How Many Eggs Make a Good Carbonara?

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Published March 7th, 2025, 9:10 AM EST

Dim Nikov is a culinary editor at Tastyble. He is a trained cook with food safety certification and the author of the 2022 cookbook Cooking Methods & Techniques.

There’s something magical about a prepared Pasta alla Carbonara—that glossy sauce clinging to each strand of pasta, rich but not heavy, creamy without cream. And at the heart of this Roman classic is the humble egg.

But how many eggs should you use when preparing carbonara? It’s a question I get all the time, and the answer, like most things in cooking, is easy once you learn the magic number.

The Magic Number of Eggs for Pasta Carbonara

For classic carbonara, use 1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk per person (or per 4 ounces/115g of pasta). For those who prefer precise measurements, a large egg weighs about 50g and an egg yolk about 18g.

This rule of thumb creates the ideal balance of richness and volume. Though as useful as it may be, remember that home cooking isn’t about blindly following others’ rules—it’s about understanding the underlying principles and coming up with rules of your own.

If you want a silkier, richer sauce, use only yolks. The fat content creates an almost buttery texture that coats the pasta beautifully. And if you prefer something a bit lighter with more volume, stick with whole eggs. The whites add body without the intensity of an all-yolk sauce.

I generally prefer the middle path—the whole egg plus one extra yolk—which gives you the best of both worlds.

Cooking Technique: Don’t Scramble Your Chances

The difference between silky carbonara and pasta with scrambled eggs comes down to technique. Remove the pan from the burner completely, wait about 30 seconds, then add room-temperature eggs while tossing continuously with tongs and a wooden spoon. The constant motion is crucial—it’s what creates that emulsion that defines great carbonara.

For beginners, try the bowl method: Transfer your hot pasta to a warmed bowl containing your egg mixture and toss vigorously. It’s more forgiving than working directly in the hot pan, giving you a bit more control over the temperature.

The most common carbonara pitfalls are predictable: adding eggs to a raging hot pan (hello, breakfast scramble), stirring lazily instead of continuously, using refrigerator-cold eggs that seize up quickly, or working in a cold bowl that drops the temperature too rapidly.

These are all variations on the same theme—carbonara comes down almost entirely to proper temperature control.

The Safety Question When It Comes to Raw Eggs

The honest truth: Traditional carbonara contains undercooked eggs. If serving vulnerable populations—children, elderly folks, pregnant women, or anyone with a compromised immune system—consider using pasteurized eggs instead.

You can pasteurize eggs at home by keeping them in a 135°F (57°C) water bath for 75 minutes using sous vide equipment or a calibrated thermometer with vigilant monitoring. Be warned that the margin for error is rather small—temperatures below 135°F won’t kill bacteria, and those above 138°F start cooking the eggs.

Store-bought pasteurized eggs work fine with minimal flavor difference, while powdered eggs should be your last resort (if you go this route, add a bit more fat to compensate for textural differences).

Reading Your Carbonara

Your finished sauce should create a glossy, flowing layer that coats each piece of pasta—not pooling like soup at the bottom of the plate, nor looking dry or grainy.

If your sauce thickens too quickly or begins to separate, add 1-2 tablespoons of reserved pasta water and toss vigorously. Consider this starchy water your safety net; it can bring back a sauce that’s beginning to break.

Traditional Roman carbonara contains no cream—it gets its creaminess entirely from eggs, cheese, and a small amount of pasta water. The cream version is delicious in its own right, but it’s a different dish altogether.

As for pasta shape, spaghetti is traditional, but rigatoni and bucatini both capture the sauce beautifully. The point, once again, isn’t authenticity for its own sake, but finding what works for you.

Dim Nikov — this story’s author — left his old managerial career at the turn of the decade to write about food. He is a husband, father, and trained cook certified in food safety. In 2022, he published his first cookbook, Cooking Methods & Techniques, which teaches readers how to cook instead of how to just follow recipes. More about Dim Nikov

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