Homemade Pasta

Learn how to make pasta at home! This 4-ingredient homemade pasta recipe is easy to make, and it yields chewy, delicious noodles every time.

Homemade pasta recipe

This homemade pasta recipe is our new favorite cooking project! Lately, Jack and I have been spending even more time than usual in the kitchen, experimenting with bread, baked goods, and even okonomiyaki. But we keep coming back to homemade pasta. It’s super fun to make together, and it only requires a handful of basic ingredients. Of course, the fact that it’s absolutely delicious doesn’t hurt either. 🙂

My homemade pasta recipe refers to the pasta maker attachment for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, which is how we roll out our fresh pasta at home. If you don’t have a KitchenAid, don’t worry! You could also roll out this pasta dough according to the instructions on a regular pasta maker. However you make it, I hope you try this recipe. It’s an easy, fun way to spend an hour in the kitchen with someone you love, and at the end, you get to eat a big plate of chewy noodles with a perfect al dente bite.

Flour, eggs, salt, and olive oil

Homemade Pasta Recipe Ingredients

You only need 4 ingredients to make delicious fresh pasta at home, and there’s a good chance you have all of them on hand already:

  • All-purpose flour – In the past, I thought you needed 00 flour or semolina flour to make great fresh pasta, but this homemade pasta recipe proved me wrong. In it, regular all-purpose flour yields chewy, bouncy noodles every time.
  • Eggs – The key ingredient for adding richness and moisture to the dough!
  • Olive oil – Along with the eggs, a splash of olive oil moistens the dough and helps it come together.
  • Salt – Add it to the dough and the pasta water for the best flavor.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Whisking eggs in mound of flour

How to Make Pasta

Ready to learn how to make pasta? Check out this step-by-step guide first, and then find the full recipe at the bottom of this post!

First, make a nest with the flour on a clean work surface. Add the remaining ingredients to the center and use a fork to gently break up the eggs. Try to keep the flour walls intact as best as you can!

Kneading eggs and flour together

Next, use your hands to gently mix in the flour. Continue working the dough to bring it together into a shaggy ball.

Fresh pasta dough

Then, knead! At the beginning, the dough should feel pretty dry, but stick with it! It might not feel like it’s going to come together, but after 8-10 minutes of kneading, it should become cohesive and smooth:

Homemade pasta recipe dough

If the dough still seems too dry, sprinkle your fingers with water and continue kneading to incorporate it into the dough. If the dough becomes too sticky, dust more flour onto your work surface.

When the dough comes together, shape it into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Fresh pasta dough cut into 4 pieces

After the dough rests, slice it into 4 pieces.

Rolling out homemade pasta

Use a rolling pin or your hands to gently flatten one into an oval disk.

How to make pasta with a stand mixer

Then, run it through the widest setting of your pasta maker (level 1 on the KitchenAid attachment). I run the dough through the pasta maker 3 times on this setting before proceeding to the next step. If you don’t have the KitchenAid attachment, roll out the dough according to your pasta maker’s instructions.

Folding ends of dough rectangle to meet in the middle

Next, fold the dough… if you want to. This step is somewhat optional, but it will make your final pasta sheet more rectangular, which will yield more long strands of pasta. Plus, it’s super simple! Just lay the dough flat and fold both short ends in to meet in the center.

Rectangle of fresh pasta dough

Then, fold it in half lengthwise to form a rectangle.

How to make fresh pasta with a stand mixer attachment

Once you’ve folded the dough, roll it out to your desired thickness. On my KitchenAid attachment, I run it through the pasta roller three times on level 2, three times on level 3, and one time each on levels 4, 5, and 6.

Repeat these steps with the remaining dough pieces. Each time you finish with a piece of dough, lay one half of it on a lightly floured baking sheet. Sprinkle the dough with flour, and fold the other half on top. Sprinkle the top with flour, too!

Homemade pasta dough on a baking sheet

Finally, cut and cook the pasta. Run the pasta sheets through your desired pasta cutter attachment. Cook the noodles in a pot of boiling salted water for 1 minute, and enjoy!

Homemade pasta recipe

Homemade Pasta Serving Suggestions

If you’ve never had fresh pasta before, you’re in for a treat! Its chewy, bouncy texture and rich flavor make it so much better than the dried pasta at the store. In fact, these noodles are so good that we usually serve them really simply. They’re fantastic with marinara sauce, pesto, homemade Alfredo sauce, or olive oil and vegan Parmesan or Parmesan cheese.

Of course, they’re delicious in larger pasta dishes, too. Use them instead of dried pasta in any of these recipes:

Find more of my favorite pasta recipes here!

Homemade Pasta

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Homemade Pasta

rate this recipe:
4.97 from 1241 votes
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Resting Time: 30 minutes
Serves 3 to 4
This fresh homemade pasta is SO delicious and easy to make! Serve it simply with olive oil and Parmesan cheese, or use it in your favorite pasta recipes.

Equipment

Instructions

  • Place the flour on a clean work surface and make a nest. Add the eggs, olive oil, and salt to the center and use a fork to gently break up the eggs, keeping the flour walls intact as best as you can. Use your hands to gently bring the flour inward to incorporate. Continue working the dough with your hands to bring it together into a shaggy ball.
  • Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. At the beginning, the dough should feel pretty dry, but stick with it! It might not feel like it’s going to come together, but after 8-10 minutes of kneading, it should become cohesive and smooth. If the dough still seems too dry, sprinkle your fingers with a tiny bit of water to incorporate. If it’s too sticky, dust more flour onto your work surface. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  • Dust 2 large baking sheets with flour and set aside.
  • Slice the dough into four pieces. Gently flatten one into an oval disk. Run the dough through the Pasta Roller Attachment or a pasta maker three times on level 1 (the widest setting).
  • Set the dough piece onto a countertop or work surface. Fold both short ends in to meet in the center, then fold the dough in half to form a rectangle (see photo above).
  • Run the dough through the pasta roller three times on level 2, three times on level 3, and one time each on levels 4, 5, and 6.
  • Lay half of the pasta sheet onto the floured baking sheet and sprinkle with flour before folding the other half on top. Sprinkle more flour on top of the second half. Every side should be floured so that your final pasta noodles won't stick together.
  • Repeat with remaining dough.
  • Run the pasta sheets through the Pasta Cutter Attachment (pictured is the fettuccine cutter). Repeat with remaining dough. Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes.

Notes

Fresh pasta can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days. 

adapted from Serious Eats

641 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Stacey
    03.16.2024

    When refrigerating, do you let it get to room temp before rolling?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      03.21.2024

      Hi Stacey, it doesn’t need to be fully at room temp, but I’d let it warm up for 15-30 minutes before rolling.

  2. Suzanne
    03.13.2024

    5 stars
    Found this and made it today. The noodles came out fabulously! The process was so well described, it was really easy! I had no idea. Thank you!

    I’m wondering though, could I refrigerate or freeze half the dough in little rounds to use at a different time? I’ll have to try next time I make some to see how it turns out.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      03.15.2024

      Hi Suzanne, if the dough is well-wrapped, you could refrigerate it for up to a day. I prefer to freeze homemade pasta after it’s rolled out and cut. You can boil it straight from frozen!

  3. Michelle
    03.11.2024

    Have you made this using almond or coconut flour? If so, how did it turn out?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.11.2024

      Hi Michelle, those flours aren’t a 1:1 exchange for regular flour – I’d search for a site that specifically has a recipe that calls for either of those alternative flours.

  4. Allison White
    03.10.2024

    What is the timeframe if I cook the pasta but don’t eat it all. Can it be leftovers?

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.