This chicken carbonara recipe without pasta is a household favorite. This recipe is quick, easy, and a versatile dish that can feed your family, perfect for date night with your significant other, or for a group of friends.
This pasta inspired dish allows you to enjoy the flavors you already know and love without pasta. And if you're looking for ideas my diced chicken recipes and easy chicken breast recipes with only a few ingredients are amazing.
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🌟 Why this recipe works
Add this perfect go-to recipe to your weekly meal plan. It is quick, easy and of course, delicious. I love how this dish carries the aroma, it just smells fantastic. As a result, I usually have an audience gather about halfway through preparing this dish, and I love having company in the kitchen to help out.
Compared to most pasta dishes, this one is loaded with flavor from start to finish. And as far as chicken carbonaras go, this one is easily one of the best recipes going.
Also check out my chicken bacon ranch casserole recipe that is ready in less than 40 minute! And if that isn't enough, explore these fantastic diced chicken recipes, chicken casserole recipes with few ingredients
🔪 How to make
This no pasta chicken carbonara is easy, delicious, and ready in about 30 minutes. Learn how to make chicken carbonara without pasta with my step-by-step instructions, detailed process pictures, and helpful cooking tips. Lets get started!
Cooking Instructions
I love bacon and the first thing we want to do is cook the bacon.
Step 1
Start by preheating your oven or frying pan and get your bacon ready. In this recipe, I prefer to bake the bacon. This allows for extra time prepping without having to monitor a frying pan constantly.
Tip: save 1 tablespoon of bacon grease and add this to your skillet.
Step 2
Prep the Chicken Thighs – cut into bite-sized pieces
Step 3
Add the bacon grease you saved earlier. Saute the chicken in the skillet and sprinkle the ½ teaspoon garlic powder as well as salt and pepper to taste.
Continue to saute the chicken until it is thoroughly cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
Step 4
In the same skillet add ½ cup of chopped onion and saute for a few minutes until they start to become tender.
Step 5
Time for the minced garlic. Add in 2 teaspoons of minced garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. You should start to smell the aroma from the garlic in about 10 – 15 seconds. Yummm!
Step 6
Whisk in the heavy whipping cream and the chicken broth, scraping the bits off the bottom of the skillet. All of those bits are loaded with flavor and help layering flavors.
Step 7
Mix in the Parmesan cheese, chopped basil and Italian seasoning. Reminder to stick to quality spices whenever possible.
Step 8
Toss in the crumbled bacon, and 2-3 cups of fresh spinach. Cook until the spinach has begun to wilt. I love this part as everything is starting to layer together.
Step 9
Add the chicken back to the skillet, and toss to coat in the sauce. Sprinkle in additional salt and pepper to taste.
Step 10
Simmer for 3-5 minutes longer, plate and serve this delicious chicken carbonara.
🥗 What to serve with
Air Fryer Garlic Bread
This carbonara pasta and garlic bread is the perfect match. It tastes absolutely delicious and crunchy garlic bread taste this meal to another level.
Healthy Spinach and Apple Salad
Start with 1 bag of spinach leaves (roughly 80g), cut 1 apple and 1 pear into slices, gently toast 100g walnuts in a frying pan with a drizzle of light maple syrup. Mix it all in a bowl with some balsamic vinegar and voilà, another tasty side. Talking about spinach? You should try my creamy chicken spinach casserole recipe.
💭Cooking Tips
A pro tip for elevating creamy recipes like this chicken carbonara is lime juice. Just before the final simmer squeeze one half of a medium-sized lime into the skillet. This helps layer the flavor profile of the dish by adding a touch of acidity, which elevates this recipe to a straight ten.
🙋 Frequently Asked Questions
What does egg do in carbonara?
The egg plays two roles in carbonara. The egg white combines with the pasta water and thickens to provide viscosity. The egg yolk, emulsifies, resulting in an ultra creamy and smooth texture.
Can I make chicken carbonara without egg?
Carbonara sauce contains a raw egg, as it traditionally does. However, it isn't really uncooked. The egg in this dish is cooked just enough to make the sauce rich and creamy. I provided instructions for making this dish with and without an egg, in case you run out of eggs or if you have an egg allergy.
🍳 Related Noodleless Pastas
Ditch the noodles and enjoy the fantastic Italian inspired and side dish recipes for your next dinner.
Check out my collection of stuffed chicken breast recipes for more ideas. And my delicious copycat Longhorn parmesan crusted chicken recipe that will wow your guests.
