Are you looking for the ultimate indulgent pasta dinner that is ridiculously easy to make and on the table in under 20 minutes? This incredible, creamy Tortellini Carbonara is your delicious answer. Tender, cheese-filled tortellini are tossed in a luscious, velvety cream sauce with crispy, salty bacon and fresh parsley. It’s a restaurant-quality meal that is perfect for a busy weeknight when you’re craving some serious comfort food.
This isn’t just a recipe; it’s your new secret weapon for a fast, impressive, and completely satisfying meal. We’ll show you how to use a few smart shortcuts to create a stunning, decadent pasta dish that tastes like you spent hours on it. Get ready to fall in love with your new go-to for a quick and cozy dinner.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview: The Ultimate Indulgent Pasta Dinner
What makes this Tortellini Carbonara so spectacularly delicious is its incredible speed and its rich, luxurious cream sauce. This is a fantastic and easy American-style “Carbonara,” which gets its foolproof creaminess from a simple base of heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. This luscious sauce is the perfect vehicle for salty, crispy bacon and hearty, cheese-filled tortellini. The entire dish comes together in the time it takes to boil the pasta, making it one of the fastest and most satisfying comfort food meals you can make.
| Metric | Time / Level |
| Total Time | 20 minutes |
| Active Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Difficulty Level | Easy |
| Servings | 4 |
A Fun Food Fact: What is an Authentic Carbonara?
While this delicious and creamy American-style version uses heavy cream, it’s fun to know that a true, authentic Spaghetti alla Carbonara from Rome, Italy, is a bit different! A traditional carbonara gets its creaminess from a magical, emulsified sauce made with only egg yolks, hard cheese (like Pecorino Romano), cured pork (like guanciale), black pepper, and the starchy pasta water—there is famously no cream! This recipe is a wonderful, easy, and foolproof adaptation that guarantees a luscious, creamy result every time.
The Essential Ingredients for This Creamy Pasta
This recipe uses a handful of simple, high-impact ingredients to create its signature rich and savory flavor.
- The Pasta (The Shortcut Star!):
- Refrigerated Cheese Tortellini: Using a 9-ounce package of your favorite brand of fresh, refrigerated cheese tortellini is the ultimate shortcut that makes this a perfect, super-fast meal. The cheesy filling makes the final dish even more decadent.
- The Creamy Sauce:
- Heavy Whipping Cream: The key to a truly rich, luscious, and foolproof creamy sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese: A good quality, freshly grated Parmesan cheese adds a wonderful, salty, and nutty flavor that is essential to the sauce.
- The Bacon: A generous amount of classic, American-style bacon, cooked until perfectly crisp and then chopped, adds a fantastic, salty, and smoky crunch that is absolutely irresistible.
- Fresh Parsley: A handful of fresh, chopped parsley is stirred in at the very end. This adds a beautiful pop of green color and a clean, bright, herbaceous flavor that perfectly cuts through the richness of the cream and bacon.
Step-by-Step to the Easiest Tortellini Carbonara
This delicious meal comes together in just a few simple stages.
Step 1: Cook the Tortellini and Bacon
Step 1: First, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook your 9-ounce package of refrigerated cheese tortellini according to the package directions until it is al dente. Drain the cooked tortellini well.
Step 2: While the tortellini is cooking, cook the 8 chopped bacon strips in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is perfectly crisp.
Step 3: Use a slotted spoon to transfer the crispy bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Carefully pour off the rendered bacon drippings from the skillet.
Part 2: Make the Quick Creamy Carbonara Sauce and Combine
Step 1: In the same skillet that you cooked the bacon in, combine the 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, the 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, the 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley, and your cooked, crispy bacon.
Step 2: Heat the mixture through over a medium heat, stirring, until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth and warm.
Step 3: Add the hot, drained tortellini to the skillet with the sauce. Toss everything together to combine, until the tortellini are beautifully and generously coated in the luscious cream sauce.
Serve the Tortellini Carbonara immediately in warm, shallow bowls.
The Easiest Creamy Tortellini Carbonara (15-Minute Recipe!)
A quick and easy, American-style recipe for a creamy Tortellini Carbonara. This dish uses refrigerated cheese tortellini as a convenient base. A simple, rich cream sauce is made in a skillet by combining heavy whipping cream, grated Parmesan cheese, and crispy, cooked bacon. The cooked tortellini is then tossed in the sauce with fresh parsley and served immediately for a decadent weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 8 bacon strips, chopped
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini in a large pot of boiling, salted water according to the package directions. Drain when finished.
