Carbonara is one of my favourite pasta sauces. It would be a go to for me when ordering at an Italian restaurant. Erika also used to make a delicious creamy bacon pasta sauce pre keto, but once the pasta was off the table, we just stopped having that sauce.
We have tried a few different low carb pasta substitutes during our keto journey and this soy bean spaghetti is the closest to real pasta we have tried. This keto carbonara is our take on the classic carbonara sauce. We love a creamy sauce and we are so happy we have found a low carb pasta option, so we can now enjoy a keto carbonara pasta dish.
This is a sponsored post by Low Carb Emporium, Australia’s leading online shop for our favourite keto friendly products. All products recommended in this post are based on our personal favourites.
Keto Carbonara
When Erika decided to come up with a keto carbonara pasta recipe, I was curious as to what went into a traditional carbonara. Aside from the pasta, the traditional ingredients are very keto friendly. Based on my research, a traditional Carbonara has egg, hard cheese, cured pork and black pepper.
Our version of keto carbonara doesn’t use an egg, instead Erika prefers the creaminess from the pure cream. We have always preferred to use cream with this kind of pasta sauce as we just prefer the flavour. This keto carbonara is our interpretation and definitely differs from the traditional version.
Most keto versions of a particular recipe are always going to stray slightly from the original anyway. We are just so excited to be able to share this recipe with you as it is delicious!
Low carb Noodle Options
Low carb pasta and noodles are becoming more and more readily available as the low carb and ketogenic lifestyles grows in popularity. When we started a low carb lifestyle our only pasta or noodle replacement option was spiralising our own zucchinis. Now you can even buy the zoodles all done for you at most Australian supermarkets. If you are going to replace the soy bean spaghetti with zoodles in this recipe, we would recommend salting them and squeezing out any excess water.
Another very popular low carb noodle option is the konjac noodle. We have also found the slendier noodles are now easily available in the health food section of Coles and Woolworths. Changs also have a konjac noodle available now and can be found in the Asian section of the supermarket. We prefer the konjac noodles for Asian style dishes as we feel they are much more like a rice noodle. They work great in our Singapore noodle recipe.
We have also been very lucky to try the famous Bzoodles. This was a recipe created by Carl Franklin from the 2 Keto Dudes. Whilst I did think it was a good pasta replacement, they do take a bit of work. Especially to cook enough for a couple of people to have a full pasta dish serving worth. The thing I love about the idea of Bzoodles is they are much more versatile than the ones you can buy at the supermarket. Carl has made lasagna, ravioli, mac and cheese and beef noodle stir fry using them.
Slendier now also have a few different bean based noodles/pasta options that are lower in carbs. They have the soy bean version we use in this recipe, black bean and edamame. We feel the soy bean version is the most like pasta we have tried and we like the texture and the taste of them. We don’t eat much soy usually, but if we feel like a pasta, we find this is the best alternative to the real deal.
Low Carb Emporium also stock a palena fresh pasta dry mix. Again you will need to do some of the work for this one. You add the wet ingredients and then make the pasta using your pasta machine. We gave up our pasta machine not long after adopting a keto lifestyle, so we have not yet tried this dry mix version. If you can make it like the pictures on the Low Carb Emporium website, I reckon you will be onto a winner.
Slendier Noodles
Slendier noodles now have two different versions of low carb pasta. As mentioned above they have had the konjac noodle style for a few years now. If you are looking for the slendier konjac noodles, you can find them at the health food section of most Coles and Woolworths.
They have recently come out with three different bean variations of spaghetti and fettuccine. Low Carb Emporium stock the soy bean, edamame and the black bean varieties. In this keto carbonara recipe you can choose to use any of the varieties that are you favourites, ours is the soy bean spaghetti as we feel it is the most like pasta we have tried.
The bean varieties of the slendier pastas have also been found in some Coles and Woolworths.
If you are based outside of Australia, you can try this soy bean spaghetti option.
LOW CARB EMPORIUM
Low Carb Emporium is the premium online low carb website in Australia. They launched in October 2017 and have grown to be the stockists of the best low carb products Australia has to offer. We love Low Carb Emporium and place an order with them every couple of months. Although at the moment it feels like we are ordering more like every couple of weeks.
Jack and Yvonne have gone from shipping products out of their garage to now needing a warehouse to distribute all our favourite products. We were lucky enough to be invited to check out their new premises and were impressed by all the wonderful products they have in stock now.
For this recipe you can purchase the below ingredients from Low Carb Emporium using our code for a discount – HAVEBUTTER5
Tips
- Make sure you drain the pasta well once it is cooked to avoid the sauce from getting too watery.
- When adding the cream make sure you have reduced the heat to low to avoid splitting the cream.
- When reheating the pasta, if the pasta seems a little dry, you can add a splash of cream for a little more moisture.
Suggestions
- If you like your pasta cheesy, add some grated cheese on top when you serve.
- We also love to top ours with chopped parsley for some freshness when serving.
Equipment
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You may need –
Keto Carbonara
If you have been missing a creamy pasta dish since adopting your ketogenic or low carb lifestyle, this keto carbonara will surely satisfy your pasta craving. The soy bean pasta paired with the creamy pasta sauce and saltiness of the bacon is just perfect.
If you like this recipe, please give it a 5 star rating.
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- Tandoori Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 100 g Slendier soy bean spaghetti
- 20 g butter
- 4 rashers bacon, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup cream
- 30 g parmesan cheese, finely grated
- salt and pepper
To serve
- parmesan cheese, grated
- parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil for cooking the soy bean spaghetti.
- While the water is coming to the boil, place a frying pan or skillet over medium heat, once pan is heated add the butter and the bacon. Cook bacon for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
- Once water has come to the boil, add the spaghetti to the water and cook for 3-5 minutes or until al dente. Once pasta is cooked, strain water off through a strainer. Set pasta aside whilst sauce is cooking.
- Once bacon is cooked, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Turn the heat down to low and add the cream to the bacon mixture, stir in the bacon and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release any crispy bacon bits into the creamy sauce.
- Let the sauce simmer for 1-2 minutes to thicken and then remove from the heat. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
- Add the parmesan cheese and the cooked spaghetti and stir to coat the pasta with the creamy sauce and serve. Top with extra grated parmesan cheese and parsley.
That was pretty damn delicious. Just made it for me and the fam. Both my kids (3 and 5) ate their whole serve. I wish there was leftovers for lunch tomorrow but the pans been scraped clean. Thank you for this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Kerri. I think we might have this again on the weekend.
OMG This was so delicious – may just knock Mornay off TOP spot.
Another serve left for lunch after Zumba tomorrow.
Haven’t had this pasta before will definitely have again.
Well done Girls another success.
a quick and easy fabulous tasting dish. I couldn’t believe how something so simple could taste so damn amazing. I stirred an egg yolk through the sauce at the end for extra decadence. Where has this pasta been my whole life?! I’m now completely addicted.
We love it as well. it is so good.
So yummy! Really enjoyed the soybean pasta, its so similar to normal pasta. I used the slender soybean fettuccine. Keep the great recipes coming guys
Thank you so much – will do!
This was amazing! The slendier soybean noodles are really yummy too. Very similar to normal fettucine
So glad you enjoyed it Brooke – thanks so much!
Absolutely yummy ?
Thank you.