This vegetarian spaghetti carbonara is so delicious, I promise you that no one will miss the bacon.
Traditional spaghetti carbonara goes meatless with caramelized portabella mushrooms and a generous amount of smoked mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Looking for Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara? This version of spaghetti carbonara does not include meat, but it does include eggs and cheese. If you're looking for a recipe that does not contain any animal products, I've listed a few suggestions below for how to make Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara.
Meatless Spaghetti Carbonara with Portabella Mushrooms and Smoked Mozzarella
Spaghetti Carbonara is without a doubt one of my favorite pasta dishes. You just can't go wrong with eggs, bacon, and cheese.
While you could set a plate of spaghetti carbonara in front of me any day and I'd be a very happy camper, I wondered if it might be possible to get the same smoky deliciousness without the bacon?
While we are not vegetarians in this house, we also don't eat a tremendous amount of meat. At most, you'll find meat-based meals on our table only a couple times a week. As such, I'm always trying to find ways of cooking vegetarian versions of favorite dishes that traditionally contain meat.
Traditional spaghetti carbonara contains only has a handful of ingredients and bacon is one of the most important, adding meatiness and smoky flavor to this super simple dish.
For this vegetarian version, I wanted to find a way to retain the smokey flavor and substitute something for the bacon that might provide some semblance of meatiness.
I found that caramelized portabella mushrooms did a great job adding meatiness to the pasta, and even contributed a bit of smoky flavor. But, the addition of smoked mozzarella is what takes this dish from a vegetarian "knock off" to something that deserves its own category.
What is Smoked Mozzarella?
Smoking fresh mozzarella adds amazing depth of flavor. The process of smoking mozzarella varies, but traditional involves either suspending balls of cheese directly over wood chips or placing the cheese in a container or smoker that allows smoke to waft through
For mozzarella that's smoked with wood chips, hickory, chestnut, alder, pecan, cherry, and apple are the most common varieties, and the intensity of the smoky flavor varies with each brand.
If you have the opportunity to taste before you buy, choose a brand with an intensely smoky flavor for this dish.
How to Make Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara
Daiya Vegan Mozzarella Cheese is a good substitute for traditional cow's milk cheese, although it won't contain any of the smoky flavor of smoked mozzarella.
To compensate, you could add a bit of Liquid Smoke, or use some hickory smoked sea salt.
For the parmesan cheese, Nooch It! Cashew Grated Cheese works well, but any vegan parmesan cheese should be fine, so if you have a favorite brand, use that.
Instead of the eggs, soak ½ cup raw cashews overnight. Then, put them in the food processor with ¼ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk, 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon salt (preferably hickory smoked sea salt), ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, and a dash of ground black pepper.
More Popular Vegetarian Recipes:
📖 Recipe
Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara {with Vegan Options}
This vegetarian spaghetti carbonara is so delicious, I promise you that no one will miss the bacon.
*See notes below for vegan options
Ingredients
- 10 oz spaghetti (see note)
- 2 tablespoon salt (for the pasta water)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped shallot
- ½ - 1 ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
- 8 oz portabella mushrooms - chopped if large, sliced if using baby portabellas
- 2 teaspoon (2 cloves) minced garlic
- 4 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- 7 oz smoked mozzarella cheese, grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 oz grated parmesan cheese (*See notes)
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Fill a large saucepan with water and add enough salt to make the water taste salty, like seawater - about 2 tablespoons. Set it over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just slightly underdone. (If using fresh pasta, cook for only 60 - 90 seconds.) Drain, reserving ½ cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Pour the olive oil into a large skillet or saucepan and set over medium heat. Add the chopped shallot and crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, until the shallots are just beginning to brown.
- Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are a deep brown. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and toss to combine. Remove from the heat.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk with the smoked mozzarella to combine. Slowly whisk in the reserved pasta cooking water.
- Set the pan with the pasta back on the burner, with the heat set to medium-low. Pour in the egg and cheese mixture, stirring constantly to melt the cheese and cook the eggs.
- Stir in the grated parmesan and cook, stirring constantly until melted.
- Remove from the heat, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.
Notes
A Message for Vegetarians About Parmesan Cheese:
Most parmesan cheese contains animal rennet and is not vegetarian. This is also true of other cheeses, such as Pecorino Romano, Grana Padano, and Gorgonzola, and some french cheeses. There are more and more plant-based vegan and vegetarian cheeses available every day. So, if eating vegetarian is important to you, look for those.
To Use Fresh Pasta in this Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara:
If you've never made homemade pasta but want to try your hand at it, here's a pasta-making picture tutorial that will take you through the process, step-by-step.
To Make Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara:
Daiya Vegan Mozzarella Cheese is a good substitute for traditional cow's milk cheese, although it won't contain any of the smoky flavors of smoked mozzarella. To compensate, you could add a bit of Liquid Smoke, or use some hickory smoked sea salt.
For the parmesan cheese, Nooch It! Cashew Grated Cheese works well, but any vegan parmesan cheese should be fine, so if you have a favorite brand, use that.
Instead of the eggs, soak ½ cup of raw cashews overnight. Then, put them in the food processor with ¼ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon salt (preferably hickory smoked sea salt), ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, and a dash of ground black pepper.
What to Do with Leftover Pasta:
Use it to make a simple Pasta Frittata! Pasta Frittata is a deliciously easy way to use up leftover pasta.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 657Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 348mgSodium: 1638mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 36g
Liz says
This dish looks delicious! Your presentation is beautiful as well! I saved the recipe to give it a try later this week!