Chicken Carbonara - The Stay At Home Chef

It’s simply too darn simple to like Hen Carbonara with that velvety sauce, crispy bacon, and pecorino romano cheese. Critically, how might you not love this dish? And, including hen to a basic carbonara makes this meal a bit extra substantial, so it’s not simply loading up on the pasta.

However if you do exactly need to load up on the pasta, go for our Authentic Pasta Carbonara.

Why Our Recipe

Prepared in simply half-hour which is ideal for weeknight dinners.
Deliciously juicy hen provides to the basic pasta to make it extra filling.
The sauce is velvety clean, made with eggs, pasta water, and pecorino romano cheese.

Closeup shot of tongs picking up chicken carbonara in cast iron pot.

No want to attend for a special day to order this at your favourite Italian restaurant when you notice how simple it’s to make. Get pleasure from this at your kitchen desk at any time when the craving hits! Add some hen to a basic carbonara and it’s an entire meal prepared in half-hour. You continue to have that wonderful, thick-cut bacon and a velvety egg and cheese sauce. In case you don’t have pecorino romano, you may at all times cheat and use parmesan—we gained’t inform should you gained’t. We do it on a regular basis!

Ingredient Notes

Ingredients used to make chicken carbonara.

Thick-Minimize Bacon: You possibly can at all times substitute pancetta for bacon which is the genuine ingredient. Pancetta isn’t at all times as simple to return by and might be costlier, so we default to bacon as the higher choice for many of our viewers.
Hen Breasts: Boneless, skinless hen breasts are nice for this recipe. Cube into bite-sized items.
Eggs: You’ll need massive grade AA eggs for this recipe. You’ll use a mixture of egg whites and complete eggs for the right silky clean sauce.
Spaghetti: Simply use from the field. Cook dinner to al dente, tender however agency.
Pecorino Romano Cheese: You possibly can simply substitute with parmesan cheese. Simply be certain it’s freshly grated as pre-grated doesn’t soften as easily and might make the sauce gritty.
Parsley: It’s simply there so as to add a pop of coloration. It’s optionally available, however makes it look a bit of extra fancy.

Hen Choices

We favor to make use of boneless skinless hen breasts, however you may at all times use hen thighs should you favor darkish meat or a fattier reduce of hen. These boneless skinless hen thighs are at all times juicier than the breasts.

Time & Cash Saver

You possibly can simply use leftover hen or shredded rotisserie hen on this recipe. You’ll want about 2 cups or you may actually load it up with a cup or two extra. Rotisserie hen is usually offered as one thing known as a “loss chief” for grocery shops the place they promote the hen at or under value to get you into the shop and hopefully purchase different issues. Which means that rotisserie hen is usually the most effective value per pound for hen you will get. Save a bit of time, save a bit of cash.

Pasta Choices

Spaghetti is the standard alternative for pasta in a carbonara, nonetheless, you don’t have to really feel tied to that. You may use virtually any lengthy, skinny pasta form. Different favorites are linguine, fettuccine, and bucatini.

Overhead shot of chicken carbonara in cast iron pot.

Pasta Water

Pasta water is the key weapon when combining pasta and cheese. The starch that’s pulled from the pasta throughout the cooking course of emulsifies (binds) the substances collectively, making a clean sauce. No clumpy cheese right here. You possibly can at all times use a bit of extra pasta water to regulate the thickness of your sauce as wanted.

Wait till the final minute to get your pasta water in order that the water is filled with starch. Dip the sting of a glass 2-cup measuring cup into the pot of pasta water and fill the cup, ensuring you get at the very least 1 1/2 cups. Then, you may go forward and drain your pasta.