Spaghetti Carbonara
This Spaghetti Carbonara is a new version of one of our first recipes! Slimming friendly, great for calorie counting and diet plans like Weight Watchers.
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NutritionPer Serving
- Calories516
- Carbs47g
- Protein39g
- Fat18g
- Saturates6.4g
- Sugars5.6g
Your dishes
You’re amazing, look at the Spaghetti Carbonara dishes you’ve made…
For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!
Creamy, indulgent and pretty damn tasty! We’ve done a non-dairy version of this in the past, but sometimes you just *need* the creaminess that this dish should have.
When you eat this, you just won’t believe that it’s slimming friendly – we certainly didn’t even though we’d made it. It’s that good. Great quality, restaurant style food in a pinch!
If you’re bothered about eating raw egg, don’t be. The egg is going to cook whilst you stir. But you should avoid this if you’re pregnant – just in case.
If you fancy something a little bit different you could even add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. Just remember to adjust the calories, and Points accordingly!
What diets is this Spaghetti Carbonara suitable for?
This Spaghetti Carbonara recipe can be made gluten free by swapping out the following ingredients for gluten free versions;
- Stock cubes
- Pasta
Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.
Do you need any special ingredients to make Spaghetti Carbonara?
Since we made this Spaghetti Carbonara the first time around, we’ve come to the conclusion that finely chopped gammon is a much better addition than bacon medallions.
You should (in our opinion), make Spaghetti Carbonara with lardons, but gammon is a VERY close replacement, whilst keeping it light and super slimming friendly.
The other MAJOR addition to this Spaghetti Carbonara is Pecorino cheese. Pecorino is FAR superior to Parmesan and brings such a lovely salty flavour.
Hints & Tips
Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.
We don't recommend freezing this recipe as the sauce can end up splitting
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‘Restaurant quality! I'd definitely pay good money for this in a restaurant!’
How many calories is this Spaghetti Carbonara recipe?
This Spaghetti Carbonara is 516 kcal per portion. The same dish at Frankie & Benny’s clocks up a hefty 650 calories, so this is a good saving!
It falls into our Special Occasion recipe category as it’s a little over 500 calories per portion. You can find all of our other Special Occassion recipes here.
This Spaghetti Carbonara fits well into a calorie controlled diet, as well as any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.
As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.
Step 1
Boil the kettle – whilst you’re waiting for it to boil chop the onion, mushrooms and gammon.
Step 2
Cook the pasta as per instructions on the pack, and heat a large frying pan with a few sprays of low calorie cooking spray. Fry the onions till softened, add the mushrooms and gammon and cook until browned slightly.
Step 3
Add the vegetable stock to the frying pan, and cook on high stirring frequently until it reduces by half.
Step 4
Meanwhile in a bowl whisk the eggs, black pepper, quark and mustard (if you’re using it!) – set aside.
Step 5
Drain your pasta once it’s cooked and tip into a big bowl, add the cooked onions, mushrooms, remaining stock and gammon – stir well. Slowly add the whisked eggs, Pecorino cheese and quark making sure to stir constantly. Do NOT do this on the heat otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled egg!
Step 6
Once it’s all stirred through, add the parsley. Plate up and sprinkle with a little more Pecorino cheese. Enjoy!
What should you should serve with Spaghetti Carbonara?
What should you should serve with Spaghetti Carbonara?This recipe is a full meal on its own, but if you want to you could serve it with one of the options below:
If your’e looking to cut the calories or Points, serve half a portion of this Spaghetti Carbonara with a big green salad to fill you up!
How do you know when this Spaghetti Carbonara is cooked?
The pasta and vegetables will be soft but not soggy, and the gammon will have browned. The pasta will be coated with a creamy smooth sauce. It’s very important you add the whisked eggs, Pecorino cheese and Quark slowly and stir constantly off the heat. This will stop you ending up with any bits of scrambled egg in the dish!
This dish will take about 10 minutes over a medium heat on the hob.
Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.
How long can you keep Spaghetti Carbonara in the fridge?
Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.
If you allow any left overs to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Spaghetti Carbonara in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.
Can you freeze Spaghetti Carbonara?
We don’t recommend freezing this recipe as the sauce can end up splitting.
How do I reheat Spaghetti Carbonara?
It’s best to reheat Spaghetti Carbonara on the hob over a low heat until piping hot throughout. You may need to add a little water or some extra egg off the heat if it has dried out. This is a dish thats best made fresh!
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Spaghetti Carbonara
This Spaghetti Carbonara is a new version of one of our first recipes! Slimming friendly, great for calorie counting and diet plans like Weight Watchers.
-
Prep Time
10 MINS
-
Cook Time
10 MINS
- KCals 516
- Carbs 47G
Instructions
- Boil the kettle - whilst you're waiting for it to boil chop the onion, mushrooms and gammon.
- Cook the pasta as per instructions on the pack, and heat a large frying pan with a few sprays of low calorie cooking spray. Fry the onions until softened, add the mushrooms & gammon and cook till browned slightly.
- Add the vegetable stock to the frying pan, and cook on high stirring frequently until it reduces by half.
- Meanwhile in a bowl whisk the eggs, black pepper, quark and mustard (if you're using it!) - set aside.
- Drain your pasta once it's cooked and tip into a big bowl, add the cooked onions, mushrooms, remaining stock and gammon - stir well. Slowly add the whisked eggs, Pecorino cheese and Quark making sure to stir constantly. Do NOT do this on the heat otherwise you'll end up with scrambled egg!
- Once it's all stirred through, add the parsley. Plate up and sprinkle with a little more Pecorino cheese. Enjoy!
Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?
With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.
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We agreed with Slimming World to remove their trademarked terms from our website
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115 comments
See what others have to say
KayMonday 29th May 2023
Hi,
What would you recommend as a substitute for pecorino in the carbonara?
Thanks 🙂
SharonMonday 29th May 2023
Hi Kay, you can substitute Pecorino cheese with any Italian-style hard cheese such as Parmesan. Hope this helps.
TerriThursday 16th February 2023
Can you use any cream like cream fraiche or double cream, does it have to be a type of soft cheese
HollyFriday 17th February 2023
Hey Terri, it’s best to use something like cream cheese, quark or Crème Fraîche. Double cream will make the sauce to runny. Hope that helps!
Savana bellWednesday 15th February 2023
Can I use penne pasta instead, if so how much?
HollyFriday 17th February 2023
Hey Savana, yes you could swap for penne pasta just swap for the same weight as the spaghetti, hope that helps!
AbbieSunday 23rd October 2022
Would it be possible to use cream instead of egg?
HollyMonday 24th October 2022
Hi Abbie, You could omit the eggs and use extra quark or cream cheese but this would be more of a cheesy pasta rather than Spaghetti Carbonara as it’s the egg that creates the rich creamy sauce. Hope that helps!
DebbieSunday 7th August 2022
Can I use Cream cheese ?
Thanks
Debbie
HollyMonday 8th August 2022
Hi Debbie, yes you can swap the quark for cream cheese. Hope that helps!
Natasha KateSaturday 30th July 2022
Hello, would this work if I substituted the egg for more quark or is there something else you would suggest?
HollyMonday 1st August 2022
Hi Natasha, You could omit and add extra quark but this would be more of a cheesy pasta rather than Spaghetti Carbonara as it’s the egg that creates the rich creamy sauce. Hope that helps!
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