Creamy Chicken Carbonara Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my carbonara not creamy enough? ›

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. The solution? Five egg yolks and one whole egg.

Whisk Like You Mean It

You're using more egg yolks than whites here, which is what makes carbonara so rich and luxurious. But there's still two eggs-worth of whites in there. Whisking your eggs so that the whites are completely incorporated into the yolks will give your sauce a more uniform texture.

Keep cooking it in the pan where you made the guanciale crispy, adding starchy water until it is cooked al dente. Then, off the heat, add your egg, black pepper and pecorino mixture, so it doesn't cook off completely and remains – bravo! – creamy. Carbonara is also best eaten quickly!”

The golden rule to silky carbonara is to whisk your egg whites so that they're completely incorporated with the egg yolks.

It's vinegar. Yes, all you need to take your pasta to the next level is a bit of sourness. You don't need a lot of it either, so even if you're running low, you'll still be able to make a delicious lunch.

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.

Hot pepper

It should be used as spice in this recipe more than background seasoning. Be generous enough that it adds heat to the finished dish and wake up the flavour by toasting it off in hot fat.

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.

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.

What thickens carbonara? ›

Now quickly pour in the eggs and cheese. Using the tongs or a long fork, lift up the spaghetti so it mixes easily with the egg mixture, which thickens but doesn't scramble, and everything is coated. Add extra pasta cooking water to keep it saucy (several tablespoons should do it).

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).

Should carbonara have cream? Typically carbonara sauce is only made of eggs, bacon, parmesan, olive oil, seasoning, and sometimes, vegetables. As for cream, Italians will tell you that is a big no no.

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.

If you have a runny sauce that is too loose at this point, place the metal bowl with the pasta and sauce over the pot of pasta water and bring the water to a low boil. Use the steam from the pasta water to gently thicken the egg and cheese sauce until you've achieved the creamy consistency show in the video.

If the sauce has just a few lumps, use a balloon whisk and whisk vigorously to break the lumps up. Use a food processor, blender or immersion blender to whizz those lumps out of sight. Return to heat and whisk until warmed through.

Traditional carbonara doesn't have any cream: it's thickened with fresh-grated cheese and raw egg. Any cream sauce can be thickened by simmering it for a while, if you're using actual cream. If you're using milk or sour cream, you'll need a starch stabilizer, like roux, beurre manie, cornstarch, potato starch, etc.

THE MAGIC INGREDIENT…

Pasta water can be dripped in as you transfer the spaghetti to the hot frying pan. Everything mingles to make a light, silky smooth sauce.