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.
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.
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.
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!
Next, use your hands to gently mix in the flour. Continue working the dough to bring it together into a shaggy ball.
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:
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.
After the dough rests, slice it into 4 pieces.
Use a rolling pin or your hands to gently flatten one into an oval disk.
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.
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.
Then, fold it in half lengthwise to form a rectangle.
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!
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 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:
- Tagliatelle with Asparagus & Peas
- Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
- Fettuccine Alfredo
- Easy Pesto Pasta
- Roasted Vegetable Pasta
- Linguine with Lemon and Tomatoes
- Garlic Herb Mushroom Pasta
Find more of my favorite pasta recipes here!
Homemade Pasta
Equipment
- KitchenAid Mixer (the stand mixer to use the pasta attachment)
- Pasta Attachment (my favorite KitchenAid attachment!)
- Baking Sheets (I use these nonstick ones from Nordic Ware)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
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
adapted from Serious Eats
Can I freeze the pasta for storage instead of cooking them right away? If so, what is the best way to do that?
I’ve made this exactly according to your directions and it’s delicious! Can it also be used for ravioli? Do I use the same levels and just not run it through the fettuccine or spaghetti attachment?
Hi! Once my pasta was cooked, the texture was very rubbery but tasted good. What did I do wrong?
Could be the noodle was too thick, or the noodles needed a bit longer to cook, or the noodles needed to rest for a bit (after kneading the dough the gluten is really strong and if cooked immediately can result in a rubbery texture) hope this helps! Happy cooking!
Love this recipe ! I added an extra egg and an extra 1/2 tsp of olive oil due to the dough being too dry for my preferred liking ! The pasta recipe is super easy and yummy, I will be making this again 😁😁
Hi Kailyn, I’m so glad you enjoyed the pasta!
I loved this recipe.It came together really well. Kneading is the key to making all fresh pasta.
I’m so glad your pasta came out well!
I’m curious if you’ve ever tried kneading with the dough hook and kitchenaid. If so how did that compare to hand kneading?
just made these with the kitchenaid. the paddle attachment does a very good job at getting all the ingredients combined but since the dough is quite thick it will not fully combine it. after using the kitchenaid, i took out the shaggy dough and kneaded for about 3-5 minutes. So it definitely takes some time off the kneading time. i would also recommend combining the eggs and oil before pouring it into the flour if you use the kitchenaid to make this recipe. hope this helps 🙂
I’ve made this in my KitchenAid twice and it works great! I put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and use a fork just like you would if doing it all by hand. Once the dough starts to come together, I use the dough hook with increasing speed to knead it.
Can you dry these noodles and store them in an air tight container?
Hi Penny, I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure.
I would not do that. You can store them in the refrigerator or freeze them. This works well with the fettuccini noodles. Not so much with the spaghetti noodles.
Delicious recipe! Highly recommend
I’m so glad you loved it!
This is my first time making homemade pasta… it ruined and cut beautifully. The noodles are resting while I prep the tomato basil sauce. I can’t wait to taste them!!!
I’m so glad it went well!
Took some trial & error but after a few tries & a lesson in patience, the pasta came out amazing! I have made it successfully three times now & have given the extra portions to friends & family who also love it
This was my first experience making homemade pasta. Everything went great and my family loved it. It took closer to 12 minutes of working with the dough. I finally sprinkled my hands with water. I would do that a little sooner next time if it’s still very dry.
Hi I could not respond to a comment from you however we did everything else right and there is no way this was the problem since your dough is a completely different color.
Depending on the egg yolk color, the dough will vary in color
You are supposed to use the whole egg. So maybe something else went wrong along the way while you were making the recipe.
I’ve been wanting to make homemade noodles and finally did using this recipe and it turned out so delicious! The whole family loved it and it was pretty easy and quick to do! This will be on rotation from here on out! Thanks for sharing it!!
I did not see the pics for folding the dough as said. I could not fit that shape through my attachment. I had to skip those two steps but seems to be ok. Haven’t cooked it yet.
Can I make the dough in advance and refrigerate it for a few hours before rolling? I need to make the dough ahead of time. I have time to bring it back to room temperature before rolling.
Hi Stacey – yes, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap in the fridge and let it come back to room temp so that it’s pliable.
Very easy to make and came out perfectly. This one is a keeper
I’m so glad your pasta came out perfectly!
Can I make the pasta recipe with the pasta hook rather than by hand?
Hi Marie, I prefer to do it by hand since it’s a pretty stiff dough.
Hi Marie, I have made this recipe like 10 times now and decided to try the dough hook today. It worked wonderful! Way less time. I mean were using the kitchenaid for everything else right?? I just started mixing in the bowl of the kitchenaid with a fork until it got to the point id usually use my hands and then turned on the dough hook slowly and eventually kept turning the speed up. It came together perfectly and my arms are not tired. 🙂
I am going to try mixing the dough in the mixer since it worked for you. I am hopeful.
This pasta was amazing!!!! Wish I could post a pic of it after I was done. My entire family loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Amanda, I’m so glad everyone loved it!
The dough kept breaking. Had high hopes.
you gotta follow the instructions, use good eggs and flour…..