If you're a fan of spaghetti carbonara, you need to try this Gnocchi Carbonara! The traditional Italian dish made with guanciale (or pancetta), egg, pecorino romano cheese, and black pepper takes on new textures with the addition of gnocchi and is a rich and satisfying meal.

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When it comes to Italian restaurants, if I see spaghetti alla carbonara on the menu, there's a very high chance I'm going to order it. But the thing is, it's also SO easy to make at home.
It's such a simple dish, but one with complex flavors that truly shine. The creamy egg-based sauce is made slightly salty with meat and cheese and feels like a gourmet meal every time.
True Italians may scoff at my alteration to this dish- using gnocchi instead of the traditional spaghetti. But aside from that swap, I tried to keep this dish as true to the classic as possible.
🥚 What is carbonara?
If you haven't had carbonara before, you're in for a treat! It's a simple but decadent Italian pasta dish that originated in Rome.
Traditional carbonara pasta is traditionally made with a few key ingredients: spaghetti, eggs, guanciale (or pancetta), pecorino romano cheese, and freshly ground black pepper.
The raw eggs and cheese is whisked together while the spaghetti is cooking. Once cooked, you add the spaghetti and pork to the sauce and stir to let the heat of the pasta cook the egg.
That's it! How simple is that? There's not even any garlic or parsley involved.
Though carbonara is usually made with spaghetti, I wanted to make a special version with gnocchi instead.
🥔 What is gnocchi?
Not sure what gnocchi is either? While it's debatable as to whether or not gnocchi is considered a pasta, it's often listed as a pasta dish on restaurant menus (at least in America) as they have similar cooking methods and can be served with similar sauces.
Instead of the wheat flour most pastas are made with, gnocchi is made with potatoes. It's typically made by combining cooked mashed potatoes with flour and egg to form a dough.
The dough is then rolled into small logs and cut into bite-sized pieces. Each piece is often pressed against the tines of a fork or a special gnocchi board to add ridges that help hold sauce. To cook them, they're boiled in water, just like most pastas.
The result is small soft pillowy dumplings with a chewy texture and mild flavor.
With their mild potato flavor, gnocchi are like a blank canvas for so many sauces and ingredient additions. That's why I knew they'd make an excellent carbonara.
You can, of course, make your own homemade gnocchi, but you can also buy it in the grocery store, either frozen, fresh, or shelf-stable. I recommend using fresh or shelf-stable for this recipe (I often buy it shelf-stable vacuum packed as pictured below), but you can use frozen if you prefer.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
If you love carbonara and gnocchi, you'll be a big fan of combining them together! If you haven't had carbonara, but you love slightly salty, slightly rich and creamy, slightly smoky pasta dishes, you need to try this one.
Not only is it packed with flavors and absolutely delicious, but gnocchi carbonara is so easy to make. It's perfect for last-minute a dinner when you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
🗒 Ingredients
As you can probably guess, the ingredients for gnocchi carbonara are pretty simple. Here's everything you need (but be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Uncooked gnocchi: fresh, frozen, or shelf-stable. If you love the idea of making y our own, try this homemade gnocchi recipe.
- Diced guanciale or pancetta: guanciale is more authentic, but pancetta is more readily available in the US.
- Eggs
- Grated pecorino romano cheese: you can substitute with parmesan cheese if you want
- Black pepper
🥓 Guanciale or pancetta?
Traditional carbonara is made with guanciale, which is made from pork jowl and is a specialty of central Italy (including Rome, where carbonara originated). Guanciale is know for its rich, fatty quality and unique rich flavor.
However, it may be tough to find guanciale in your regular grocery store; you're more likely to find it in Italian specialty shops. And pancetta is a great substitute. Pancetta is made from pork belly and resembles bacon a bit more- it's a little bit more mild in flavor, but still delicious.
👩🍳 How to make gnocchi carbonara
Now that you have your 5 ingredients, you're ready to get cooking. Don't worry, this will be nice and easy!
To start, bring a large pot of water to a boil. You can salt it if you want, but since this dish already has a fair amount of sodium and salty flavor in it, I don't think you need to.
While the water is coming to a boil, put egg and egg yolk in a large bowl. Add cheese and black pepper.
The first time I made this dish, I used too many whole eggs and egg yolks and quickly learned you don't need as much sauce for a pound of gnocchi as your do for a pound of pasta.
Whisk together until well combined. Set aside.
Heat a large skillet to medium high heat and add guanciale or pancetta. Cook until golden, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes.
When the water comes to a boil, add gnocchi and cook for 2-4 minutes, just until gnocchi floats to the surface of the boiling water.
Working quickly, with a slotted spoon, scoop cooked gnocchi into the skillet with the crispy pancetta or guanciale and stir to combine. It's OK if it's a little wet. Reserve the pasta water as you might need it to thin the sauce out.
