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
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe ?..
Lots of love
When making pasta sheets would I have to boil first before I make my lasagna. ( homemade pasta)
Hi Mark, I wouldn’t boil it first, it’ll cook as the lasagna cooks in the oven.
Can this recipe be doubled?
yep!
Bought a pasta maker on a whim and searched for recipes that looked like they made sense. Although mine isn’t a KitchenAid, I followed the same settings in the directions and got fantastic results — tender, perfect noodles. Normally I jump ahead to the recipe, but in this case, the photos were really helpful.
Tonight was the first time I’ve ever made fresh pasta. This was easy to follow and it turned out perfect with a little home made pesto following your recipe. Wow! This will be on regular rotation! Served 2 adults and a very hungry, growing kid and there were plenty of leftovers.
This recipe is a keeper. I recently purchased the pasta attachments for my KitchenAid but have only made pasta once. It was a huge mess that took me forever and some of my sheets stuck to the rollers, others were super dry. FF to today, so much easier with your recipe. Took much less time and the dough was perfect! Very easy process; thanks for the step by step photos! I’ll be coming back to this one.
Thanks Jessie for sharing the recipe.
I just bought Kitchenaid mixer this week and would like to make my own pasta. What would be the degree and the mixing time instead of kneading for 8-10 mins?
Thanks.
It’s a really stiff dough so I would still recommend kneading it by hand. Then use kitchen aid pasta attachment to roll and cut the pasta.
I loved this recipe. It was so helpful and the pasta turned out delicious.?
Hi Kathy, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Excellent recipe. I cheated by throwing it all in the food processor, pulsing until combined, knead by hand for a minute and let sit wrapped in plastic for an hour. It was perfect!
Hi Mark, I’m so glad it worked out in the food processor!
Thanks for such an easy and effective recipe! The step-by-step guide was perfect, as it was my first attempt at making pasta. I ended up with a beautiful batch of linguine topped with homemade basil pesto 🙂
Hi Anna, I’m so glad it worked out well and was easy to follow!
Can I ask a question please? Do you use the whole egg or just the yolks? Thank you
Hi Mark – the whole eggs.
Thank you
By any chance do you know about how many ounces of pasta this makes? Im pairing it with a sauce recipe, and it calls for 8 oz of dry pasta, and i was trying to figure out if i needed to alter anything.
This was so easy and my family loved it! I have made it a couple of times now. Wondering if I can use the dough to make ravioli as well?
I think it would be great as ravioli!
Laura, I just made a delicious mushroom ravioli using this recipe the other day! And Jeanine, this is my favorite pasta recipe! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Ooh yum, that sounds delicious! I’m so glad you loved the pasta recipe.
Can I use wheat flour instead of all purpose flour?
I haven’t tested it that way. You’d likely have to add more water as you work the dough since ww flour is more dry.
Do I have to cook the pasta right away or can I make it ahead of time the same day?
Hi Jess, you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. It’ll seem dry at that point, but once you cook it the strands will loosen up.
First time making pasta–ive had the kitchenaid attachment since our wedding, almost 8 years ago!! Everything went really well until I tried to pick up my long sheets of pasta to put them through the cutter. Even though I had floured everything, the sheets all stuck to one another 🙁 I have memories of my parents hanging pasta sheets over kitchen cabinet doors–will probably try that next time. Great recipe though–absolutely beautiful dough.
Hi Giovanna, you could flour even more if that’s the case. I know it seems like a lot of flour, but this happened to me at the beginning before I was flouring pretty liberally.
My moto is THERE IS NEVER TOO MUCH FLOUR!
Wow! EXCELLENT post! I have been wanting to make fresh past for ages, but I’ve always been intimidated by the process. Love the directional photos!
Cheers!
Thanks, Jessie!
Super easy fresh pasta recipe that my family loved! Perfect serving size for 4 adults
Hi Danielle, I’m so glad you and your family loved it!
Hi can you please tell me how
Much you put of each thing and how large the batch was? Thank you I can’t wait to try it tonight
Hi Ethan, the recipe card with measurements is at the bottom of the post.
this recipe looks great. Was wondering if it freezes well and how would I go about freezing it? Thank you so much!!
Hi Jenn, I haven’t tried freezing it so I’m not sure if it freezes well.
It freezes just fine. I wrap them in nests and freeze in ziplock bags.
Hi! Did you cut the pasta prior to freezing?
When you take it out of the freezer to cook it do you cook for 1-2 minutes like with these instructions or cook time for store bought?
I usually do 3 or 4 from frozen
Is this pasta recipe useable for GF flour?
Hi Maegan, I haven’t tested this recipe with GF flour so I’m not sure what the result would be.
Are there any pasta shapes that don’t require the use of a pasta maker (kitchen aid or otherwise)?
Hi Jessica, you could use this recipe to roll it out by hand, but I’d recommend a pasta maker (especially for beginners) – the roller creates thin, uniform pasta sheets and the cutter cuts the noodles (quickly) into uniform a thickness.
???
This is cooking right now as I speak, and it was so easy to make I highly recommend. I didn’t have a pasta cutter or anything, I just used a rolling pin and a pizza cutter!
Hi. Can I do the kneading with the kitchen aid dough hook?
Hi Rosanna, no the dough is too stiff, it’s best worked by hand.
You can roll it as thin as possible and cut something similar to fettuccine and linguine.
hi Jessica,
i was looking to purchase a pasta maker kitchen aid attachment but the price really deterred me. i ended up finding some on amazon with excellent reviews for less than half the cost. maybe this will encourage you if price is a deterrent
Yes after you roll that out, you can cut them in triangles about 2 inches or inch and a half. My grandmother used to call that scuds chetah.
Very good “pasta fatta in casa” !