Fans Love Ina Garten’s Spring Carbonara Recipe

When I’m on the hunt for some recipe inspiration, Ina Garten is one of the first chefs I turn to. From hearty oatmeal raisin cookies I bake on repeat to the perfect omelet, the celebrity chef and Food Network icon never fails to provide me with fresh dishes that are perfect for everything from entertaining during the holidays to getting dinner for my family of four on the table. 

So recently, when Garten posted a video about her Spring Green Spaghetti Carbonara recipe on Instagram, I clicked “save” and made a mental note to try the veggie-packed pasta recipe for dinner soon.

Garten’s carbonara recipe is pretty straightforward, differing from traditional carbonaras only in the addition of springtime green vegetables. After cooking spaghetti in boiling water for about eight minutes—until it’s “just less than al dente”—Garten reserves a cup of pasta water before tossing julienned snow peas and asparagus tips into the remaining water with the pasta. The mix of pasta and veggies cooks for about two minutes more, before Garten adds some shelled, fresh peas (frozen peas also work) into the mix for just a few seconds, then drains the mixture and sets it aside.

Garten cooks 8 ounces of diced pancetta separately in a sauté pan, setting it aside on a paper towel-lined plate to drain once it’s cooked through. Then comes one of Garten’s carbonara secrets: “Now I’m going to make the sauce, and I’m doing something really unusual but it really works,” Garten says in the clip. “I’m going to take a big bowl and fill it with the hottest tap water so when the raw eggs and cream go into this bowl, it’s going to cook it a little bit.” 

After emptying her hot water-warmed mixing bowl, Garten adds two whole eggs and two egg yolks to the warmed bowl along with ½ cup of heavy cream and ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water. “I’m going to whisk them together for the carbonara,” she explains.

As some commenters noted, using heavy cream isn’t exactly traditional in carbonara, but it adds a luscious element to Garten’s version. Next, the “really hot pasta and vegetables go right into the sauce,” Garten says. “It finishes the cooking—give it a big stir. You want all that cooking liquid to just get absorbed right into the pasta.”

Once the pasta and carbonara sauce are combined, Garten says it’s time to add extra flavor. In her version of the dish, she adds julienned scallions and chopped chives, along with Parmesan cheese, fresh lemon zest and “lots of salt and pepper.” Add in the diced pancetta, give everything a good mix, and you’re ready to serve what Garten calls “something really comforting when you don’t want something too rich.” 

The best part about Garten’s spring spaghetti carbonara—besides how delicious it sounds—is that it seems like the perfect recipe for experimenting with whatever fresh springtime veggies are available at your local market. Spring brings great grocery prices on vegetables like carrots, peas, asparagus and greens, so take a look around your produce section and pick a combination that sounds good to you. 

Just don’t skip those creamy yolks, rich Parmesan cheese or savory pancetta, as they’re the ingredients that truly make a carbonara sing.