Quick answer: Olive Garden's Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara uses no eggs — their allergen data explicitly lists it as egg-free. It's a cream-based sauce (heavy cream + Parmesan + Romano + bacon drippings) over spaghetti with grilled chicken breast, sautéed shrimp, crispy bacon, and roasted red peppers. At the restaurant it runs ~$23–26 (varies by location) and about 1,390–1,590 calories depending on the source. To make it at home: cook bacon until crispy and set aside; sear seasoned chicken in the drippings, rest and slice; quickly sauté shrimp; build the sauce in the same pan with garlic, heavy cream, Parmesan, and Romano; add roasted red pepper strips and drained spaghetti; fold in the proteins. Serves 4 in about 30 minutes.
Copycat Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara
Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara at home: grilled chicken, tender shrimp, crispy bacon, and roasted red peppers in a cream-and-Parmesan sauce over spaghetti. The key: OG's version has zero eggs — confirmed by their allergen data — so skip the egg yolks and make a simple cream reduction instead.
Medium
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
Total: 50 min4 servings
~$4.50/serving
Prep20 min
Cook30 min
Total50 min
Servings
4
At home~$4.50/serving
vs
Restaurant~$20.25/serving
You save ~78%
Ingredients
Instructions
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Pro tip: This recipe tastes even better the next day. The flavors need time to meld together in the fridge.
❄️
Storage: Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Freezer-friendly for up to 3 months.
~350-550 cal/serving · Rich & Indulgent🔥
CopycatSpices
Copycat Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara
Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara at home: grilled chicken, tender shrimp, crispy bacon, and roasted red peppers in a cream-and-Parmesan sauce over spaghetti. The key: OG's version has zero eggs — confirmed by their allergen data — so skip the egg yolks and make a simple cream reduction instead.
1 lb large shrimp (16/20 count), peeled and deveined
6 slices thick-cut bacon
Sauce:
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano (or more Parmesan)
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Vegetables:
1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers, drained and sliced into thin strips
Finishing:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Reserved pasta water (about 1/2 cup)
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish
Extra Parmesan for serving
Instructions
1.Cook the bacon. Lay the bacon strips flat in a large, wide skillet or sauté pan (12-inch minimum) over medium heat. Cook, turning once, until deeply browned and crispy — about 8 to 10 minutes total. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings and reserve the skillet. When cool, crumble or roughly chop the bacon. Set aside.
2.Prep and cook the chicken. Pat the chicken breasts dry. Season both sides generously with salt, black pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder. Heat the reserved skillet with the 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, undisturbed, 5 to 6 minutes per side until golden and the internal temperature reads 165°F. Transfer to a cutting board. Let rest 5 minutes, then slice against the grain into 1/2-inch pieces. Keep the skillet — do not wipe it out.
3.Cook the spaghetti. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the spaghetti to al dente per package directions, usually 9 to 11 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining. Drain well; do not rinse.
4.Cook the shrimp. While the spaghetti cooks, add 1 tablespoon butter to the chicken skillet over high heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook 1 to 2 minutes per side until just pink and curled into a loose C-shape. Do not crowd the pan — work in batches if needed. Transfer to the plate with the chicken. Do not overcook: shrimp tighten into a tight O when overcooked and turn rubbery.
5.Build the cream sauce. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 30 to 45 seconds until fragrant but not browned. Pour in the heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cream reduces slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.
6.Add the cheese. Stir the Parmesan and Romano into the cream sauce in two additions, letting each batch melt fully before adding the next. Season with the black pepper and salt. The sauce should be glossy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If it tightens too much, add a splash of reserved pasta water to loosen.
7.Add the red peppers and pasta. Return the skillet to medium-low heat. Add the roasted red pepper strips and stir to distribute. Add the drained spaghetti and toss with tongs to coat every strand in sauce. Add reserved pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time if the sauce is too thick — it should cling to the pasta, not pool at the bottom of the pan.
8.Fold in the proteins. Add the sliced chicken and shrimp to the pan. Fold them in gently with the pasta and sauce. Heat just long enough to warm through — about 1 minute. Remove from heat. The residual heat finishes everything.
9.Plate and finish. Divide between 4 warmed pasta bowls. Top each portion with the crumbled bacon, a heavy pinch of additional cracked black pepper, chopped parsley, and extra Parmesan. Serve immediately — cream sauces tighten as they cool.
