So simple. Low-FODMAP Spaghetti Alla Carbonara is food perfection. This is a meal that whips up in under 30 minutes, but tastes like a gourmet Italian restaurant.
Although there is no cream in traditional spaghetti alla carbonara, the eggs and cheese together make for a creamy and rich sauce. It is amazing. Pay attention to the directions to ensure yours tastes as authentic as the Italians 🙂
You can enjoy Spaghetti Carbonara anytime, but in a low-FODMAP version that is also gluten-free!
You may also love my:
- Low-FODMAP Spaghetti/Marinara Sauce
- Low-FODMAP Lemon Artichoke Fettuccini
- Low-FODMAP Lasagna
- Low-FODMAP Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Low-FODMAP Lemon Butter Chicken with Penne Pasta
- Low-FODMAP Macaroni and Cheese
Or check out over 400 more low-FODMAP recipes on the blog! IBS-friendly.
Be healthy and happy,
Rachel Pauls, MD
P.S. Check out my new COOKBOOK for over 100 low-FODMAP recipes, low-FODMAP Meal Plan, FODMAP Tips and everything you need!! It’s the BEST!
Although this recipe has not been tested, a single serving should be low-FODMAP based on the ingredients (*using available FODMAP data at time of posting)
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients
- 16 ounces low-FODMAP, gluten-free dry spaghetti
- I used Barilla GF spaghetti
- Per their website, 16 ounces of their GF dry spaghetti will yield about 8.7 cups of cooked pasta
- Ingredients are: corn flour, rice flour, mono and diglycerides
- One maximum low-FODMAP serve is 1.5 cooked cups, if you use standard gluten-free pasta, based on the Monash app for this ingredient
- You can also use angel hair or spaghettini, if you prefer. If you do, just confirm you are within the recommended serving size for each low-FODMAP portion, based on your product 🙂
- Check out my low-FODMAP Grocery Shopping blog for my preferred brands!
- I used Barilla GF spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil, or plain olive oil
- Infused oils have all the flavor but NOT the FODMAPs! They are not absorbed into the oil base so you are allowed to enjoy this ingredient. See my low-FODMAP Top 11 Tips and Tricks for more know-how!
- 6 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, cubed or sliced into small strips
- Verify your brand has no added onion, or garlic
- This is not the same as strip bacon
- 2 large whole eggs and 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- Just over 1 cup (100g) freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese), plus more for serving
- Check that your cheese brand is low in carbohydrates, this will indicate that it contains few FODMAPs, as the main FODMAP in cheese is typically lactose. Most cheeses are naturally low in FODMAPs. Pecorino is low-FODMAP in servings of 40g
- Do not buy pre-grated cheese, the flavor and texture will not work in this recipe
- Use the smallest/finest pores on your cheese grater to prep your cheese for the sauce. If you want a coarser grated cheese for the garnish, then adjust to your preference
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus to taste
- Kosher salt, for boiling water and to taste if desired
- 1 handful fresh Italian (flat) parsley, or regular parsley chopped, for garnish
Directions
Rachel’s Notes: You should prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot when the sauce is finished. The heat of the pasta will ‘cook’ the eggs in the sauce. See below! I suggest reading through the recipe once first so you can follow the steps easily. You don’t want to end up with ‘scrambled egg sauce’ 🙂
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta and cook for 10-11 minutes until cooked but slightly firm (otherwise known as al-dente)
- Adjust this time based on your pasta brand (gluten-free will get mushy so do NOT overcook)
- You should use about 4 quarts (3.7 liters) of water and about 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Start with cold water and do NOT add oil to the water and pasta for best results
- Do not break up your pasta strands if you want this to look authentic. However, be aware that GF pasta will still break a fair amount when you are tossing it
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks with Pecorino or Parmesan together well, then add the 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and whisk again. Set aside for later
- It should be like a creamy sauce
- Once your pasta is about halfway through cooking, heat the infused oil in a deep skillet over medium heat (I prefer an 11 inch cast iron skillet for this)
- Add the pancetta or slab bacon and sauté until the bacon is crisp (about 3 minutes)
- If you have a lot of grease in the pan, then gently discard it, per your preference
- Remove 1/2 cup of the pasta water for later, then drain the pasta
- Remove pan from heat and turn off your burner. Add the drained pasta to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the noodles in the residual fat. Allow the pasta to cool down slightly in the pan (you want the noodles to be less than 145F to not scramble the eggs. My cast iron pan took a couple minutes since it retains a lot of heat)
- Gently, a little at a time, pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, stirring constantly using tongs, until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to limit the eggs from overcooking)
- Thin out the sauce with the reserved pasta water, if you like, until it reaches your desired consistency (optional)
- Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper. It likely will not need salt as the cheese and pancetta are already quite salty
- Serve the low-FODMAP Spaghetti Alla Carbonara garnished with the chopped parsley and additional Pecorino/Parmesan to taste!
10 Responses
Is there a substitute for pork? Would this work with turkey bacon? I don’t eat beef or pork. Thanks.
