Gordon Ramsay’s carbonara is smoky bacon, egg yolks, crème fraîche, and Parmesan tossed through spaghetti with mushrooms, peas, and a hit of fresh chilli. Ready in under 10 minutes if you move fast.
This recipe comes from his Ramsay in 10 cookbook and the famous lockdown YouTube video with 7 million views, where he races his daughter Tilly to finish it in 10 minutes. He calls it his Cornish carbonara because he made it during lockdown with whatever was in the cupboard: “It might not be authentic, but who cares when it’s this delicious.”
The technique that matters most is when the eggs go in. Ramsay turns the heat down, pours the egg mixture over the hot pasta, and tosses quickly. In the video he warns that without the pasta water “the eggs cook very very quickly and you have a problem, it comes grainy.” That splash of starchy water is the difference between a silky sauce and scrambled eggs on spaghetti.
Gordon Ramsay Carbonara Recipe
Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium2
servings5
minutes10
minutes685
kcal15
minutesGordon Ramsay’s Cornish carbonara from the Ramsay in 10 cookbook. Smoky bacon, mushrooms, peas, and chilli in a silky egg yolk and crème fraîche sauce. His lockdown recipe with 7 million YouTube views.
Ingredients
225g (8 oz) spaghetti
Olive oil, for frying
175g (6 oz) smoked bacon lardons
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
100g (4 oz) mixed mushrooms, sliced
1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped (optional)
3 egg yolks
25g (1 oz) Parmesan or Grana Padano, finely grated, plus extra to serve
75g (2.5 oz) crème fraîche
75g (2.5 oz) frozen peas, defrosted
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Directions
- Boil the pasta: Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 7 to 9 minutes until al dente. Reserve half a mug of pasta water before draining.
- Cook the bacon: While the pasta cooks, heat a splash of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon lardons and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until crisp. Season with black pepper.
- Add the veg: Add the sliced garlic, mushrooms, and chilli to the bacon. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the mushrooms soften and pick up colour.
- Mix the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, grated Parmesan, crème fraîche, and a splash of pasta water. Stir until smooth.
- Add peas and pasta water: Toss the peas into the frying pan with a few spoonfuls of pasta water. This creates the base that wraps around the spaghetti.
- Combine: Drain the spaghetti and add it to the frying pan. Toss everything together over the heat for 30 seconds.
- Add the egg sauce: Turn the gas down. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta and toss quickly to coat everything evenly. The residual heat cooks the eggs into a silky sauce. Do not let it sit on high heat or the eggs will scramble.
- Serve: Twist onto plates, scatter with chopped parsley and extra Parmesan.
Notes
- Ramsay uses streaky bacon because it has more fat and goes crispier than back bacon. If you can get pancetta or guanciale, use that instead. The crème fraîche is not traditional but Ramsay says “it just stops the whole mixture going dry, really important.”
FAQs
Why does Ramsay add crème fraîche instead of keeping it traditional?
Classic Italian carbonara uses only egg yolks, pecorino, guanciale, and black pepper. No cream, no crème fraîche. Ramsay knows this and says in the video “in Italy they do it with the quality of the cheek and there’s no cream.”
But his version deliberately adds crème fraîche because it acts as insurance. It stops the egg mixture going dry and grainy if your timing is slightly off.
He uses about 75g for two servings. Enough to add creaminess without drowning the eggs. You can leave it out if you want it more traditional, but your window for getting the sauce right gets much smaller.
Why does the pasta water matter so much?
Ramsay is very clear about this in the video. He adds pasta water to the frying pan before the eggs go in, and warns that without it “the eggs cook very very quickly and you have a problem, it comes grainy.”
The starchy water does two things. It lowers the temperature of the pan so the eggs don’t scramble on contact. And the starch helps emulsify the egg and cheese into a smooth, clingy sauce rather than a lumpy mess.
Reserve at least half a mug before you drain. You can always add more if the sauce is too thick, but you can’t fix it if you’ve already poured it down the sink.
Why does Ramsay add mushrooms and peas to carbonara?
He’s honest about this being a lockdown recipe, not an authentic Italian one. He made it in Cornwall during COVID when “access to the finest Italian pancetta and three-year-old Parmigiano Reggiano was somewhat limited.”
The mushrooms add body and the peas add sweetness and colour. If you want a more traditional version, leave them out. The sauce, bacon, and technique are the same either way.
He also has a simpler version in an earlier cookbook using farfalle with bacon, peas, sage, and cream instead of eggs. That one he calls “an easy version of pasta carbonara” that his kids eat weekly.
Why streaky bacon instead of pancetta?
Ramsay explains in the video: “Why streaky bacon? It’s not the most amazing flavour but more importantly it’s got a lot of fat on there so you get that nice and crispy.”
The fat renders out and creates the cooking oil for the garlic and mushrooms. Back bacon is too lean and won’t crisp the same way.
He cuts it into big chunks, about two inches long, not tiny dice. Bigger pieces mean more texture in the finished dish. If you can get pancetta or guanciale from an Italian deli, that’s the upgrade.
How do you stop the eggs from scrambling?
Three things happen at the same time. Turn the gas down. Add a splash of pasta water. Pour the egg mixture in and toss immediately.
The mistake most people make is leaving the heat on high. The pan is already hot from cooking the bacon and mushrooms. If you pour raw egg yolks into a screaming hot pan, you get scrambled eggs in about 5 seconds.
Ramsay’s technique is to let the residual heat do the work. The tossing distributes the egg evenly so no single spot gets too hot. The crème fraîche and pasta water both lower the overall temperature.
Can you add chicken to this carbonara?
Ramsay doesn’t add chicken to his carbonara, but you can. Slice a chicken breast thin, season it, and cook it in the pan before the bacon. Remove it, cook the bacon and veg, then add the chicken back with the pasta.
Keep in mind that chicken needs to be cooked through completely, which adds time. The beauty of this recipe is the 10-minute speed, and chicken slows that down.
For a heartier Ramsay pasta that takes longer but feeds a crowd, his spaghetti bolognese uses beef mince simmered in red wine. Different technique, different mood, but the same attention to getting the sauce right.
