Easy Gluten-Free Pasta Carbonara

gluten-free pasta options

One of our favorite dishes during the comfort food years before I had to nix gluten was pasta Carbonara.  It is so decadent and creamy and wonderful.  But it wasn’t that easy to make gluten-free pasta Carbonara.

The main problem was finding the right type of gluten-free pasta to use in the recipe.  So many of the brown rice pastas just turn out pretty gross and mushy.  

Then we found stir fry rice noodles!  And they worked to make an awesome pasta Carbonara again.  They don’t stick together and you can toss them in the cheese mixture without it turning to mush.

We also used to make it with bionaturae organic gluten-free pasta made from non-GMO organic rice flour, organic potato starch, organic rice starch, and organic soy flour.  But then they changed the formula to rice and lentil pasta.  I don’t really like the new formula with the carbonara because it doesn’t really absorb this sauce.  Although it does work well in other gluten-free pasta dishes.

We tried making the carbonara again, but this time, with fettuccine from Cappello’s.  The pasta is made from almond flour and it really is silky and buttery in texture as described.  And it is so yummy as a pasta carbonara!  

The pasta is gluten-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, and more.  And it cooks in 90 seconds or less.  You will cook it before adding it to the mixture of eggs, Parmesan, oil, and garlic. 

bacon options

Initially to make the pasta carbonara, we used real bacon and rendered the fat in a Dutch oven. Then cook the garlic in the bacon fat for about a minute. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat before tossing in the cooked pasta, parmesan and eggs. So decadent.

But now we have switched to natural turkey bacon. So you don’t really get any fat from it. So we cook it separately in the oven.

Instead of bacon fat, we just heat up some olive oil in a Dutch oven and cook the garlic in that about a minute before the pasta is done.

mixing it together

You want to let the Dutch oven get hot so that when you remove it from the heat it will indirectly cook the eggs and melt the Parmesan cheese when added to the strained hot pasta. Gently fold it all together in the Dutch oven with a pasta spoon.

Also, reserving some of the pasta water and adding it to the pasta mixture makes it nice and creamy. I usually reserve about a cup and add it until it is the creaminess I like (about 1/2 cup usually works). You don’t need to do this step with the Cappello’s pasta.

Serve it into pasta bowls. Then crumble on the bacon and extra Parmesan if you’d like. Sometimes if I’ve got parsley on hand I’ll sprinkle it on their, too.

want more gluten-free pasta recipes?

• Gluten-Free Dairy-Free “Beef” Stroganoff
• Goat Cheese Alfredo Sauce & Pasta
• Pasta Primavera
• Kale Pesto and Pasta
• Herbed Meatballs and Pasta
• Summer Pasta Salad
• bison meatball stroganoff
• spicy chicken spaghetti

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Gluten-Free Pasta Carbonara

Decadent pasta Carbonara made with Parmesan cheese, bacon, egg and gluten-free noodles for a perfect texture!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword pasta carbonara, rice noodles

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 2

Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

• 8 oz GF spaghetti or linguine
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 3 strips GF turkey bacon, cooked
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Kosher salt, sea salt or iodized salt
• 1 tsp chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook the turkey bacon and set aside. When cool enough crumble into smaller pieces.

2. Start boiling a large saucepan of filtered water to cook the pasta. Cook the pasta according to directions. Reserve some of the pasta water to add to the carbonara (about a cup).

3. Mix the Parmesan cheese and eggs together in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven or large saucepan. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic about a minute before the pasta is finished cooking. Remove from heat and add the freshly drained pasta and the egg and Parmesan mixture. Toss gently. Add in the small amounts of reserved pasta water until nice and creamy (amount will depending on the type of pasta you are using).

5. Spoon into serving dishes; sprinkle with a little salt; then add the crumbled bacon, extra Parmesan and parsley (optional). Serve immediately.