Thanks for the question, however we do not think turkey bacon would result in the same amount of fat or flavor. As the recipe mentions, strip bacon is not a good substitute for the pancetta either. Traditional alla carbonara is made with pork products, sorry. However, if you want another pasta option, check out our low-FODMAP Fettucini with Artichokes and Lemon. Good luck!
Amazing!
I was amazed by how delicious and easy this was. Thank you also for the video, it really helped me. Great recipe!!
Edith,
So happy to hear from you!!Thank you for your comments and stars! Stay in touch 🙂
I’m allergic to dairy, can I substitute vegan parmesan cheese, if I can find it?
Hi Tammy,
Thanks for your question!
For starters, we would be concerned that vegan parmesan is low-FODMAP. We also don’t think it would cook in the recipe the same as real cheese. We suggest you consider another recipe on our site that is dairy-free instead (we have many!) for the best experience. Good luck 🙂
Following comment is NOT FROM RACHELPAULSFOOD. SEE BELOW DISCLAIMER
You can! But may need to experiment. There are several high quality plant parmesans on the market, I’d recommend adding a touch of porcini powder for the tartness.. As with all cheese, try to buy in block when possible, pre-shredded covers the shreds in various ‘dusts’ to keep them from sticking together that will make it melt much worse or clump up and not mix in.
Cooking is all about experimenting, don’t let the ingredients dissuade you from trying the meal.
Thanks for your comments Gnar, but we are still very concerned about this misleading our readers about FODMAP content. If a plant based product for cheese is made from soy, almond or cashew then it is may not be tolerated.
Since our focus is on Low-FODMAP Recipes, we want to keep that in the theme!
5 stars
My father has benefited greatly from this diet and the RPF site recipes we like best. I’d already adapted this recipe to a low-fod map version based on what I gleamed from pro-recipes and came to this exact, same formulation! I feel relieved to know I got it right since someone with real expertise arrived at the same. My ingredients match up but I tweak the method. Having made it a lot, I’d recommend that folks reserve 3/4 of a cup of pasta water, then after draining the pasta, add 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the egg/cheese/pepper mix to “scorch” the egg, instead of adding it to the sauce later; I use what’s in reserve if it sticks before fully coated. But I also immediately toss the drained pasta in the sauce and hot pot, and don’t cook pancetta or bacon in it first. Instead, I bake the meat in the oven at 400 for 17-20 minutes, as sometimes I make extra for other recipes. I also like to put light clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg on the pig. I take it out of the oven on a slightly sloped rack to drain, so the grease cools in the bottom of the parchment paper, with the bacon pulled to the top of the baking sheet. I then put a tablespoon of the grease drippings along with the garlic-infused olive oil in the pot before spraying it with non-stick spray and adding the cheese/pasta water/egg/pepper/ (and sometimes dried parsley if i don’t got the fresh stuff) into the pot with all the pasta; you combine and coat it all, the chopped bacon too. I try to get each spaghetto to be fully coated and intact by minimal and gently mixing. I sometimes will add as much pasta to the bowl first before dumping all of it into the pot as it requires less stirring, incurring less breakage. I often use a set of soft-tipped tongs and a spatula to accomplish this. I make sure the meat is ready for when I combine it all so that’s what I do first, to have that tablespoon of grease in the pot as I combine it, so it’s important that the pasta finish at the same time as the bacon. I generally preheat the oven before boiling the water and it all works out on schedule. Often, I have the heat off at the point I combine it all and then maybe turn the burner up to low if it’s not the consistency I want. Scorching the eggs helps make the sauce fluffier while still a sauce and helps it coat the noodles well; the finished product shouldn’t be watery/runny, but it also shouldn’t be a paste and can stick/burn if set too long on a hot burner. Last, I use gluten-free rice spaghetti as it’s what my father does best with. The rice spaghetti holds together best when “al dente,” so I cook it for 11 instead of 14 minutes. That keeps it from becoming too crumbled when stored and coated with the cheese sauce mix. I’m not a big fan of little pieces of spaghetti, and like to twirl it around my fork. Sometimes, when reheating, the non-IBS family members put minced garlic on top before microwaving at half power. I have tried a method more similar to this recipe in sequence, but I personally get better results doing it the way I described. I like less-grease in the finished product, just a tablespoon to help keep it from sticking to the pan and to add a little body to the sauce without making it more like gravy. Obviously, the recipe as stated also gives you this option, but it also leaves time for the pasta water to cool, whereas scorching the egg makes a substantial improvement in outcome (in my experience). I’m sure this recipe will work, as I’ve done it this way, but these tweaks yielded the result my family feels is the best iteration they’ve had; too greasy, and it often doesn’t sit well, so if you find that’s the case for you, then maybe mod it out and bake the pork. Still giving the recipe 5 stars as it’s also a fine method. I don’t know which is more “professional” or “authentic.”
That is wonderful to hear, T.R. Thank you so much.
Rachel