Name: Easy Pasta Carbonara
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 12 oz rotini (or any other pasta shape (spaghetti is traditional)); 3 eggs; 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan; 6 slices bacon (diced); 3 cloves garlic (minced); kosher salt and pepper to taste; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

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This easy pasta carbonara recipe takes 20 minutes to prepare, and can be either a quick weeknight meal or an elegant dinner!

Quick disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may make a small commission, at no cost to you. I will never recommend anything I don’t personally use and love!

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Weeknight meals are not always meticulously planned in our house.

I usually have 3-4 dinners planned in advance and the rest are either haphazardly pulled together from whatever we have on hand, or come from one of two places: a cereal box or the sushi place across the street.

So I’m always pretty proud of myself when I can make some magic on a whim with stuff I already have.

The other day, as I held my thumb above the send button to tell Phil cereal was on the menu that night, I had an epiphany.

There was bacon in the fridge!

And I suddenly remembered this easy pasta carbonara recipe I’d made a while back that was delicious AND took all of 20 minutes to make.

This easy pasta carbonara recipe totally hit the spot (as a plateful of carbs so often does)! Needless to say, I have added this to my arsenal of fast, easy recipes using common ingredients, and I think you should too.

For other favorites along those lines, see baked eggs in purgatory – if you have a jar of marinara on hand, and this quick chicken tortilla soup.

I will leave you with one of my favorite tips that so often saves the day when I need to whip up something delicious for dinner on the fly!

A useful tip for last minute weeknight meals

I could have made this easy pasta carbonara recipe even if I didn’t have bacon in the fridge because I ALWAYS have some in the freezer! Here’s what I do.

I buy a pound of bacon, split it into portions of 3-4 slices each and freeze. When I need bacon for a recipe, all I need to do is chop up that frozen bacon and cook it in a pan.

No need to thaw, it’s easy to chop and cooks perfectly from frozen. This way I always have it on hand to add to all manner of quick last minute meals from salads to pasta to omelets and fritattas.

Enjoy xx

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