• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Julia's Album
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Cozy Meals
  • Chicken
  • Pasta
  • Side Dishes
  • Seafood
  • Recipe Index
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Cozy Meals
    • Chicken
    • Pasta
    • Side Dishes
    • Seafood
    • Recipe Index
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Garlic Pasta Carbonara

    Published: Apr 04, 2013 / 55 Comments

    133.5K shares
    • Facebook417
    Recipe Print

    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
    5 from 6 votes

    Garlic Pasta Carbonara Recipe

    Pasta Carbonara with an interesting twist.  In this recipe, we use lots of garlic, onions, and parsley.  Great weeknight dinner recipe! 
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 40 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Italian
    Servings 4 people
    Calories per serving 630 kcal

    Ingredients

    • ½ pound bacon or pancetta
    • 1 onion
    • 5 cloves garlic
    • ½ cup white wine or chicken or vegetable stock
    • ½ cup chicken stock
    • ½ bunch parsley fresh
    • 2 eggs whole
    • ½ cup Parmesan cheese
    • ½ pound linguine pasta
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 1 teaspoon black pepper

    Instructions 

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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 ½ 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.

    Notes

    Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Information
    Garlic Pasta Carbonara Recipe
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    630
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    34
    g
    52
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    14
    g
    88
    %
    Cholesterol
     
    143
    mg
    48
    %
    Sodium
     
    706
    mg
    31
    %
    Potassium
     
    388
    mg
    11
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    49
    g
    16
    %
    Fiber
     
    2
    g
    8
    %
    Sugar
     
    3
    g
    3
    %
    Protein
     
    23
    g
    46
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    455
    IU
    9
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    3.9
    mg
    5
    %
    Calcium
     
    191
    mg
    19
    %
    Iron
     
    1.8
    mg
    10
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

    Tried this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment and provide a Star Rating below - I love your feedback and try to respond to every comment!
    « Berry clafoutis recipe
    Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies »
    133.5K shares
    • Facebook417

    Please share your comment and Star Rating in the comments section below.

    I appreciate your feedback!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Trish

      May 15, 2014 at 3:27 pm

      No the eggs cook in the hot pasta. Italians have been cooking it this way for generations. I have it the Italian way with just eggs and lardons, European way with cream, but much prefer this version pure comfort food.

      Reply
    2. Stacy Cockerham

      April 15, 2014 at 10:49 am

      Is it dangerous to eat the uncooked eggs like that as a sauce? I want to make this but am a little nervous about the eggs.

      Reply
    3. Meg

      March 17, 2014 at 5:50 pm

      Simple but elegant I love this dish! I'm a teenager and just started cooking so I was adamant to make this dish, but it was easier then I thought and totally DELISH thanks Julia 🙂

      Reply
      • Julia

        March 19, 2014 at 3:19 pm

        Meg, thank you for your comment! I love the simplicity of this dish, too - it's got the perfect number of ingredients: not too few and not too many. 🙂 And the cooking process is very easy and straightforward. So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

        Reply
    4. duffgirl

      March 12, 2014 at 7:47 pm

      This was delicious. Very easy to prepare. I made it with bacon, and I think next time I will try the pancetta, I found the bacon to be a little overpowering for my taste. Thank you for sharing, this is PINNED.

      Reply
      • Julia

        March 19, 2014 at 3:25 pm

        Thank you for your comment - so happy you liked this dish! 🙂 I actually myself prefer to use pancetta or prosciutto for pasta carbonara, too. 🙂

        Reply
    5. Megan

      January 17, 2014 at 8:15 pm

      Just made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic. I didn't have parsley or Parmesan cheese on hand so I subbed with Italian seasonings and oregano, and mozerella cheese and it was delicious! Thanks for sharing

      Reply
      • Julia

        January 20, 2014 at 2:48 pm

        Megan, very glad you liked it! 🙂 I bet it would be so good with mozzarella cheese!

        Reply
    6. Leslie

      September 30, 2013 at 1:02 am

      Love the pictures!

      Reply
      • Julia

        October 03, 2013 at 2:48 am

        Thank you 🙂

        Reply
    7. foodienewz

      June 22, 2013 at 8:32 am

      Your food photos are amazing. You can share your mouth watering photos with us at foodienewz.com. foodienewz.com is a new food sharing site and we actually try our best to promote your food photos. At foodienewz.com all your food photos will be published without any editorial review so I really hope you come and join us.

      Reply
    8. Jessica

      June 03, 2013 at 10:36 am

      Nice recipe! I love carbonara here's another Fettuccine Carbonara Recipe you might like to try.
      Thanks for sharing 🙂

      Jess

      Reply
      • Julia

        June 06, 2013 at 7:13 pm

        Thanks for that link - I bookmarked it. The addition of bacon and mushrooms sounds absolutely delicious! Added to my ever growing to-do (or to-cook) list. 🙂

        Reply
    « Older Comments
    Newer Comments »

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    photo of the content-creator Julia from JuliasAlbum.com site - she is wearing a yellow sweater against the Autumn background.

    Hi, I'm Julia! Welcome to my recipe blog where I share easy-to-make weeknight dinners and other recipes using simple ingredients!

    I have made and tested all of the recipes presented on this site personally.

    I also personally do all of the writing and the original photography for JuliasAlbum.com. My recipes are everyday, familiar foods, cooked from scratch. I hope you enjoy them and let me know your feedback in the comments!

    More about me →

    Fall Favorites

    • Creamy Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sausage, Thyme, and Sage
    • Stuffed Butternut Squash with Spinach, Bacon, and Cheese
    • Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Sausage and Spinach
    • Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Pecans, and Cranberries

    JOIN ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Privacy and Disclosure

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions

    About

    • About
    • Featured On
    • Contact Me

    Connect on Social Media

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram

    Copyright © 2022 JuliasAlbum.com

    Site Design: Foodie Pro Theme by Feast Design Co.