Recipe · Bacon

Creamy Vegan Carbonara-Style Spaghetti

Silky 'egg' sauce, smoky crispy lardons and plenty of black pepper — ready in 20 minutes.

Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Serves
4
Effort
Easy

Vegan

A plate of spaghetti topped with a creamy vegan carbonara sauce and black pepper
Spaghetti with a creamy, egg-free carbonara sauce. Photo: Lablascovegmenu from London, CC BY 2.0

Carbonara purists, look away — or better, pull up a chair. Silken tofu blended with nutritional yeast, garlic and a pinch of black salt makes a glossy, savoury sauce with that eggy richness, and crispy vegan bacon lardons bring the smoke. Lots of black pepper is not optional.

Ingredients

For 4 servings.

  • 350g dried spaghetti (check it's egg-free)
  • 150g vegan bacon lardons or rashers (rashers cut into strips; or use diced smoked tofu)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 300g silken tofu
  • 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp kala namak (black salt) (optional, for an eggy flavour)
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (plus extra to serve)
  • to serve grated vegan hard cheese and chopped parsley

Method

  1. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of well-salted boiling water according to the pack. Save a mug of the pasta water before draining.
  2. Meanwhile, fry the vegan bacon in the olive oil over a medium-high heat for 4–5 minutes until crisp. Turn off the heat.
  3. Blend the silken tofu, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, black salt and pepper with 4 tbsp of the pasta water until very smooth.
  4. Tip the drained spaghetti into the bacon pan over a low heat, pour over the sauce and toss for 1–2 minutes, adding more pasta water a splash at a time until glossy and coating every strand. Don't let it boil.
  5. Season to taste, then serve at once with more black pepper, vegan hard cheese and parsley.

Good to know

  • The sauce thickens quickly as it sits, so have your pasta water ready and serve straight away.
  • Kala namak is a sulphurous Indian salt — a tiny pinch gives a surprisingly egg-like flavour.

Check every label: stocks, sauces, breads and pastries sometimes contain milk, egg or fish. Cook until piping hot all the way through.

Swaps that work here

Bacon

THIS

THIS Isn't Bacon Rashers

Salty, smoky soya and pea rashers that crisp up in a few minutes — the go-to for a vegan bacon butty.

Found at: Tesco · Sainsbury's · Asda · Morrisons +2

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