🧊 Storing and ♨️ Reheating
Store your leftover chicken carbonara by letting it cool down in the pot you cooked it in.
Fridge - transfer the chicken carbonara no pasta to an airtight container and then put it in the fridge for up to 5 days. To serve, heat the soup in a pot.
Freezer - you can also freeze this meal if you want to store some for up to 3 months.
Reheat - when you want to reheat the chicken carbonara no pasta, thaw it overnight, then transfer it to a pot and bring it to the boil stirring from time to time.
👪 Serving Size
This chicken carbonara serves 4 - 5 people and makes a fantastic weeknight meal that is affordable, easy, and tastes fantastic. If you are in a pasta mood and short of time then you must definitely try my one pot cajun sausage pasta recipe that is ready in only 30 minutes!
📋 Recipe
Chicken Carbonara no Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Boneless skinless chicken thighs - Cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- pinch pink Himalayan Salt - to taste
- pinch black Peppercorns - to taste
- 6 slices Bacon - Crumbled
- 1 tablespoon Bacon Grease
- ½ cup Onion - Chopped
- 2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- ⅓ cup Parmesan Cheese - Grated
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 tablespoons Basil - Fresh Chopped
- 2-3 cups Spinach - Fresh
Instructions
- Cook your Bacon. Start by preheating your oven or frying pan and get your bacon ready. In this recipe, I prefer to bake the bacon. This allows for extra time prepping without having to monitor a frying pan constantly.
- Put your bacon grease to good use and add 1 tablespoon to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Prep the Chicken Thighs - cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Saute the chicken in the skillet and sprinkle the ½ teaspoon garlic powder as well as salt and pepper to taste. Continue to saute the chicken until it is thoroughly cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
- In the same skillet add ½ cup of chopped onion and saute for a few minutes until they start to become tender. Feel free to use purple/red onions!
- Time for Minced Garlic. Add in 2 teaspoons minced garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. You should start to smell the aroma from the garlic in about 10 – 15 seconds. Yummm!
- Whisk in the heavy whipping cream and the chicken broth, scraping the bits off the bottom of the skillet. All of those bits are loaded with flavor and help layering flavors.
- Mix in the Parmesan cheese, chopped basil and Italian seasoning. Reminder to stick to organic-based spices whenever possible.
- Toss in the crumbled bacon, and 2-3 cups of fresh spinach. Cook until the spinach has begun to wilt. I love this part as everything is starting to layer together.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet, and toss to coat in the sauce. Sprinkle in additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer for 3-5 minutes longer, plate and serve. A pro tip for elevating creamy recipes like this chicken carbonara is lime juice. Just before the final simmer squeeze one half of a medium-sized lime into the skillet. This helps layer the flavor profile of the dish by adding a touch of acidity, which elevates this recipe to a straight ten.
Elaine
I made this recipe for dinner last night and it was absolutely amazing! Hands down the best dish I’ve made so far!
730 Sage Street
Thanks for sharing Elaine, this made my day!
Katie
This is my favorite recipe from here!!!! Pairs super well with oven roasted parm asparagus. Will for sure make again!
April
Was the sauce supposed to be thin?
730 Sage Street
From 1 - 5, with 5 being thick and 0 being thin. I'd say this comes out around 2 and can be tweaked to a 3 by simmering it a bit longer.
Candy
I didn’t see the nutritional info? Do you have it?
730 Sage Street
Yes, apparently I missed this the first time around. Thanks Candy!
Sean Beikman
First step didn’t make sense to me and some details were missing. How long to pre heat your oven for and how long to bake your bacon? Recipe never said. I’ve never baked baked bacon before so wouldn’t know
730 Sage Street
Preheating an oven can take a few minutes in some ovens and four time longer in others. The same principle applies to cooking bacon. If you buy thin bacon, it will cook super fast, if you buy thick bacon it will take four times longer to bake. And your oven is your oven, only you know. Some people like really crispy bacon, some like soft bacon, and everything in between.
If your new to cooking, get to know your oven, pans, and have an open mind. Learn as you go and use recipes to guide you!
Caroline
Amazing!!
Dan
This recipe was delicious!
My only issue is the sauce ended up being super thin, almost like a broth; it didn’t coat anything, it just laid at the bottom of my dish. Is it supposed to be thin like that or did I miss something that thickens it?
730 Sage Street
Hard to say Dan, I'd need to see it to know for certain. Thoughts include: Less chicken broth? (maybe to much in your case). Swap out heavy whipping cream for sour cream (thicker, good base). Lastly simmer longer, this should help the water evaporate, causing the sauce to thicken.
