Alfredo vs Carbonara - What's the difference?

Americans love their rich, creamy pasta sauces just as much as Italians, yet we’re a little less clear about the traditional ingredient list of many of our favorite dishes.

Have you ever found yourself in the position of having to decide between alfredo and carbonara, but without really knowing which is which?

What is the difference between alfredo and carbonara?  Alfredo is a rich sauce derived from butter and Parmesan, and is traditionally served with a classic egg-based fettuccine. Carbonara sauce is traditionally made with eggs, Parmesan, and cured pork called guanciale. It is served over simple flour and water spaghetti. Both are white sauces.

Both are simple, rich white sauces served over long pieces of pasta, but they are made and traditionally served differently. American versions of the alfredo also use heavy cream and parsley.

Both sauces are easy to make at home if you know what you’re doing. This article outlines the best practices for making either sauce and the right ingredients to choose for each.

What is carbonara sauce?

Carbonara sauce is a very classic and traditional recipe that has its roots in the peasants of Italy, who used to have some kind of cured pork, could make cheese to order, and put eggs in their sauce if they were available.

Although carbonara is considered to be a rich and creamy sauce, a classic recipe calls for no cream. Some recipes add a splash of cream at the end of cooking and others make it with heavy cream, completely ignoring the rules of tradition.

If you refuse to add cream, it will be important to use very fresh eggs and you can also use the starchy pasta water to slightly thicken the sauce.

There is more controversy surrounding the idea of adding garlic or onion. The more strictly traditionalist the cook is, the less likely they are to add these extras to the sauce, as they are not the traditional Italian method.

Grated cheese, typically Parmesan or Pecorino, eggs, and pork fat are all this sauce needs, with plenty of black pepper to cut through the richness.

Carbonaro, in Italian, means coal, hence the generous addition of black pepper.

What pasta to use for Carbonara?

Spaghetti is the most commonly used pasta to carry the carbonara sauce. The story is that, being a “peasant dish”, the creators of the sauce could not have afforded the more expensive egg pasta.

If you want to switch up spaghetti, you can use any flour-based pasta, but it won’t be considered classic.

meat carbonara

In more modern Italian restaurants and recipes, plain bacon is often used as the meat in carbonara. If the cook is feeling more fancy, they can opt for pancetta, which is pork belly that is cured but not smoked, like bacon, giving the sauce a simpler, cleaner flavor.

If the chef follows a more traditional recipe, he will use guanciale. Guanciale is cured pork cheeks and neck. It is sometimes called jowl bacon, although it is a much less appetizing name.

Guanciale is very popular in Italian cuisine, but it has only recently started to catch on in North American homes, so it is not easy to find.

The flavor is much stronger than bacon because the meat is dry-cured and then aged, rather than cold-smoked, which intensifies the flavor.

Traditional carbonara recipe

Since this dish originated as a peasant dish, there were many ways to prepare it, usually depending on what the “peasant” had on hand at the time.

That means there’s room for individualization, but we’ve tried to stay as true to tradition as possible for this classic sauce recipe.

The carbonara will take a little longer than the alfredo to make because the meat has to be cooked. Prepare to spend about 30 minutes creating this meal from scratch.

Carbonara is made for spaghetti, so if you make the sauce while the pasta is cooking, it can be even a bit faster. If the meat is purchased pre-coated and the Parmesan is already grated, that will also save precious minutes in the cooking process.

Making a carbonara is very simple. First, the meat is sautéed until golden brown and crisp and simmered in its fat.

The traditional recipe calls for guanciale, but if you don’t have access to this pork specialty, pancetta is much the same and is available at most grocery stores. If you prefer bacon, try to find thick slices to cut into cubes.

The egg is not cooked as is normally expected with carbonara. Instead, beat the eggs until well blended, then add the Parmesan and mix until it’s incorporated into the egg.

If you time it right, the pasta and fried meat should cook at about the same time.

You can add some of the water from the fried pasta to the meat pan along with the spaghetti. When it is hot again, remove it from the heat and immediately add the egg and cheese mixture.

The heat from the cooked pasta, the leftover pasta water, and the fried meat is what actually cooks the egg and creates the thick, creamy finish.

