Creamy Chicken Carbonara Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is chicken carbonara sauce made of? ›

The creamy sauce is made by tossing eggs and Parmesan with cooked pasta and its still piping hot cooking water. It's so simple but can be intimidating.

The golden rule to silky carbonara is to whisk your egg whites so that they're completely incorporated with the egg yolks. This will create a smooth, velvety sauce. As like any pasta dish, including carbonara, cook the pasta perfectly al dente so that it's soft but still firm, with some bite.

The difference between alfredo and carbonara is that carbonara contains an egg while alfredo sauce does not. Carbonara is usually thinner in consistency than alfredo sauce, using the egg to coat the noodles instead of relying on the cream.

The difference between an Alfredo and a Carbonara: Alfredo is basic – pasta, cream, parmesan, parsley. Carbonara is a little more complicated – pasta, onion, pancetta, garlic, egg yolks, cream, parmesan, parsley.

What not to put in Spaghetti Carbonara? Don't put garlic, cream, milk or butter. It is not needed. It is fine if you want to make a dish with those ingredients, but if you want to learn how to make this dish correctly, use only pecorino, eggs/egg yolks, black pepper, guanciale, and pasta water.

Whisking your eggs so that the whites are completely incorporated into the yolks will give your sauce a more uniform texture. For an extra creamy sauce, it's best to use mostly egg yolks. The egg whites tend to make carbonara watery, but too many egg yolks can make the sauce too custardy.

And indeed, there's plenty of recipes that cheat by adding in cream. But today, we're making spaghetti carbonara properly, the authentic, traditional way. No cream. Just egg, cheese and a splash of starchy pasta cooking water.

Must-have ingredients

that there are only five ingredients: pasta, pork cheek, eggs, cheese and pepper. That's it. A real carbonara does not contain onion, garlic, or cream.

I like to use a ratio of 1 whole egg to 3 egg yolks because it balances the richness. If you are looking to avoid using raw eggs, I would recommend making my Cacio e Pepe recipe – this is another one of the four classic Roman pastas but requires only three ingredients (cheese, pepper, and pasta).

How to stop eggs scrambling in carbonara? ›

Using a large mixing bowl and setting it over the boiling pasta water to create a makeshift double boiler helps prevent you from accidentally scrambling the eggs.

Now the the trickiest step is adding the egg and cheese mixture to the pasta to create the famous carbonara sauce. I personally find it works best if I add the beaten eggs while the pasta is taken off the burner. This way you get gentle heat that will cook the egg but not curdle it.

Carbonara sauce is typically made with egg yolks, bacon or pancetta, and Parmesan cheese, which gives it a distinct smoky flavour. Alfredo sauce, on the other hand, is made with butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese, and does not contain eggs or bacon.

What is the sauce in carbonara made from? Classic Italian carbonara sauce is typically made with just 4 ingredients: eggs, black pepper, pecorino Romano (or parmesan), and guanciale (or pancetta).

Carbonara (Italian: [karboˈnaːra]) is a pasta dish made with eggs, hard cheese, fatty cured pork, and black pepper. It is typical of the Lazio region of Italy. The dish took its modern form and name in the middle of the 20th century. The cheese is usually pecorino romano.

Carbonara: History

Because the name comes from the word carbonaro, “coal burner,” some believe the dish was created as a hearty easy-to-make meal by men working outdoors for long periods.