Easy Pasta Dinner Recipe- Green Bean Pasta Carbonara

June 2020 Updated September 2023

Want an easy dinner that even your pickiest eaters will love? This 30 minute pasta carbonara can’t be beat! This recipe is so simple my kids help make it and it’s an entire meal in only two pans. This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and making a purchase I may make a small commission. Coupon codes may expire at any time, thank you for your support!

This recipe is one of the first to become a Chaos family staple. Now it is the stuff of legends as it is E’s all-time favorite meal. When we make it, we make an entire box of pasta in the hopes of leftovers. Then E eats it for breakfast too! We made it the other night and for the first time she helped with the entire process. I’m so proud of her cooking skills! If you’d like to skip the blog post and head straight to the recipe- click here!

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. Bacon
• 1 Vidalia onion
• 1 pkg. frozen green beans or about 20 fresh beans
• 3 eggs
• 1 Box angel hair pasta
• 8 oz. Parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste

Serves: 8 Total Time: 30 Minutes

1. Fill stock pot with salted water. (I’ve learned from Food Network you should salt your water liberally so the pasta itself actually tastes like something.)
2. Cut bacon into 1-inch pieces and place into a hot saute pan.

3. While bacon is cooking, dice the onion. Add it to the pan once the bacon is about 3/4 of the way done. The onion cooks quicker than the bacon and we don’t want it to burn!

Green Beans

4. Hopefully your pasta water is boiling by now. Add your beans. If you are using frozen the water temp will go down. If using fresh, wash and trim them first. Once it is boiling again, add pasta and stir occasionally. Edited to add- If you’re using frozen you can just cook them in the microwave according to the package instructions and add them to the finished product at the end.

5. Using a coffee mug, (yes, we have a Lions fan at our house…you can sent your condolences to @manager_chaos on Twitter) scoop about 1/4 of the pasta water from the stock pot (try not to get any pasta or beans). Once the bacon & onions are done, use this pasta water to deglaze the saute pan. Remove it from the heat.

6. Continue to monitor your pasta & green beans, drain when pasta is done according to your taste. Return to stock pot.

7. In the meantime, crack three eggs- another job E so happily does for me- into a small mixing bowl. This is a cereal bowl, I use it every time and every time it is too small and I make a mess, don’t be like me.

8. Gradually add the Parmesan cheese to the eggs. Whisking them together, also add a bit of salt (remember the recipe will already be salty from the bacon and cheese) and pepper to your preference.

9. Mix bacon and onion into the pasta. Then mix egg mixture. The heat of the pasta will cook the eggs- be sure to stir it together well so you don’t wind up with scrambled eggs!

Enjoy!

We serve this recipe with bread, usually I pick it up from the bakery at the grocery store, but when in quarantine…

…we made our own! Okay, I didn’t, but Chaos Dad did, and it was fantastic. I know yeast has been a luxury lately, but we were able to find some on Amazon very easily!

Chaos Dad has been using this recipe from Amandascookin.com and has it down to perfection. Check out the fruits of his labor:

This pasta recipe serves all five of us (a few helpings each!), plus there’s enough for leftovers. We make it about once a month and have tried it with shrimp instead of bacon too. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does!

Follow me on Pinterest or check out the recipes page for even more meal ideas.