Of course, you can’t forget to season with salt and black pepper, but if everything goes according to plan, your food will be cooked and ready to serve in half an hour.

What is Alfredo?

The origin of the alfredo is a bit controversial. Some believe that it is an American interpretation of an Italian dish, and others believe that it is an Italian sauce that has been adopted by Americans. Most agree that it is a combined effort between Italian and American cooks.

In Italy, the dish is often made without cream, although Americans wouldn’t imagine going without its key ingredient.

Alfredo is a simple, rich and creamy white sauce that has something in common with carbonara, but is made entirely differently. Butter is the main ingredient, supported by Parmesan and, in some recipes, heavy cream and fresh parsley.

What pasta to use for Alfredo?

Fettucine alfredos are the most common preparation for this sauce. However, Alfredo sauce is so common in North American kitchens that it has been used to top almost every shape and size of pasta you can imagine. But don’t tell the Italians.

What meat to use for Alfredo

A simple and classic alfredo sauce does not call for any kind of meat, although it is not uncommon to see something added to it, especially in the United States.

Chicken breast is the most common meat addition to alfredo sauce, although shrimp are also popular.

Some people add ground beef to their alfredo sauce, often with a combination of Tex-Mex spices, but we’d say this changes the sauce too drastically to continue calling it an alfredo.

Easy Alfredo Sauce Recipe

Although it is very easy to buy a jar of Alfredo sauce while you are shopping, making this sauce from scratch is not difficult and the difference in quality is noticeable, so we encourage you to try it, at least once.

If you make an easy traditional alfredo sauce recipe, your meal could be ready for the table in 15 minutes. Of course, if you’re going to add meat, it may take longer to make sure it’s cooked through, especially if you’re working with chicken.

As in the carbonara sauce recipe, if you time the cooking time perfectly, you can make the sauce while the fettuccine is cooking. Not only will you save time, but you will serve it at its optimal point of freshness.

Alfredo sauce is very simple to prepare.

While the fettuccine is cooking, heat the butter and heavy cream (or no heavy cream) in a large saucepan until boiling. As soon as you see bubbles form, reduce the heat to low and whisk continuously to prevent the milk from charring at the bottom of the pan.

Continual whisking will also help the sauce thicken faster by allowing more water to evaporate. In addition, it protects the sauce so that it does not come off the surface of it.

When the pasta is perfectly al dente, drained, and rinsed, remove the Alfredo sauce from the heat. It should be well reduced by now and you can add the Parmesan. Sprinkle it on and stir until melted and smooth.

If you are using parsley, mix it well before adding the pasta.

Everything comes together minutes before serving and can be created in 15-20 minutes.

Comparison between Carbonara and Alfredo (table)

Related questions

We hope you find this guide on the differences between alfredo and carbonara sauces helpful. We also invite you to review these related questions for additional information.

Difference between fettuccine and linguine?

Fettuccine pasta and linguine pasta are often confused with each other, as they are both long, flat noodles. Fettucine is an egg noodle that is wider and thicker than linguine. Linguine is similar in shape, though less substantial and made simply with flour and water.

Being a thinner pasta, linguine is well-suited to light oil- or tomato-based sauces. Fettuccine is a stronger noodle and can handle rich, creamy, heavy sauces like bolognese or carbonara.

Can I make spaghetti Alfredo?

Spaghetti Alfredo doesn’t have the international flair that fettuccine alfredo does, but yes, you can make it quite successfully if spaghetti is the pasta you have on hand. However, depending on who you ask, it may not be considered true alfredo, strictly speaking.

Spaghetti is a rod-shaped pasta made simply with flour and water, like linguine, so it’s harder to stand out with a heavy sauce like alfredo, but as long as you don’t overcook the noodles, the flavor will be similar. .

What is the difference between Boscaiola and Carbonara?

Boscailola is very similar to carbonara and alfredo, but its star ingredient is porcini mushrooms. It can be made en bianco, with heavy cream, or in rosso, which is a tomato-based sauce.

In any case, the flavor of the mushrooms is what sets it apart from other creamy sauces. It is usually served with tagliatelle pasta.