Best Cacio e Pepe Recipe, Tested by Home Cooks

crowdsource Community Insights

This comes together fast, but people who made this discovered a couple of practical things that keep it from falling apart. If your pasta water doesn't seem starchy enough, a tiny splash of cornstarch mixed with some water helped the sauce come together instead of separating. Also, really stir while you're combining the cheese and liquid, that steady motion is what keeps the sauce smooth. And a heads-up: people who added rosemary usually regretted it, it clashes with the other flavors. Adding a knob of butter at the end is an optional tweak a few people liked.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 1/4 lb (113g) spaghetti, dried
• 1 1/2 glass water
• 1/2 carton chicken stock, low-sodium
• 1 oz (28g) Pecorino Romano, grated (or Parmesan)
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• Salt, to taste
• Rosemary
• Butter

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Place a 10-inch stainless steel frying pan on high heat.
2. Pour in just enough water to submerge the spaghetti u2014 a glass and a half of water.
3. If you add salt to the water, add only a teeny little pinch; you may also skip salt entirely.
4. Add the dried spaghetti (about a quarter pound). Gently press the tips into the water until the tips soften and you can bend the rest of the noodles into the pan.
5. Keep the pasta moving almost continuously and cook it like a risotto so it cooks evenly and doesn't stick; add minimal extra water as needed to prevent sticking.
6. If using chicken stock instead of water, use low-sodium chicken stock (the cook used half a carton for one big portion) and add more stock as needed in the same way you would water.
7. After about 10 minutes, taste the pasta to check doneness and continue cooking until it is almost soft.
8. When the pasta is almost done, turn the heat off and wait until the bubbling stops or slows significantly u2014 do not add cheese while the sauce is vigorously boiling, or the cheese will go grainy.
9. Do a preliminary grind of black pepper over the pasta.
10. Add Pecorino Romano (use at least about 1 ounce / 30 gram of cheese per portion) and stir aggressively to melt the cheese into a smooth, thick sauce, avoiding big cheese chunks.
11. If the sauce looks too thick or will be too sticky when it cools, mix in a little extra water to loosen it until you have a thick blanket of cheese over the pasta.
12. Optionally stir in a little butter at this point if desired.
13. Optionally add rosemary as a finishing flavor.
14. Transfer the pasta to a bowl and finish with additional freshly ground black pepper on top.

crowdsource Community Insights

This dish comes together fast and people who made it generally loved the flavor, but a few things commonly went wrong. Most people found it’s easy to overdo the pepper, start light and taste before adding more. A frequent snag was the cheese clumping and cooking instead of melting, so give extra attention when you add the cheese and work steadily to integrate it. And don’t use metal tools in a non-stick pan; cooks who used wood tongs avoided scraping the surface. Do those three things and you’ll avoid the usual small disasters.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Beginner Friendly: First-time cooks consistently pull this off without trouble.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 300g Spaghettoni
• 1 cup Pecorino Romano, grated (or Parmesan)
• Black pepper, freshly cracked
• Rock salt, to taste
• 12.8 cup Water

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add rock salt.
2. Add the spaghettoni to the boiling salted water and cook on the stovetop; cook them 9 minutes in the pot (the packet time is 12 minutes).
3. While the pasta cooks, place a medium fry pan over medium heat and toast a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper for a few minutes until aromatic; grate pecorino while the pepper toasts.
4. Scoop a little hot pasta water from the pot into the peppered pan so it bubbles and loosens the toasted pepper.
5. Put half a ladle of pasta water into a bowl with the grated pecorino and mix with a fork or spatula to form a thick cheesy paste.
6. When the pasta has approximately 3 minutes left, transfer the pasta from the pot to the peppered pan using tongs.
7. Add a cup of pasta water to the pan with the pasta and mix well; continue cooking and stirring the pasta in the pan (risottare) for the remaining 3 minutes, adding more pasta water and more pepper if it becomes too dry.
8. After mixing in the pan for about 2 minutes, turn the heat off.
9. Add the cheesy pecorino paste to the pan with the pasta while the heat is off.
10. Combine and toss the pasta with the cheese and pasta water for at least another minute, or until all the cheese has melted and dissolved into a creamy emulsion; gently toss or flip the pan to help emulsify and avoid stringy cheese.
11. Serve immediately with extra grated pecorino and a final sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper.

