipe! 

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 630 kcal
Ingredients
  • 1/2 pound bacon or pancetta
  • 1 onion
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup white wine or chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 bunch parsley fresh
  • 2 eggs whole
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 pound linguine pasta
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
  1. Slice bacon into thin slices and cook on stove top until cooked. Drain bacon from grease on paper towels and set aside. Reserve some grease for cooking onions in step 2.

  2. Chop onion finely and cook diced onion in a reasonable amount of bacon grease (1 or 2 tablespoons) for 2-3 minutes over medium-high constant stirring to avoid burning.

  3. Slice the garlic and add it to the onions, after the onions have cooked for a couple of minutes. Cook garlic and onion together for 2 more minutes and remove them from the pan, using slotted spoon. Discard the grease.

  4. Place the same pan (where you cooked onion and garlic in bacon grease) back on high heat, pour in the white wine (or stock) to deglaze the pan. Stir, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock. Return bacon, onion and garlic back to the pan. Let simmer covered over low heat, do not let too much liquid (chicken stock) to evaporate.

  5. Chop the parsley. Crack eggs into a large bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley to the eggs. Leave a little Parmesan and parsley out for a garnish. Mix well with a fork.

  6. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water according to pasta instructions, al dente. Drain the pasta and add very hot pasta to the egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Then add bacon, onion, and garlic mixture to the pasta, mix again. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to mix. Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

Recipe Notes

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

Nutrition Facts
Garlic Pasta Carbonara Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 630 Calories from Fat 306
% Daily Value*
Fat 34g52%
Saturated Fat 14g88%
Cholesterol 143mg48%
Sodium 706mg31%
Potassium 388mg11%
Carbohydrates 49g16%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 23g46%
Vitamin A 455IU9%
Vitamin C 3.9mg5%
Calcium 191mg19%
Iron 1.8mg10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Filed Under: Bacon, Cheese, Dinner, Eggs, Parmesan, Pasta, Recipe Published: Apr 04, 2013 53 Comments

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Suzanne

    Jul 11, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    This meal has become a staple in our house. I absolutely love this recipe.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Jul 16, 2018 at 12:29 pm

      Thank you, Suzanne! So glad to hear that. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  2. Ellen

    Nov 07, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    Hi do you use Parm cheese in green can or freshly grated parmesan

    Reply
    • Julia

      Nov 13, 2017 at 8:52 pm

      I usually buy a block of Parmesan cheese and then grate/shred it myself using a grater/shredder.

      Reply
  3. Lillian Schaeffer

    Feb 11, 2016 at 9:39 am

    This looks so yummy! I love how creamy it looks, YUM!

    Reply
  4. Marissa Housley

    Jan 20, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    The eggs curdled up like scrambled eggs when I made this. I’m not sure what went wrong.

    Reply
  5. Diane

    Jan 04, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    OMG! This was THE SINGLE MOST AMAZING MEAL I have ever made! Thank you!

    Reply
  6. Christine

    Mar 03, 2015 at 3:17 pm

    Made this yesterday and even though this doen’t produce a thick and/or creamy sauce (which is what I usually prefer), I was surprised by how tasty it still was! Love the taste of this pasta, maybe will try with shrimp for a healthier alternative. Thank you!

    Reply
  7. Laritza

    Jan 18, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    This may not be the real carbonara according to a few people, but it’s absolutely delicious!!!! I doubled the recipe and added chicken and broccoli to it and it came out delicious!!! Thank you so much for this recipe

    Reply
  8. Maria

    Sep 14, 2014 at 6:34 pm

    oh noooooooooooo!!!
    the real carbonara is different!!!!
    only egg yolk, pecorino romano cheese, pork jowl (alternately called jowl bacon or, especially in the Southern United States, hog jowl), black pepper.
    and no butter but olive oil!!!
    Bye bye from Rome ๐Ÿ˜€

    Reply
    • Julia

      Sep 15, 2014 at 2:52 pm

      Hello Maria! You’re right – this is not your classic carbonara recipe, especially with all the greens in it. Would love to try a real Italian carbonara from Italy someday! ๐Ÿ™‚ Interesting to know that there is no butter used but olive oil!

      Reply
  9. Ethnic Food

    Jun 05, 2014 at 2:09 am

    Pasta carbonara is scrumptious and excellent for health. I feel hungry. thanks for this post

    Reply
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