Notes
The Story Behind the Recipe
Copycat Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara
Prep: 20 min | Cook: 30 min | Serves: 4 | Cost: ~$23–26 at Olive Garden (varies by location) vs. ~$14–16 for four servings at home
Most Olive Garden carbonara copycats go wrong in the same direction: they add egg yolks. It’s an understandable mistake — adding egg yolks is how you make traditional Roman carbonara — but Olive Garden’s allergen documentation explicitly lists Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara as egg-free. The restaurant’s version has no eggs in any form. Adding them creates a silkier, more custardy sauce that doesn’t match what’s actually on the plate at Olive Garden.
OG’s version is simpler and faster: a cream reduction with Parmesan, Romano, and bacon drippings, built directly in the skillet after cooking the chicken. It takes 30 minutes and doesn’t require any tempering or whisking skills.
What makes it taste like the restaurant. Three things most copycat versions skip: (1) cooking the chicken in bacon drippings instead of plain oil — the smoky, savory fat flavor carries into every part of the dish; (2) using Romano alongside Parmesan — Romano is sharper and saltier and lifts the cream so the sauce doesn’t taste flat; (3) the roasted red peppers. Every description of OG’s dish mentions them and they’re easy to overlook because they’re not the star, but they add a sweet, slightly smoky note that balances the cream and salt.
The no-egg principle. If you’ve tried other carbonara copycats and found the sauce heavy or custardy in a way that doesn’t match the restaurant, eggs are almost certainly why. Leave them out entirely. The cream plus cheese creates all the body the sauce needs.
A note on pasta. Olive Garden’s own description says spaghetti — and that’s what this recipe uses. Many well-regarded copycat recipes (including The Kitchn’s) substitute bucatini, a thicker, hollow strand that’s more interesting in texture than spaghetti and arguably a better home choice. Both work. Use spaghetti to match the restaurant; use bucatini if you want a richer, more substantial pasta presence.
See Also — More Olive Garden
Olive Garden Shrimp Carbonara — the shrimp-only version: same sauce and spaghetti, no chicken, more shrimp per plate, ready in 20 minutes
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana — the sausage-kale-potato soup; lighter than the carbonara and a good pairing if you want variety across two courses
Nutrition Facts
Per serving (4 servings)
Calories940
Total Fat44g
Total Carbs76g
Dietary Fiber3g
Sugars4g
Protein60g
Sodium1150mg
* Estimated values based on standard recipe preparation. Actual values may vary.
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Make It Healthier
Love Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara but want a lighter version? Try these simple swaps:
✓Use half-and-half in place of heavy cream — the sauce will be thinner and less rich, but still coats the pasta adequately. Reduce by 1 to 2 extra minutes to compensate for the lower fat content.
✓Use turkey bacon in place of pork bacon. The drippings are less flavorful, so add a small drizzle of olive oil to the pan when cooking the chicken to compensate.
✓Reduce the pasta to 12 oz and add 2 cups of halved cherry tomatoes with the red peppers. The tomatoes add volume, acid, and fiber that balance the richness without adding significant calories.
✓Use a single protein — shrimp only — and skip the chicken. Shrimp is lower in fat than chicken breast and the recipe comes together faster without the chicken-searing step.
Equipment You'll Need
12-inch skillet or sauté pan
The pan needs to hold spaghetti and sauce for 4 people at the tossing step. A 12-inch stainless steel or cast-iron pan builds better fond (flavor crust) for the chicken than nonstick. Nonstick works for the sauce but won't give you the same depth of flavor from the sear.
Large pot
For boiling the spaghetti. Use at least a 6-quart pot and salt the water generously — it should taste like mild sea water. Undersalted pasta water means underseasoned pasta in the final dish.
Instant-read thermometer
For checking the chicken. Pull it at exactly 165°F. Chicken breast is lean and dries out fast past 165°F, and dry chicken in a cream sauce is a texture mismatch — it breaks up in the tossing step.
Microplane or box grater
For the Parmesan and Romano. Pre-shredded cheese contains anti-caking cellulose that causes it to clump and not melt smoothly into the cream. Grate from the block directly over the simmering sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara have eggs?
No. Olive Garden's allergen guide explicitly lists Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara as egg-free. This is the single most important accuracy point for any copycat: the dish does not use egg yolks or whole eggs at any stage. Many copycat recipes add egg yolks in an attempt to make a 'more authentic' carbonara, but adding eggs creates a different dish — silkier and more custardy — that does not match what Olive Garden actually serves. OG's version is a straightforward cream sauce with Parmesan, Romano, bacon drippings, and garlic. Skip the eggs entirely.