crowdsource Community Insights

Most people who've made this say it hinges on three small things: temperature, water, and cheese. Letting the pan get too hot wrecked the sauce for lots of cooks, so keep the heat lowish and take the pan off the heat if things look too lively. Adding too much pasta water diluted the sauce, add liquid slowly and stop when the texture feels right. And finally, having enough cheese matters; people who skimmed on cheese either ended up with a thin sauce or stringy bits. If you mind those three, it comes together reliably and tastes great.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Beginner Friendly: First-time cooks consistently pull this off without trouble.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 125g Spaghettone quadrato, thick dry (or tagliolini, pici, fresh pasta made with water and flour, fresh pasta made with eggs and flour, fresh pasta made with eggs and semolina)
• 75g Pecorino Romano, grated
• Black pepper, freshly cracked
• 1 tbsp Rock salt
• 1 cup Pasta water

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and, once boiling, add 1 tablespoon rock salt.
2. Add the spaghettone to the boiling water and cook for two minutes less than the package's recommended time (the packet used in the video says 13 minutes, so remove at 11 minutes).
3. While the pasta is cooking, place a saucepan on the heat at a gentle temperature, cover the cooking surface with a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper and toast the pepper for approximately 2 minutes, then switch off the heat.
4. In a small bowl, combine some freshly cracked black pepper with the grated pecorino romano and mix.
5. When the pasta has cooked to the shortened time (11 minutes in the video), use tongs to transfer the pasta directly from the pot into the peppered saucepan, reserving plenty of pasta water.
6. Place the saucepan on top of the uncovered pot so steam keeps the pan warm, add about one cup of reserved pasta water (enough to cover most of the pasta), turn the heat back on, and continue cooking the pasta in the pan while stirring for 2 more minutes.
7. Scoop another mug (about 1 cup) of pasta water and add a little at a time into the pecorino mixture, stirring and gradually adding more water until the cheese becomes a thick paste (do not make it runny).
8. Add the pecorino paste to the pasta in the saucepan, add a little more reserved pasta water if needed, and toss the pasta repeatedly over the steam until the pecorino melts and forms a creamy sauce that coats the pasta; if the pasta will not toss, add small amounts of pasta water and continue tossing until creamy.
9. Serve immediately, topping each portion with any leftover cheese paste and extra freshly cracked black pepper.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 350g spaghetti (or other pastas)
• 60-70 cracks black pepper, cracked and finely crushed
• 1 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano, freshly grated (or Parmigiano Reggiano)
• Salt, to taste
• 2-2 1/2l pasta water, starchy

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Grate 120 g (about 1 1/2 cups) Pecorino Romano and set aside.
2. Crack or crush the black pepper (about 60–70 cracks, or roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons if using a mortar and pestle) and reserve; keep extra cracked pepper (about 15 cracks) for garnish if desired.
3. Bring a relatively small volume of water to a boil in a large pot; place a lid on to speed up boiling.
4. When the water boils, remove the lid carefully, season the water with salt to taste, then add 350 g (12.3 oz) spaghetti and stir.
5. Cook the spaghetti for 2 minutes less than the package instructions.
6. While the pasta cooks, place the cracked pepper into a dry pan over medium heat and toast for about 2 minutes, stirring and lowering heat if it begins to burn.
7. When the pasta is cooked (2 minutes under packet time), remove the pot from the heat and reserve starchy pasta water.
8. Turn the pepper pan down to low, then add about 2 to 2 1/2 liters of starchy pasta water to the pan with the toasted pepper, scraping any pepper from the sides.
9. Increase heat to medium–medium high and bring the pepper and starchy water to a simmer; simmer for about 2 minutes to develop aroma and starchiness.
10. Introduce the drained pasta into the pan with the starchy peppered water, bringing along a little extra starchy water if desired.
11. Turn the pan off and, working quickly, add all of the freshly grated Pecorino Romano to the pasta off the heat.
12. Using the residual heat of the pasta and the starchy water, vigorously mix to melt the cheese and create a creamy emulsion; if it does not fully combine, briefly return to low heat and stir until emulsified but not clumped.
13. Adjust the sauce consistency with additional starchy pasta water as needed until you reach a smooth, creamy coating.
14. Serve the pasta into bowls and garnish with additional Pecorino Romano and more cracked black pepper (about 15 cracks) as desired.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.

grocery Ingredients

• Pasta, fresh (or tonnarelli (square-cut spaghetti), other pasta types, fresh pasta)
• Oil
• Pecorino cheese, grated
• Freshly ground pepper

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Begin by making the cheese paste from the grated Pecorino.
2. Roast the freshly ground pepper in a skillet.
3. Cook the pasta (traditionally tonnarelli; fresh pasta cooks more quickly) until done.
4. Use the pasta's starch to help bind the pasta and sauce.
5. Combine the hot cooked pasta with the cheese paste and the roasted pepper, and stir until the sauce is creamy and not lumpy, adjusting temperature and technique as needed.
6. Do not add butter.
7. Serve with grated Pecorino cheese.
8. The dish is ready in just five minutes.