- While the tortellini is cooking, cook the chopped bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it is crisp.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Pour off the excess drippings from the skillet.
- In the same skillet, combine the heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, and the cooked bacon. Heat the mixture through over medium heat.
- Stir the drained, hot tortellini into the cream sauce until it is well coated.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- This is a very fast meal, perfect for a busy weeknight, that comes together in under 20 minutes.
- This recipe is an American-style ‘Carbonara’ that uses heavy cream for its sauce, unlike a traditional Italian Carbonara which uses eggs.
- Using refrigerated tortellini is a key time-saving shortcut.
What to Serve With Your Tortellini Carbonara
This is an incredibly rich and satisfying dish that is a fantastic, all-in-one meal. To balance its richness, a simple side is all you need.
- A Simple Green Salad: A crisp green salad with a bright and zesty lemon or balsamic vinaigrette is the perfect, fresh counterpoint to the rich, creamy pasta.
- Crusty Bread: A side of warm, crusty garlic bread is a must-have for sopping up every last drop of that incredible cream sauce.
- Roasted Vegetables: Simple, roasted asparagus or broccoli adds a wonderful, healthy, and earthy component.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
This dish is at its absolute peak of deliciousness when it is served fresh and hot, right after it is made.
- Make-Ahead: For a super-fast and impressive meal, you can get a head start by cooking your bacon and chopping your parsley up to a day in advance. Store them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator.
- Storage: Store any leftover pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: The best way to reheat this pasta is in a skillet on the stovetop over a low heat. You will likely need to add a generous splash of milk or cream to loosen the sauce and bring back its creamy consistency, as the pasta will have absorbed much of the sauce as it sat.
For more recipe follow my pinterest account
Creative Recipe Variations
- Add Some Sweet Peas: For a classic, creamy pasta combination and a beautiful pop of color, you can stir about 1 cup of thawed, frozen sweet peas into the sauce at the very end along with the tortellini.
- Use a Different Protein: For a more authentic Italian flavor, you can substitute the bacon with an equal amount of diced, crispy pancetta. This sauce is also fantastic with some shredded rotisserie chicken.
- Add a Touch of Garlic: For an extra layer of delicious, savory flavor, you can sauté one finely minced clove of garlic in about a teaspoon of the reserved bacon drippings for 30 seconds until it is fragrant, before you add the cream to the skillet.
Enjoy The Ultimate Indulgent Pasta!
You’ve just created a truly special dish that is a perfect harmony of rich, savory, and sophisticated flavors. This Creamy Tortellini Carbonara is a testament to the power of a simple, from-scratch-tasting meal to bring comfort and joy. It’s a rewarding and deeply satisfying recipe that is sure to become a new favorite for special occasions or any night you’re craving a decadent treat.
We hope you enjoy every last, perfect, and delicious bite!
If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves an easy and impressive meal!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is the difference between this American-style Carbonara and an authentic Italian Carbonara?
The main difference is the cream. An authentic Carbonara from Rome gets its incredible creaminess from a sauce made with raw egg yolks that are gently cooked and emulsified with the hot pasta, the rendered pork fat, and the starchy pasta water. The American-style version, like this recipe, is a fantastic and foolproof shortcut that uses heavy cream to create a similarly rich and luscious sauce without any risk of scrambling the eggs.
Q2: How do I keep my cream sauce from being too thick or too thin?
This simple sauce is very easy to adjust! If your sauce seems too thick after you have added the tortellini, you can simply stir in an extra splash of milk or cream until it has reached your desired consistency. If it seems too thin, you can let it simmer gently on a low heat for an extra minute or two to allow it to reduce and thicken slightly.
Q3: Can I make this pasta dish ahead of time?
This dish comes together so incredibly quickly (in about 15 minutes) that it is at its absolute best when it is made and served fresh.
Q4: Can I freeze this pasta dish?
Because this dish contains a rich, dairy-based cream sauce, it is not an ideal candidate for freezing, as the texture of the sauce can become a bit grainy and can separate upon thawing and reheating.
Q5: Can I use a different kind of pasta instead of tortellini? Of
Of course! This rich and creamy sauce is fantastic with any medium pasta shape. Try it with penne, rotini, fusilli, or fettuccine.