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
Delicious. Tastes way better than boxed spaghetti!
What is the equivalent in pounds to substitute for dried pasta in a recipe?
Jeanine, To be honest I was afraid to try this recipe as I was not confident in myself. The pasta turned out great and now my family wont let me buy store bought pasta. How did you get the straight edges, mine were frayed but it didn’t matter at all..just wondering. Thanks for a great recipe. I finally put the pasta attachments to use in my kitchen aid.
It turned out great! Any recommendations for subbing whole wheat?
I don’t have this attachment for my KitchenAid but I was wondering if I could roll It out by hand with a rolling pin and just slice it myself into noodles? Or roll it up into a long tube and slice them?
Hi Lisa, you can, but it’ll be much harder to get thin even strands by hand.
Absolutely! I don’t have a pasta machine. I always make mine by hand.
Can this pasta be dried and stored
Hi Joyce, I haven’t tried and I’m not sure how to.
This recipe was work to get the ingredients incorporated but made really good pasta . It will now be my go pasta recipe
I’m glad it was worth the effort!
good pasta is there nutrition list?
I’m sorry, we don’t post nutrition facts, you could plug the ingredients into a site like my fitness pal.
I made this dough today turned out perfect, my family loved it will be making this again.
I made fresh pasta for the first time using this recipe and it was a complete success!! I am wondering if I wanted to double it would I just simply double all the ingredients?
I doubled this recipe and decided to basically just make two batches separately. I think this was a good move as kneading twice this amount would have nearly killed me.
I made one recipe worth, wrapped and refrigerated it, and then did the second one while the first rested.
Can I use this recipe with the kitchenaid attachment that cuts the pasta into shapes like rigatoni?
can you mix and knead the dough in the kitchen aid?..mix first with flat paddle and then dough hook?
I am trying right now. No way I can incorporate this into a nice ball of dough.
Hi Michelle, it should seem really dry, but after 8-10 minutes, adding water a little at a time, it’ll come together. Too much water right away will ruin it which is why it starts out more dry.
Are there any variations to this recipe? Like spinach noodles, tomato, etc?
I want a good and easy Pasta maker Receipe!!
Why do you knead by hand when the Kitchenaid mixer could do it?
You want to feel how the dough is coming together, add water if to dry or flour if to wet. Practicing getting your dough at the right consistency is a special thing. Eggs are not always the same exact weight, so your hands will guide you into the perfect consistency. Not to dry not sticky. Getting this perfection will determine how your next batches will turn out. Practicing to be artisan can be tricky.
I just did mine with a mixer with the dough hook attachment and it worked better then doing it by hand I did have to add a little bit of water as per the recipe but other then that it was amazing . hope this helps .
My daughter gave me a pasta machine this Christmas….so her and I made this pasta recipe today for pappardelle. I was thrilled this recipe only called for 4 ingredients and was so easy to follow. This made our pasta making experience fun, and it tasted light and delicious! Thanks so much.
Hi Dawn, I’m so glad you both enjoyed the recipe!
Great, simple recipe. Seemed way too crumbly however I did substitute a quarter cup of wheat flour for the white flour; I just added a tad more oil and water as I kneaded (and needed! Ha!). There is nothing like homemade pasta. Thanks
my wife bought me a pasta maker and i just made this pasta recipe! its amazing!!!! we made an egg yolk ravioli and this recipe was really easy to follow and it really enhanced the taste!!!! thanx for this recipe and i cant wait to make it again!!!
I’m so glad your ravioli turned out so well!
Just got a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas and I was eager to use the pasta attachment. Not gonna lie, I was a little scared…so I was really happy to come across this recipe! Loved that the instructions were so detailed and easy to follow. Everything turned out 100% perfect! My husband said it was the best pasta he ever had, including when we went to Italy! Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I look forward to trying more.
Hi Cynthia, I’m so so thrilled that the instructions were easy to follow! Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
I tried this recipe and it’s so good. I did a modification to it. Since I raised ducks, I used 2 duck eggs plus 2 tablespoons of water. Worked out great, plus it gives it a more “eggy and deeper yellow pasta. Thank you for a great recipe.