What pasta does Olive Garden use in Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara?
Spaghetti. Not fettuccine (used in their Chicken Alfredo), not linguine, not rigatoni. Olive Garden's own menu description specifies spaghetti, and the long-strand shape holds the thin cream sauce differently than a tube pasta would — it coats rather than pools. Use standard dried spaghetti cooked to al dente; fresh spaghetti cooks in about a third of the time and works equally well.
What makes Olive Garden's carbonara non-traditional?
Traditional Roman carbonara (cacio e pepe + guanciale + eggs — specifically the egg-yolk emulsion that creates the sauce with no cream) shares nothing with OG's version except the name and the use of pasta. Olive Garden's Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara has no eggs, uses cream instead of an egg emulsion, swaps guanciale for American crispy bacon, adds roasted red peppers (no traditional carbonara ingredient), and loads the dish with grilled chicken and shrimp — neither of which appears in any traditional preparation. It's a cream pasta with carbonara's flavor notes (cured pork, cheese, black pepper), not a carbonara in the Roman sense. This isn't a criticism; it's just useful to know so you're replicating the right dish.
What gives Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara its flavor?
Four things working together: (1) Bacon drippings as the cooking fat — using bacon fat to sear the chicken adds a smoky, savory base before the cream goes in. (2) Garlic bloomed in those drippings. (3) A two-cheese blend — Parmesan provides the signature nutty, salty backbone; Romano adds a sharper bite that lifts the heavy cream. (4) Black pepper in the sauce, not just as a garnish. The roasted red pepper adds a subtle sweetness and color that makes the dish look more composed than it would be with just the cream. Many copycats use one cheese (Parmesan only) and skip the bacon drippings as the cooking fat — both reduce the depth of the sauce noticeably.
How do you cook the shrimp for this dish?
Quick and hot: large shrimp (16/20 per pound) in a very hot pan with butter or olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes per side until pink and just cooked through. They should curl into a loose C-shape, not a tight O-shape (overcooked). Add them last — after the sauce is built and the spaghetti is tossed — and fold them in gently with just enough heat to re-warm them. Shrimp carryover-cook quickly and will tighten if left on heat too long. If you're nervous about timing, cook the shrimp first, set aside, and return them to the pan off-heat at the very end.
How many calories are in Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara?
Sources disagree on the exact number — CalorieKing and MyFoodDiary report about 1,390 calories; fastfoodnutrition.org reports 1,590 calories. The difference likely reflects portion variation across OG locations. Either way, it's one of the richer entrees on the menu: approximately 94–114g fat, 2,400mg sodium, 75–78g carbs, and 64–66g protein. Notably high in saturated fat (roughly 50–61g per order, or 250–300% of the daily recommended value). This home recipe is still rich — divided into 4 generous servings it comes in at roughly 940 calories each (about 44g fat, 76g carbs, 60g protein). That's meaningfully lighter than the restaurant plate because it uses 1 cup of heavy cream across the whole dish and a 3:1 Parmesan-to-Romano blend rather than OG's restaurant quantities of cream and cheese — but with a full pound each of pasta, chicken, and shrimp, this is not a light meal. If you want to cut it further, see the swaps at the end.
Can I use pre-cooked or rotisserie chicken?
Yes, and it's a good shortcut for a weeknight. Skip the searing step and use sliced rotisserie chicken breast or any pre-cooked grilled chicken. Warm it briefly in the cream sauce before plating. The dish loses the light char you get from searing in bacon drippings, but the result is still very good. Do not use rotisserie thigh meat — it's richer and fattier and competes with the cream sauce in a way that breast meat doesn't.
Can I make this without shrimp or chicken?
Yes. Shrimp-only (skip the chicken step) is an OG menu item in its own right — Olive Garden offers a standalone Shrimp Carbonara. Without shrimp, you have a Bacon and Chicken Carbonara. Without both proteins you have a Bacon Pasta in Cream Sauce, which is good but not carbonara. The sauce is the same in all cases; the proteins are interchangeable. If you substitute Italian sausage for the bacon and chicken, you get a sausage pasta in cream sauce with an entirely different flavor profile — still delicious, just no longer a carbonara-style dish.
Every recipe on Copycat Spices is developed and tested in our home test kitchen. We reverse-engineer beloved restaurant dishes and refine each one until the flavors and the instructions work reliably for home cooks of all skill levels.
