Dried spaghetti. Always for carbonara.

Dried spaghetti, hands down.

Fresh egg spaghetti is too soft for carbonara. It turns to mush when you toss it with the egg and cheese mixture, and it doesn’t have the right starch profile to help emulsify that sauce. Dried spaghetti (the kind made from semolina and water) gives you the chew, the al dente bite, and the starchy water that actually works with the guanciale fat and eggs to create that creamy texture without scrambling.

Also, tradition. Roman carbonara was born with dry pasta. Fresh egg pasta is for richer, heavier sauces like ragù or butter-based dishes. Use it there. Not here.

This is one of those times where the cheaper, more pantry-stable option is the better one.