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
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 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 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
Very good “pasta fatta in casa” !
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.
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
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.
When you cut the noodles themself do you unfold the pasta sheets or run it through folded
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?
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
I loved this recipe. It was so helpful and the pasta turned out delicious.😊
Hi Kathy, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Can this recipe be doubled?
yep!
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.
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe 😋..
Lots of love
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe 😋..
Gonna try it tomorrow..
How could you cut this recipe in half since there’s three eggs? My guess is just one egg and one cup of flour and 1/4 teaspoon of oil but please let me know! This was amazing! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you loved it! This might be inconvenient, but when I’m halving recipes I just try to break the yolk in half using the sharp part of the shell. I use the leftover half egg in scrambled eggs the next morning. Of course, it would be easier to split this recipe into 1/3 or 2/3 and adjust the other ingredients to match proportionately. Hope that helps 🙂
Thirds is a great idea! Didn’t even consider that haha. Plus extra homemade pasta never hurt anyone. Thanks!
I make a half batch since it’s only my husband and myself. For the second egg, I put it in a small measuring cup and scramble with a fork. Then I just use half of what the one egg measures to.
This is the best pasta recipe! I had pretty much given up getting homemade pasta to work.
I’ve made this about 5-6 times in the last 3 months. Now I want to figure out how to make it spinach pasta or sun dried tomato pasta.
Thank you for helping me love making fresh pasta!
Hi Sharla, I’m so glad you loved it! Let me know how the other variations go – they sound so delish!
Plain language and simple food…. What a great life you’ve inspired. Thanks
I have a kitchenAid which allows you to make the pasta with the dough hook. Your recipe calls for making the pasta by hand. Can I make the dough in the kitchenAid instead of my hand?
I’m actually wondering this as well! I’ve seen other recipes for pasta that use the dough hook, but most of those use 00 or Semolina flour.
Hi Miriam and Wayne, I have’t tried it with the dough hook but since it’s a really stiff, dry dough I personally think it might be easiest by hand. (Breads, etc, are much softer and we love the dough hook for that). Maybe kitchen aid’s website has some further tips about using the mixer for pasta?
Hi! Could you use this recipe for lasagna noodles as well? If so, by chance, do you know how many lasagna noodles this recipe will make?
What about using the KitchenAid dough hook instead of kneading? I could still monitor the moisture and texture, right?
(I’m a guy… and I’m lazy!) 😅😅
Hi Jim, since the dough is so stiff (unlike a bread dough), I personally think it’s easier to knead by hand.
First time ever making my own pasta noodles. Very simple recipe.
I have a Kitchen Aid mixer with all of the attachments.
I used all purpose Gold Medal Quality flour.
I didn’t have Kosher salt which is my go to so I used pink Himalayan.
The noodles turned out awesome.
I wish our home-made bolognese sauce stuck to the noodles a little bit better (too silky for my liking) but aside from that I’ll be doing this MUCH more often. Thank you!
This is the best fresh pasta I’ve ever made. In the past I’ve messed around with different recipes with or without egg whites , and with or without semolina. This recipe was super easy . I highly recommend this recipe.
I grew up knowing how to make pasta and was very happy to see that you use AP flour. It’s all my mom ever used and so that’s what I use as well. Sometimes people make a simple recipe much more complicated than it needs so be.
I agree that a stand mixer is probably not the best way to make the dough as it is very dense. I mix mine in my food processor but the kneading I do by hand….you have to feel it to know when it’s right.
Your recipe is spot on too, that’s the same one I’ve used my entire life.
Thanks for the great recipe! I got a pasta maker for my birthday and was apprehensive because my only other experience with homemade pasta turned out pretty awful.
The recipe was very easy to follow. I really appreciated having the pictures to refer to so I knew that my dough was doing the right thing, especially at the beginning.
My pasta came out amazing! I was honestly expecting another disaster, but I got super thin linguini that tastes great! It did take me more like 2 hours from starting to eating though.
This was delicious! I am relatively new to making homemade pasta and made this for lasagna. I had a little left over so I boiled it to test it on it’s own merit…and it was fabulous without any sauce! Thank you
Sorry! Tried to edit my comment and couldn’t..I read the amount of olive oil wrong, I did 1/2 a ts not 12 a tbs! After I added the right amount it was great and the pasta turned out great 🙂 My 9 year old helped make it and ate all of it.
oh phew, I’m so glad it worked out and I’m thrilled you both enjoyed it!
Can you dry this post for future use?
I haven’t tried that – I think it’s best fresh.
Great recipe! I’ve made pasta before but the wet:dry ratio was off. This recipe was perfect. After the dough rested, it was super easy to roll out without having to add gobs of extra flour. Good texture, now my go-recipe. Thanks!!
I’m so glad it worked out well!
I failed to keep the flour walls intact, but it all turned out in the end. I used the pasta to make pumpkin and goats cheese ravioli! Delicious and with the size of my raviolis I was able to make roughly 100 pieces. Enough for some easy freezer meals.
Hi Rebecca, sounds so delicious, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
first time ever making homemade pasta with my brand new kitchenaid mixer pasta attachments and super easy ! about to toss in pot of boiling water cant wait to taste ! thank you !
This was a perfect recipe to make with friends over. We doubled the recipe to have extra pasta left over to freeze. It was simple and easy and turned out delicious. Thank you!
Love the recipe! Pasta came out amazing!
When you cut the pasta do you put the folded sheet in or do you unfold it.