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 you freeze the pasta to be used later in the week?
Hi Ashley, I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not sure. But I think a few others’ in this comment thread have.
First timer!
Can you use the kitchen aid mixer with hook attachment to make the dough?
Hi Lynn, it’s a very stiff dough, so we prefer to do it by hand even though we use the dough hook for most other dough recipes (breads, cinnamon rolls, bagels, etc, that are softer doughs.
I used the dough hook but I still had to kneed by hand a bit. I had it in the lowest s speed and there were still quite a it if unincorporated crumbs after 10 mins. I was afraid to turn up the speed but I might try next time
I’m excited to try this recipe! I usually make 1-1 1/2 lbs of boxed pasta at a time. How does this recipe compare? Would I need to double it?
I made this recipe tonight and made fettuccine noodles. It was equivalent to a regular size box I would say. Definitely plenty!
1 pound
Is it OK to let the dough rest longer than 30 minutes?
I love the simplicity in the recipe, I’ll definitely try it.
Made this tonight and it turned out perfectly. Used the spaghetti cutting attachment it’s a nice spicy tomato sauce. Any recommendations for incorporating some whole wheat flour?
Hi Julia, I’m so glad it came out well for you! We haven’t tried using whole wheat flour here, so I can’t guarantee the results. I’d suggest replacing just 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat to start. You might need to add a bit of water to the dough to help it come together, as whole wheat flour will absorb more moisture.
I made this recipe with 2 cups white wheat flour, 3 eggs, 1 T olive oil, a teaspoon of sea salt and a couple tablespoons of water. It turned out perfectly. You can definitely use wheat flour!
Do you have any idea on drying instructions? I’d like to ship dry to a family member for Christmas but unsure if it’ll take weeks. Also, do you know the cook time for this recipe when dried?
Hi Shannon, we haven’t tried drying this pasta, so I can’t speak to the drying or cook time.
Hang the cut pasta on hangers and hang to dry. Won’t take more than a couple hours to dry thoroughly. Then break them where they meet the hangar and lay them flat in a tissue lined box.
Or you can swirl the pasta in nests and let dry that way but it does take quite a bit longer.
I love this recipe! It was so easy and turned out great! I have done spaghetti and ravioli before with different recipes and this one had much better flavor. I can’t wait to make ravioli with this recipe. I made the Alfredo noodles this time and my family absolutely loved it. The detail in the directions was very helpful. I also really appreciated the tip on folding the dough after the first level. Look forward to trying more of your recipes!
Hi Carrie, I’m so glad you loved the pasta!
I’m in Scotland and I believe our cup sizes are a little different to yours, could I ask how much the two cups of flour weigh in grams?
Many thanks!
Hi! I looked up a converter online and I found 2 Cups of flour are 250.31 grams.
I’m in the U.S. and use online converters all the time. I would be lost without them HAHA.
Yep, we estimate 125g for 1 cup of flour!
Outstanding! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It was our first time making and I was searching for recipes and so glad found this! To your point, I thought if the dough will come together but I kept at it for 6 minutes on timer and it did come together beautifully with not a drop of water to add or flour. It was perfect and there was no residue whatsoever in the roller/ cutter. Thank you, thank you!
Hi Meena, I’m so glad your pasta was perfect!
My husband and I made this for Thanksgiving dinner and it turned out amazing! We were a little nervous during a few steps in the recipe, but we stuck with it and were rewarded with absolutely delicious pasta. We will be making this one again and again. Thank you!
Hi Marissa, I’m glad your pasta came out perfectly!
Awesome experience after a failed attempt last year using someone else’s recipe. Now planning for homemade paste to be apart of our Christmas 2022 dinner. Thank you for the great instructions.
Hi Carol, I’m so glad you had pasta success!
Followed it and my pasta turned out perfect. Couldn’t tell the difference this and store bought except for the cooking time.
Hi David, I’m glad you loved the pasta!
Love love this recipe! But I want to make more but not a double batch. Why would be the measurements for 5 people??
Hi Shannon, I’d recommend doubling the recipe and freezing any pasta you don’t eat right away. You can cook it straight from frozen!
Lovely noodle recipe!! I’ve been making egg noodles since I was a kid, but never with olive oil! Also, I love the technique of folding the edges in to get a nice rectangle. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Can you freeze uncooked pasta?
Absolutely wonderful, the only thing that i sometimes need to add is a little water just so it isnt dry.
I’m so glad you love the recipe!
Hello, I tried this recipe as my 1st attempt in making pasta. But mine came out tough. Any suggestion on why this occurs. Thanks
It could be that the dough was too dry. If it feels tough again, try sprinkling it with a little water as you knead it. Hope this helps!
I am an 80 year old just love your recipes, Will not live long enough to try all,
But enjoy all tried so far, thank you, have a great day .
I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes!
This was my first time making pasta from scratch. It was so easy! My first attempt at running it through the sheet attachment caused it to tear. So I added just a sprinkle of water, kneaded it again, and let it rest for 15 more minutes. It worked!
What a great tip, I’m so glad you enjoyed.