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Calories · Italian

Calories in spaghetti carbonara

A typical restaurant serving of spaghetti carbonara (one main-course plate made with 100 g of dry spaghetti, about 330 g) is about 720 calories, usually 500–1,100.

Restaurant portions vary; this is a typical estimate, not a label. Also called carbonara, pasta carbonara, spaghetti alla carbonara.

~720
Spaghetti carbonara

The usual range

Drawn on one 0–2,000 scale shared by every dish page, so plates compare at a glance.

Protein, carbs and fat

  • Protein32 g
  • Carbs77 g
  • Fat31 g

One serving

Serving
one main-course plate made with 100 g of dry spaghetti
Weight
~330 g
Per 100 g
~218

The dish

About spaghetti carbonara

Carbonara is spaghetti tossed with crisp guanciale, egg yolks and grated pecorino or parmesan, with no cream in the Roman version. The pasta gives most of the carbs; the cured pork and cheese bring most of the fat. Built from its parts: spaghetti, guanciale (USDA bacon as a stand-in), egg and yolk, and grated hard cheese — from USDA values.

Ways it comes

One dish, a few numbers

Spaghetti carbonara · rough numbers

  • With cream added (1/4 cup)~920

What moves the number

Why one plate is 500 and another 1,100

  • Guanciale or pancetta and its rendered fat
  • Grated cheese
  • Pasta portion size
  • Cream, added in many non-Italian restaurants

Ordering lighter

If you want a lighter plate

  • Order a starter-size plate
  • Ask for less cheese on top
  • Pair it with a green salad

Side by side

Next to other Italian dishes

Italian · typical restaurant servingAll about Italian food →

  • Minestrone soup~210one restaurant bowl · usually 120–400
  • Hawaiian pizza slice~350one slice from a large 14-inch pizza · usually 230–500
  • Pepperoni pizza slice~350one slice from a large 14-inch pizza · usually 230–500
  • Meat lovers pizza slice~410one slice from a large 14-inch pizza · usually 280–600
  • Garlic bread~520two restaurant slices · usually 250–750
  • Chicken parmesan~610one cutlet with marinara and melted cheese, no pasta · usually 450–1,400
  • Risotto~630one restaurant main · usually 400–900
  • Penne arrabbiata~640one restaurant plate · usually 450–900
  • Shrimp scampi with linguine~700about 200 g of shrimp in garlic butter over 200 g of linguine · usually 500–1,100
  • Spaghetti bolognese~710one restaurant plate · usually 500–1,000
  • Spaghetti carbonara~720one main-course plate made with 100 g of dry spaghetti · usually 500–1,100
  • Lasagna~740one restaurant portion · usually 500–1,000

In PlateDiary

A rough number for the dishes you save — only if you want one.

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Calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and, when PlateDiary AI reads your photo of the table, each dish gets one rough “~” number. Accept it or change it; a number you correct is remembered for that dish. With Calories off, the app looks exactly as it did before.

A read sends small pictures of the cut-out dishes, with the place's name as a hint — never the table photo, faces or your location. Calorie numbers never go to analytics, and nothing is written to a health app. PlateDiary AI starts with free tries; here is how it works.

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How these numbers were made

Method and sources

Last reviewed

Restaurant portions and cooking vary, so these are typical estimates for one serving, built from the sources below. Treat it as a rough number: your plate may land anywhere in the range.

If you manage a health condition, ask a doctor or registered dietitian.

AI helped draft this page; every number was checked against the sources.

  1. USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) — Pasta, cooked, enriched, FDC 169737
  2. USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) — Pork, cured, bacon, unprepared (stand-in for guanciale), FDC 168277
  3. USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) — Egg, whole, raw, FDC 171287
  4. USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS) — Egg, yolk only, raw, FDC 2707172
  5. USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS) — Cheese, Parmesan, dry grated, FDC 2705728
  6. Gram weights: RecipeTin Eats — Carbonara (serves 4), one quarter

Questions

Questions people ask.

How many calories are in spaghetti carbonara?

A typical restaurant serving of spaghetti carbonara (one main-course plate made with 100 g of dry spaghetti, about 330 g) is about 720 calories, usually 500–1,100. The number depends mostly on the portion and how it is cooked.

Does carbonara have cream?

Not the Roman version, which is egg, cheese and guanciale. Many restaurants add cream, which takes a plate to about 920.

Is carbonara lighter than alfredo?

Usually: about 720 for carbonara, against about 820 for fettuccine alfredo, though a creamy restaurant carbonara can match it.

What changes the calories in spaghetti carbonara?

Guanciale or pancetta and its rendered fat. Grated cheese.

How can I order spaghetti carbonara lighter?

Order a starter-size plate. Ask for less cheese on top.

Can PlateDiary show calories for the dishes I eat out?

Yes, if you want it to: calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and each dish you save from a photo of the table gets one rough “~” number you can accept or change.