The Best Easy Cacio E Pepe Recipe Ever (2024)

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By Courtney ODell

4.54 from 13 votes

Feb 03, 2020, Updated Mar 23, 2024

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The Best Easy Cacio e Pepe Recipe Ever – this easy pasta is creamy, rich, and delicious with just a few ingredients you probably already have on hand!

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Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.

Table of contents

  • How to Make Cacio e Pepe
  • How to Make a Parmesan Pasta Bowl
  • Tips and Tricks to Perfect Cacio e Pepe
  • FAQs
  • What to Serve With Cacio e Pepe:
  • The Best Easy Cacio e Pepe Recipe Ever

If you were an avid fan of Anthony Bourdain, you’d have to know this episode. Rome, in all of the rare beauty of black and white in a modern TV format, was one of th emost memorable episodes I’ve ever watched.

For those of us that love creating, storytelling, and food – there is nobody like Anthony Bourdain. His storytelling made me fall in love with food and travel – and pursue my loves as a career.

So when he enjoyed a dish so much he couldn’t even bear to give away the location (from the Rome episode of No Reservations- shot entirely in black and white- where he proclaimed cacio e pepe as the greatest thing in the history of the world)? I had to find a copycat that was just as amazing and try it for myself!

Cacio e pepe is one of the best comfort pastas of all time – it is creamy, rich, and delicious with a ton of flavor – despite using only a couple of ingredients that are understated and likely to already be in your pantry! Cacio e pepe might sound complicated – but it is one of the most simple and delicious pasta dishes, ever!

Cacio e pepe translates to cheese and pepper in many Italian regions – and this pasta is basically just pasta, butter, pepper, and cheese. While cacio e pepe might sound plain – it is AMAZING. Thick, buttery, rich, and a little spicy from the pepper – it is the ultimate comfort food pasta and perfect for an easy quick dinner. This simple pasta is so rich and creamy – without any cream.

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How to Make Cacio e Pepe

To make this recipe, you’ll need:

  • Water – salt your water when you cook spaghetti – but don’t add olive oil. Adding olive oil will make your pasta slick and encourage it to soak up the oil, instead of your sauce!
  • Tagliolini or spaghetti – use a quick cooking noodle you love. Traditionally, you’d use spaghetti – but I’ve used bucatini and even fettuccini in a pinch when I’m starving, as this meal is meant to be something easy and fast.
  • Butter – butters rich fat content is going to provide a lot of the creamy texture for our pasta’s sauce, making it velvety and delicious.
  • Fresh cracked pepper – while using cracked black pepper seems easy, this recipe has so few ingredients, it is critical to use fresh cracked pepper for the best flavor and the most heat.
  • 1 cup pasta cooking water – this isn’t additional water from before – but rather, when you make your sauce, you will reserve 1 cup of the water your pasta cooks in – don’t let it all go down the drain! This water contains starch pasta gives off, and helps emulsify, so your pasta sticks to it.
  • Parmesan or romano cheese, grated – use high quality, delicious cheese you love the flavor of, as it will melt and form the base of our sauce with the butter. Parmesan is nutty and salty, and adds a lovely addictive flavor to pasta that you can’t get enough of!
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Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will follow this method:

  • Boil pasta to just under al dente. Cook in salty, rapidly boiling water until a bit over al dente. Since we will add the pasta back to the sauce to cook for a moment before serving, I like to cook just a bit under al dente – so it can finish at al dente.
  • Save one cup of pasta cooking water! You’ll drain the rest and set the al dente pasta aside, but do not drain all the water – be sure to save one cup!
  • Let pepper bloom. This sounds a bit funny – but it just means let it get fragrant, which only takes about a minute after you add it to the pan. Be sure to not let it burn, so stir as it toasts.
  • Add butter and pasta water to pan to start sauce.
  • Thicken sauce and add pasta back. Add pasta to pan and cook to al dente as sauce thickens.
  • Stir in cheese. Add in cheese, allowing it to thicken sauce as it melts. Adding before pasta is done and sauce has thickened can cause cheese to sink to the bottom, so stir it in right at the end.
  • Serve. Serve in parmesan cheese bowls immediately.

How to Make a Parmesan Pasta Bowl

While a parmesan pasta bowl isn’t required for this dinner, it is a really simple way to take this pasta up a notch and make it look amazingly fancy in no time!

Making a parmesan cheese bowl to serve your pasta in is really fun and cute- but it also adds a great crunchy texture and salty parmesan kick to your pasta too!

This easy baked parmesan bowl is so simple – but adds a ton of flavor to this dish. It’s entirely optional, but if you have a bit of extra time when making this cacio e pepe recipe, try it in this parmesan bowl!

  • Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees.
  • Next, layer parmesan cheese on a baking mat.
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  • I add 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese to the mat (this will depend on your size bowl or how big you want servings to be – you can go anywhere from 1/4 cup for a small bowl to 1/2 cup to a medium size bowl – and 1 cup parmesan for a giant bowl shape.
  • Bake until lightly golden brown and very bubbly.
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  • Remove from oven and let cool until you can hold parmesan comfortably (it will still be very warm, but cooled enough you wont burn yourself.)
  • Lay parmesan over a bowl turned upside down, folding pleats or simply scrunching it up like a tostada shell to make it fit the bowl’s shape.
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  • Let cool completely until hard, about 15-30 minutes.
  • Add pasta to bowl.

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Tips and Tricks to Perfect Cacio e Pepe

Use pasta water in the sauce. It sounds really weird to use pasta water in your sauce, right? Well there is a really great reason to use about a cup of the water your pasta cooks in to make a pasta sauce – adding some of the starchy water the pasta boils in helps to emulsify and thicken the sauce, giving it tons of flavor. Many people even call pasta cooking water “liquid gold” – don’t throw out all of your cooking water and send all that liquid gold down the drain.

Emulsifying your sauce with the addition of pasta water helps the sauce stick to the pasta so it can soak up all that delicious butter, pepper, and parmesan flavor!This results in a thick and creamy non-greasy sauce for your pasta – without any cream.

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FAQs

When is Cacio e Pepe done?

This recipe is a bit of a rustic dish without an exact cooking time, and everyone has their own preferred doneness for pasta – so it’s kind of done when you want it to be. Generally, your dish is done when the sauce has thickened and pasta has reached al dente – or soft, with just a bit of bite.

Can I make Cacio e pepe vegan?

I’ve made this recipe with oat milk and a vegan cheese substitute, and it was delicious! Be sure to use dairy substitutes that you like the flavor of, as this recipe has so few ingredients, you’ll really taste each ingredient on it’s own.

Can I make this more peppery?

You can add more or less pepper, based on your own personal preferences.

Do I have to make a parmesan bowl?

This is an absolutely optional step; something I just like to do for extra flavor.

How can I keep this recipe from sticking to my pan?

When cooking your sauce, I recommend using a nonstick pan.

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What to Serve With Cacio e Pepe:

This dinner is a quick, pantry staple meal meant to feed you fast – so finding simple, easy sides to serve with it is essential!

We love serving with texas toast, fruit salad with poppyseed dressing, warm goat cheese salad, or a deceptively easy broiled lobster tail.

The Best Easy Cacio e Pepe Recipe Ever

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The Best Cacio e Pepe

The Best Easy Cacio e Pepe Recipe Ever – this easy pasta is creamy, rich, and delicious with just a few ingredients you probably already have on hand!

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Keyword butter, cheese, italian, paremesan, pasta, pepper, spaghetti

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 400kcal

Author Courtney O’Dell

Ingredients

  • water
  • ½ lb tagliolini or spaghetti
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp fresh cracked pepper
  • 1 cup pasta cooking water
  • 1 ¾ cups parmesan or romano cheese grated

Instructions

  • Boil a large pot of water and salt it generously.

  • Add pasta and cook until under al-dente – still a little crunchy.

  • Remove one cup pasta water and set aside.

  • Drain pasta.

  • Add cracked pepper to pan and heat for about 40 seconds on medium high to let bloom.

  • Add butter and pasta water to pan, melt butter.

  • Add pasta to pan and cook to al dente as sauce thickens.

  • When pasta is cooked, mix parmesan or romano in pan and stir well to mix.

  • Serve in parmesan cheese bowls immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 400kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 945mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g

Categorized as:
Main Dishes, Pasta, Recipes

About Courtney

Courtney loves to share great wine, good food, and loves to explore far flung places- all while masting an everyday elegant and easy style at lifestyle blog Sweet C’s Designs. Sweet C's devoted to finding the best food and drinks you'll want to make or find, around the world!

Read More About Me

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The Best Easy Cacio E Pepe Recipe Ever (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of Cacio e Pepe? ›

Tips for Making Cacio e Pepe

Let the pasta cool slightly—Ripping hot pasta plus finely shredded or grated cheese inevitably yields a clumpy sauce. Letting the pasta cool for 2 minutes before tossing ensures a perfectly creamy sauce.

Why Cacio e Pepe is so hard to perfectly execute? ›

But it is extremely hard to execute well because you need to control the heat. The cheese will become stringy if you heat up your pan too much (above 70 °C or 158 °F). I tested all the methods, so you do not need to! Cacio e Pepe is rare in restaurants because it is hard to serve warm without the corn starch trick.

