Group · Meat
Pancetta
Pancetta is salted and dried pork belly, rolled or flat. It is the Italian equivalent of bacon, except that it is generally not smoked: it is the drying and the aromatics that give it its flavour.
As for nutrition facts: 349 kcal per 100 g, with 28.8 g of fat including 12.4 g of saturated fat, and 20.2 g of protein. It contains 4.14 g of salt per 100 g, as well as 370 mg of potassium and 4.54 mg of vitamin B3.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 349 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 1450 kJ |
| Protein | 20,2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 2,5 g |
| Fat | 28,8 g |
Micronutrients per 100 g
All measured nutrients, ranked by share of the daily reference intake.
- Vitamin B10,51 mg46 %
- Vitamin B120,93 µg37 %
- Omega-6 LA3,12 g31 %
- Vitamin B34,54 mg28 %
- Zinc2,5 mg25 %
- Phosphorus160 mg23 %
- Vitamin B60,27 mg19 %
- Potassium370 mg19 %
See the other 12 nutrients
- Vitamin C14,3 mg18 %
- Vitamin B50,84 mg14 %
- Vitamin D0,66 µg13 %
- Vitamin B918,3 µg9 %
- Vitamin B20,12 mg9 %
- Omega-3 ALA0,16 g8 %
- Vitamin E0,94 mg8 %
- Copper0,06 mg6 %
- Iron0,71 mg5 %
- Magnesium18 mg5 %
- Manganese0,05 mg3 %
- Calcium6,2 mg1 %
Anses Ciqual 2025. Source: Anses, 2025, Ciqual food composition table
Tips
Use 30 g, not 100 g. It is a seasoning, not a meat: 30 g in a carbonara for two provides 105 kcal and 1.24 g of salt, spread across the whole dish. Thinking in terms of 100 g makes no sense here.
It replaces the cooking fat. It releases plenty with which to fry vegetables or bind pasta: do not add oil to the pan, which is the most common mistake. The rendered fat is either thrown away or kept.
4.14 g of salt: never add salt to the dish. Not to the pasta water, not to the sauce. Between the pancetta and the cheese, a carbonara easily reaches half the daily guideline. See salt.
It counts towards the processed meat guideline. 150 g a week, all products combined. Used as a seasoning, a single 30 g portion per dish leaves room to spare.
Pancetta, guanciale, lardons: three cuts. Pancetta comes from the belly, guanciale from the cheek (fattier and finer), and French lardons from smoked belly. All three are interchangeable, with different results.