crowdsource Community Insights

This comes together fast, but technique matters more than fancy ingredients, a few things tripped people up. Most people who overheated the sauce or added cheese while the pan was still hot ended up with a grainy, separated sauce; the ones who took the pan off the heat, added finely grated Pecorino slowly, and kept the mix under 160°F got the smooth, creamy result. People who added butter afterward usually felt it muddied the texture, so leaving it out is what worked best. Also, don’t use pre-grated or coarsely grated Pecorino if you want real creaminess.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 4 quart water
• 5 tsp salt
• Bucatini (or spaghetti, macaroni)
• 1 cup pecorino romano, grated
• 1 tbsp black pepper, freshly cracked
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter (or omit butter (traditional cacio e pepe))

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Place 4 quarts of water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Add 5 teaspoons salt to the water.
3. Optional: add whole peppercorns to the boiling water to infuse it with pepper flavor.
4. While the water heats, grate about 1 cup (125 grams) pecorino romano; reserve additional grated cheese for topping as desired.
5. When the water boils, add bucatini and cook until almost al dente (bucatini typically cooks 9 to 11 minutes; begin checking at about 8 minutes).
6. Before draining, reserve about 2 cups of the pasta cooking water; do not discard it.
7. Drain the pasta in a colander.
8. In a skillet over medium-low heat, melt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter and brown the butter solids until they are an amber color but not burned.
9. Add 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper to the browned butter and stir to bloom the pepper.
10. Add 1.5 cups of the reserved pasta water to the skillet, then add the drained pasta and cook/toss until the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce, using tongs and avoiding any whole peppercorns.
11. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of the grated pecorino romano into the pasta and toss until the cheese melts and forms a creamy sauce.
12. Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining 1/2 cup of pecorino romano, tossing to combine.
13. Serve immediately with additional pecorino romano and a sprinkle of black pepper on top. If the pasta becomes dry, loosen it with more reserved pasta water.

crowdsource Community Insights

This comes together fast, but people who made it ran into two big things: lumpy cheese and flat pepper. The cooks who avoided clumps mixed a little hot pasta water with grated Pecorino Romano into a smooth slurry, then added the pasta into the oil-and-water emulsion and took the pan off the heat for about a minute before stirring the cheese in so it doesn’t melt into little chunks. Also, toast the peppercorns before you smash them. If you want extra-starchy pasta water, some people cooked the pasta in a shallow sauté pan with less water.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 1/2 lb (227g) pasta (or linguine, bucatini, spaghetti)
• 1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated (or Parmigiano Reggiano)
• 2 tsp black pepper, coarsely crushed
• Pasta water
• Olive oil

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta; use less salt than you normally do and use very little water in the pot.
2. Crush whole black peppercorns coarsely (for example with a meat mallet or a coffee grinder).
3. Lightly toast the crushed peppercorns in a pan over low heat to bloom their flavor (this step is optional).
4. Grate the Pecorino Romano finely and keep it at room temperature so it is not cold.
5. Reserve some pasta cooking liquid as the pasta cooks (set aside a couple ounces or a ladleful before draining).
6. Cook the pasta (1/2 pound) until just less than firm (slightly under al dente).
7. Put about half of the grated Pecorino (about a cup) into a bowl, add a couple ounces of reserved pasta water and some of the toasted crushed pepper, and whisk/mix to form a paste.
8. Add more cheese and a little more pasta water to the bowl gradually as needed to loosen the paste and avoid clumping.
9. Transfer the drained pasta to the pan with the toasted pepper, pour in the cheese paste, shake the pan and use a wooden spoon or tongs to toss the pasta and paste together.
10. Add small amounts of reserved pasta water back to the pan as needed and toss to emulsify into a creamy sauce; add more Pecorino at the end if the sauce seems too loose.
11. Serve immediately with additional grated Pecorino and extra black pepper if desired.

grocery Ingredients

• Pici pasta
• Pecorino Romano, grated
• Black peppercorns, crushed (or pre-crushed black pepper)
• Salt, to taste
• Pasta water

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add salt.
2. Add the pici pasta to the boiling salted water and cook until al dente, about 8 and 1/2 to 9 minutes.
3. Crush the black peppercorns (or use pre-crushed pepper) and toast them in a dry skillet for about 20–30 seconds until fragrant.
4. Add some hot pasta water to the toasted pepper in the skillet.
5. Grate the Pecorino Romano. Add some pasta water to the grated cheese to create a cheese paste.
6. When the pasta is al dente, add the pasta to the skillet with the pepper; add a little cooking water and stir to combine.
7. Switch off the heat, add the cheese paste, and mix the cheese and pasta together until the sauce comes together.
8. Plate the pasta and spoon any remaining sauce on top.