What is the best pasta for Cacio e Pepe? ›

Pasta: Tonnarelli is the traditional pasta for Cacio de Pepe but you may use easier to find spaghetti or bucatini.

How do you keep cheese from clumping in Cacio e Pepe? ›

Don't overheat the sauce.

If you've ever had the cheese clump up or stick to the pan when making cacio e pepe (very common, but always such a tragedy!), it was likely due to the cheese being overheated. Be absolutely sure that the burner is turned off below the sauté pan with the melted butter.

Why isn t my Cacio e Pepe creamy? ›

Elbow grease. The creaminess of Italian pasta dishes is usually the result of stirring. Add your pasta to the sauce or condiment - cacio e pepe in your case - with some of the water the pasta boiled in. Stir as you never stirred before and the result will be creamy.

How do you thicken Cacio e Pepe? ›

- Add a little more pasta water than you think you need (the pasta will continue to soak it up and the sauce will thicken on your plate).

Can I use Parmesan instead of pecorino for Cacio e Pepe? ›

Cheese– Aged Pecorino Romano is a MUST when making Cacio e Pepe. It is made from sheep's milk and has a strong and tangy flavor. I also use Parmesan cheese because I like the flavor of the two cheeses together.

What does cacio Pepe mean in English? ›

Cacio e pepe means 'cheese and pepper' in several central Italian dialects. In keeping with its name, the dish contains grated pecorino romano and black pepper, together with tonnarelli or spaghetti.

Why does my Cacio e Pepe break? ›

The trick is to toss the cheese with starch before heating it. As the starch heats up and gels, it stabilizes the cheese so it won't break. I tried the method for this Cacio e Pepe, which makes for a durable sauce that doesn't break even after raising the temperature until the sauce boils (usually a mortal sin).

What can I use instead of pecorino in Cacio e Pepe? ›

Cacio e Pepe Variations

Pecorino Romano is a hard, Italian sheep's milk cheese. It has sharp, rich nutty flavor, making it the perfect cheese for this simple pasta dish. If you don't have it or can't find it Parmigiano-Reggiano is a totally acceptable alternative.

What meat to serve with Cacio e Pepe? ›

The best side dishes to serve with Cacio e Pepe are turkey meatballs, Caprese salad, shrimp scampi, grilled red snapper, grilled mushrooms, avocado salad, cornbread, Parmesan crusted walleye, chicken wings, beef tenderloin, garlic bread, bruschetta, sauteed spinach, Italian sausage, and roasted vegetables.

What are the ingredients in Trader Joe's spaghetti cacio e pepe? ›

Ingredients. Water, pecorino romano cheese (sheep's milk, sea salt, animal rennet), sunflower seed oil, modified cornstarch, ground black pepper, sodium citrate, xanthan gum, sea salt.

What ingredient keeps cheese from clumping? ›

Use cellulose or potato starch

Cellulose comes from trees, but it's exactly the same as the cellulose in vegetables. Many manufacturers of shredded cheese coat them with cellulose or potato starch because the coating repels moisture so the cheese won't get sticky and clump together.

Can I use Pecorino instead of Parmesan? ›

If you'd like a little more kick in flavor, you can enjoy some pecorino Romano as an alternative to Parmesan, but make sure to use pecorino carefully because the flavor is more intense and will make more of a statement.

Can Cacio e Pepe be reheated? ›

Cacio E Pepe Pasta Reheating Instructions

Place the pasta in a pan over medium-high heat and gently mix until hot to reheat. Alternatively, reheat it in the microwave in bursts.

Why is my Cacio e Pepe sauce not combining? ›

Cacio e Pepe Troubleshooting: Emulsifying the sauce
  1. The Pecorino Romano is very finely grated. ...
  2. The pasta water and pasta can't be too hot when adding to the cheese. ...
  3. I'm using less water than I usually would so there is more starch to aid in emulsification.
Apr 11, 2022

What is Cacio e Pepe sauce made of? ›

Cacio e Pepe (pronounced ca-cho ee pepe) is a Roman pasta dish that translates to “cheese and pepper”. The simple dish consists of spaghetti, black pepper and Pecorino Romano (and in our case a little butter too!)

Why is Cacio e Pepe important in Italy? ›

This typically Roman pasta dish goes back to ancient times. In their sacks, local shepherds would carry cacio cheese made from sheep's milk, pepper, and dried spaghetti. Cacio e pepe is a symbol of Rome – like the Colosseum, it's an institution.

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