Add gnocchi and pork mixture to bowl with the egg mixture and toss gently to combine to let the hot gnocchi cook the egg and thicken the sauce.
Thin the sauce with reserved pasta water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if desired.
Serve with additional cheese and black pepper sprinkled over the top.
And dig right in because this is absolute heaven! Each bite of fluffy gnocchi covered in creamy carbonara sauce is packed with umami and is so rich and decadent.
It comes together in just minutes and makes the dinner for busy weeknights... though I do think you should maybe serve a vegetable on the side. Maybe a side of green beans? But I also wouldn't say no to a side of garlic bread!
⏲️ How to store leftovers
This gnocchi carbonara is definitely best when enjoyed freshly made. And since it doesn't make a huge portion, chances are that you'll eat it all in one evening.
But if you do find yourself with leftovers, you can store them to eat later.
Store the cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. You should only keep them for a day or two since the sauce is egg-based.
You'll also want to take care when you're re-heating your leftovers because you don't want the egg to scramble!
I recommend re-heating the carbonara on the stovetop over low heat. Stir it gently and continuously to prevent the sauce from separating or scrambling. You may need to add a little water or milk (or chicken stock) to thin the sauce out a bit.
🎉 Variations on recipe
In my opinion, this dish is pretty perfect as is. It stays true to the classic carbonara ingredients and has all the flavors I crave when I want carbonara.
However, there's a lot you can do to jazz it up a bit. In fact, I had a really hard time not adding a little garlic and parsley to the dish! Here are some ideas:
- Add extra protein: It guanciale or pancetta don't add quite enough protein for you (or if you don't eat pork), this gnocchi carbonara would also be delicious with roasted chicken, shrimp, or scallops instead.
- Add vegetables: You are also welcome to add the vegetables of your choice to this dish. I think mushrooms, zucchini, peas, asparagus, and spinach would be especially good.
- Make it vegetarian: If you want a vegetarian carbonara, use your choice of plant-based bacon.
- Add herbs: Like I said, I think parsley would be great as a garnish on the carbonara. Basil would be good, too.
- Use parmesan: If you can't find pecorino ramono, you can use parmesan instead. They can be generally used interchangeably, but parmesan has a nuttier flavor. If you use parm, I recommend parmigiano reggiano.
- Use the cheese of your choice: If you don't care about having an authentic carbonara sauce, use your favorite kind of cheese.
- Add garlic or garlic powder: If you just can't eat a dish without that flavor kick add a minced garlic clove or a little garlic powder!
- Add red pepper flakes: We love a little spice in our food, especially our pasta dishes, and a dash of red pepper flakes would be delicious here.
- Add truffle oil: To fancy up the dish a bit, a dash of truffle oil would be tasty.
- Use the gnocchi of your choice: If you prefer making this with sweet potato gnocchi or whole wheat gnocchi, you certainly can. You can even use Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi if you want.
🥶 Can I use frozen gnocchi?
Thanks, in part, to Trader Joe's frozen gnocchi has gained in popularity over the years. You can certainly use it for this gnocchi carbonara recipe!
Here are a few tips if you're using frozen:
- You don't need to thaw the gnocchi before adding to the boiling water to cook.
- But the frozen gnocchi may take a tiny bit more time to cook- just remember to remove it immediately when you see it float to the top of the water.
- You should gently stir the gnocchi a couple times after adding them to the boiling water as they may clump more than fresh gnocchi.
🍝 More delicious pasta recipes
Though it's not technically pasta, I basically want to make this gnocchi carbonara on a weekly basis. But I also have plenty of delicious pasta dishes for when I'm craving the more traditional dish. Here are some of my favorites:
If you're looking for more ways to enjoy gnocchi, try this Creamy Tuscan Gnocchi.
I hope this gnocchi carbonara recipe becomes a part of your weekly meal plan. It's a comfort food classic your whole family will love all year long.
Do you love carbonara?
📖 Recipe

Gnocchi Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 lb. uncooked gnocchi
- 4 oz. diced guanciale or pancetta
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- ⅓ cup grated pecorino romano cheese (can substitute parmesan cheese), plus more for topping
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil (this dish is salty enough so you don't have to add salt to the water).
- While water is coming to a boil, put egg and egg yolk in a large bowl. Whisk together with the pecorino romano and black pepper until well combined. Set aside.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet to medium high heat and add guanciale or pancetta. Cook until golden, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
- When water comes to a boil, add gnocchi and cook for 2-4 minutes, just until it floats to the top of the water. With a slotted spoon, scoop gnocchi (it's OK if they're a little wet) into the skillet with the pork and stir to combine. Reserve pasta water.
- Add gnocchi and pork mixture to bowl with the egg and cheese and toss gently to combine and let the heat cook the egg and thicken the sauce.
- Thin the sauce with reserved pasta water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if desired.
- Serve gnocchi with additional cheese and black pepper sprinkled over the top.
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