Serina
I found this recipe super easy to follow and make. I used whole chicken thighs bone-in and it was delicious! My whole family had seconds! The sauce was very runny so I modified and added more whipping cream and cheese to get the consistency I like. We also added noodles so it definitely wasn't keto friendly but it was delicious nonetheless! This will definitely become one of the meals I make on the regular. Thank you for sharing!
Alicia
I made this tonight. This recipe is sooooo so good!! I see a few people commented that the sauce was really thin. The instructions didn't elaborate so if you're not familiar with making a cream based sauce, know that you should bring the sauce to a boil then reduce to a simmer for probably about 15 minutes or so until it thickens. I'd add in the parmesan and spices about halfway through that time and the spinach right at the end before putting the chicken back in. It's also very important that you stir continuously throughout this time. Typically sauces use cornstarch or flour as a thickener, of course that is not keto friendly, but you can add two to three tablespoons of almond flour, which will also help this thicken. I used three and mine came out great! Also the spinach soaks up some of the moisture so don't skip that step. I served mine over cauliflower rice, and it was divine.
730 Sage Street
Servings: 5 listed in the recipe card.
Lauren
This turned out delicious! I sampled the sauce about half way through and thought it was going to be bland, but once everything came together it turned out to be very flavorful. 4 stars instead of 5, only because the sauce was a bit thin. I added about 1/2 cup of sour cream and that helped it stick to the chicken better.
730 Sage Street
Hi Lauren, glad you liked our Chicken Carbonara.
If the sauce is a bit thin, you can simmer it down. Simmering any sauce helps water evaporate and naturally thicken any sauce. Otherwise almond flour works in a pinch and if your pressed for time.
Cat
I have yet to try but I would think that adding a little Arrowroot flour or starch would fix the thin consistency.
Jessica
I don’t EVER leave comments for food I’ve made. But holy cow. This recipe was a favorite. To me it tasted just like the chicken gnocchi soup from Olive Garden. My boyfriend inhaled it. I served it with loaded cauliflower mashed and breadsticks.
I will have to work on thickening up the sauce. I did let it simmer for a while before I added bacon and spinach.
For my next trick I will be adding more chicken broth and more heavy cream and making this into a soup, I might even add some mushrooms for texture. Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Rose
Very good!!! Thank you!!
Brandi
Can I use chicken breast in place of thighs?
730 Sage Street
Definitely, I typically use whatever I have on hand.
Avriel Lacy
Delicious! The longer you simmer the more it thickens up and the flavors mesh well together.
Gisella
Have you ever made it with chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs?
730 Sage Street
Of course, I typically make it with whatever I have on hand.
Joni
Can you make this ahead of time and put in fridge over night then bake next day?
730 Sage Street
Yes of course! I've done this many times, it tastes even better.
730 Sage Street
Becky, always per serving. Since this recipe serves 5, one serving is 1/5th of this recipe.
Tami
I made this dish for dinner. It was amazing! The flavors blend together so well and my entire family gave it a thumbs up!
Gissela Martinez
I am so happy to read this!! This recipe is definitely one of our favorites at home to 🙂
Sandy
So delicious, this is definitely going in my rotation. Thank you
Debbie Lowndes
This was so delicious- thank you for the ability to change serving size.
Tina
We love this recipe. My husband had me make it twice in one week. I took a picture but don't know how to send it to you.
730 Sage Street
Thanks Tina, this made my day!
Lori
Have made this multiple times with chicken breast. Wondering if the sauce would be the same for Shrimp Carbonara?
730 Sage Street
Absolutely, try the raw shrimp from Costco. One important step: pat the shrimp dry! You want really dry shrimp, otherwise, the moisture will transfer to your Carbonara Sauce.
Mandy
Hi- when does the egg go in? Can’t see it listed in either recipe? Thanks!
Kimberly Grabinski
There is NO egg in my chicken carbonara, which is why you do not see it.
Mandy
Thank you for the quick reply! Under "CAN I MAKE CHICKEN CARBONARA WITHOUT EGG?" it says "I provided instructions for making this dish with and without an egg, in case you run out of eggs or if you have an egg allergy."
So that's why I was looking for it. No worries, will make it without anyway!
Tanya
This dish is absolutely delicious, quick, and easy. I’ve made it twice already and shared with neighbors. Thanks for sharing. Definitely a keeper 🙂