Active Time
20 minutes
Total Time
20 minutes
Along with carbonara and amatriciana, cacio e pepe is one of Rome’s essential pasta dishes, served at restaurants all over the Italian capital. Like many of the Eternal City’s best dishes, a good cacio e pepe recipe is about simplicity. Classic versions call for just pasta, salted water, freshly ground pepper, and Pecorino Romano, a Roman sheep’s milk cheese. Ours tosses a bit of Grana Padano or Parmesan into the mix for a more rounded cheese flavor that melds warmth, nuttiness, and sharpness. When combined properly, all the elements come together like sorcery into a lusciously cheesy dish with a creamy sauce.
Ensuring this emulsified Italian pasta sauce is free of clumps when working the cheese into the starchy water can take practice. The quality of each ingredient is key: Use good butter and the best pasta you can afford and ensure your peppercorns are fresh. Classic cacio e pepe uses tonnarelli, a long pasta noodle that’s slightly thicker than spaghetti, but any long or short pasta works (think spaghetti, bucatini, rigatoni, or fettuccine). But the most important component is that cheese: Do not use pre-grated cheeses, which often include additives that prevent clumping in the bag but will cause clumping in your sauce. Use a box grater, not a fine Microplane, for coarsely grated cheese shreds that easily disperse and melt into the sauce without seizing up.
Cacio e pepe is best served immediately, so be sure to set your table before you start cooking. The dish needs little accompaniment, but a bright green salad is a nice addition to balance out the richness. And we'd never say no to garlic bread.
Need a vegan version? Try this one.
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What you’ll need
Dutch Oven
$133 $80 At Amazon
Heatproof Measuring Cup
$26 At Amazon
Colander
$11 At Amazon
Tongs
$21 At Amazon
Large Pot
$55 $48 At Amazon
Ingredients
2 servings
6
3
1
¾
⅓
Preparation
Step 1
Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5-qt. pot over high heat. Season boiling water with kosher salt; add 6 oz. pasta (such as egg tagliolini, bucatini, or spaghetti) and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving ¾ cup pasta cooking water.
Step 2
Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed, in a Dutch oven or other large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper and cook, swirling pan, until toasted about 1 minute.
Step 3
Add ½ cup reserved pasta water to skillet and bring to a simmer. Add cooked pasta and remaining 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed. Reduce burner to low heat and add ¾ cup finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese, stirring and tossing with tongs until melted. Remove pan from heat; add ⅓ cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese, stirring and tossing until cheese melts, sauce coats the pasta, and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Transfer pasta to warm bowls, garnish with more black pepper, and serve.
Editor’s note: This cacio e pepe recipe was first printed in our May 2011 issue. Head this way for more of our very best pasta recipes →
Nutrition Per Serving
Leave a Review
Reviews (957)
Back to TopSoooooo Good ,the only difference is I added crispy guanciale imported from Italy.For someone who eats low carb I'm having this once in a while!!!!!
Cheryl
N.Y.
12/20/2023
Topped with shaved truffle. Sorry for the purists :) A new keeper in my kitchen.
ManySummits
San Francisco, US
11/7/2023
Butter is just underage cheese.
Skoodog
Austin, TX
8/13/2023
It's called cacio e pepe for a reason. No pasta, please. /s
Anonymous
7/28/2023
No butter. Just supposed to have 3 Ingredients (water and salt would make it 5).
Eddy Jr.
Bloomington IN
7/19/2023
I think it's so funny when people are so ADAMANT that a recipe is "wrong" or "not authentic," etc. There is no such thing as one single recipe that is right or authentic! There are as many authentic Italian recipes as there are Italian cooks. Would you say that cornbread is only authentic if it's sweet like Southern style? Or not sweet like New England style? BOTH are right and authentic! Honestly, people, take a breath.. This Cacio e Pepe recipe is delicious, and it comes together beautifully when made exactly as written.
Janice
Centerville, OH
6/2/2023
LOVE IT! I added peas for a taste of spring
Beth Arnold
New York
4/30/2023
There are plenty of recipes for cacio e pepe which include butter.
George Arnold
3/25/2023
I make this recipe all the time and it always turns out fantastic! I usually add a squeeze of lemon and more black pepper at the end and if I'm really trying to bastardize it lots of garlic in the beginning ;)
Kit Kat
Asheville, NC
11/2/2022
Delicious!! The key is to add the cheese slowly off the heat, alternating with the hot pasta water, and stir vigorously.
Anonymous
10/15/2022
I made this dish for a cooking class and let me tell you, the Bon Appetit recipe was far better. Maybe it was the butter. But this was a lot creamer and silky tasting. I added pancetta for a little protein.
Andria
Alpharetta, GA
9/22/2022
Recipe is overly complex and will lead to broken hearts and broken sauce.
Anonymous
Ottawa
7/18/2022
Great recipe! Cut back on some of the butter and used olive oil plus a couple cloves of garlic. Will be making again.
Tom Krupa
Leeds, England
7/16/2022
What an easy great tasting restaurant dish for cooking at home! It would not be the same without butter though!
Anonymous
AR
7/10/2022
It's called cacio e pepe for a reason. No butter, please.
BobS
Philadelphia, PA
5/31/2022