A traditional carbonara is pasta, egg, cured pork and hard cheese. The pasta is the only part that causes a problem on a low-carb diet, and swapping it is the whole of the change.
What Makes This Version Different
Two things. The pasta is our Low-Carb Fusilli or Low-Carb Capellini (choose your favourite shape), which are both high in protein and fibre rather than starch. And the sauce is loosened with double cream, which is a departure from the Roman original but makes the recipe considerably harder to ruin.
A classic carbonara relies on egg yolk and starchy pasta water alone. It is a genuinely difficult sauce, because the window between silky and scrambled is a few seconds wide. Low-carb pasta releases far less starch into its cooking water, which removes the emulsifier the traditional method depends on. Cream fills that gap.
Building the Sauce
The egg yolk and parmesan get mixed into a paste before they go anywhere near heat. This matters. Adding a raw yolk straight into hot cream gives you scrambled egg suspended in liquid, and there is no coming back from it.
Add half the cream to the pan first, take the heat down to low, then work the paste in. It will resist at first and look like it is not combining. Keep going. Once it has come together, the remaining cream goes in and the sauce is stable.
Use the residual heat rather than an active flame where you can. If the pan is spitting, it is too hot.
Cooking the Pasta
Simmer the Low-Carb Pasta in salted boiling water for 8-10 minutes, drain thoroughly but don't rinse it. Get it into the sauce while it is hot, so it absorbs some of it rather than sitting in it.
The Bacon and Chicken
Cook them separately and remove them from the pan before you start the sauce. Both release liquid, and that liquid will thin the sauce and stop it clinging.
Streaky bacon renders better than back bacon here and gives you fat to cook the chicken in. Thigh meat stays juicier than breast through a second stint in the sauce.
What to Serve Alongside
Mix butter and garlic together, slice a low-carb baguette most of the way down, stuff it with the garlic butter and top with grated cheese. Into the oven until the butter and cheese have melted.
A warmed low-carb rosemary and sea salt focaccia does the same job with no preparation. If you want a second pasta dish for the week, our keto pasta bolognese uses the same base.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is carbonara keto?
The sauce is. Egg, cheese, cream and cured pork contain almost no carbohydrate. Standard pasta is what takes a carbonara out of keto range, which is why this recipe uses a low-carb pasta instead.
Why did my sauce split or scramble?
The pan was too hot when the egg went in. Take it off the heat entirely, let it cool for 30 seconds, then work the egg and parmesan paste in gradually.
Can you make it without cream?
You can, using the traditional method of egg yolk and pasta water alone. It is harder with low-carb pasta, which gives up less starch. Reserve a mugful of the cooking water and add it a splash at a time off the heat.
Can you reheat carbonara?
Gently, in a pan with a splash of cream, and not in a microwave. Egg-based sauces separate under high heat. It is better eaten fresh.
2 comments
Hi Ann 👋 Apologies for the spelling mistake and the extra eggs! I have updated the recipe and it should now be correct.
Making the pasta carbonara tonight. Instructions say what to do with the egg yolk but not the eggs. Do I mic them with the cream? Also think egg yolk should be mixed to a paste not “pasta “?
Just saw your site & can’t wait to try all your recipes. Thanks