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
Hello I made htis pasta with regula flour exactly as written, it was perect. Today I used seminola flour and it was kind of sticky and kept breaking. Any suggestions? Still tasted delish but was more difficult to make.
Marcella Hazan says that semolina is only really used for bulk pasta where you have a machine. I always mix it in a 1 to 3 ratio with 00 flour. Still get the taste but it comes together easier
This recipe did not work with my machine. when the dough came out it all stuck together. I even added more flour and the dough just was too wet
Which cookbook can I find this recipe in?
Hi Kara, this recipe is currently only on the blog! We tend to publish different recipes online than we do in the cookbooks.
Excellent recipe! I used garlic infused olive oil and it was divine! When I make pasta, I use a large, collapsible, wooden clothes drying rack to hang and dry my pasta as I make it and it works great! I put newspapers or unused trash bags under the rack because sometimes as the pasta dries it falls off the rack, but then I put it all in 2 gallon Ziplocks once it’s dry and we have fresh pasta when we need it! This keeps it from sticking together and also allows it to keep longer.
Super easy recipe. I had my 9 year old helping me and even he was impressed at how easy it was. We used 00 flour because I had it. It all came out PERFECT. I will never go back to store-bought noodles ever again.
How long should I boil these noodles? Cant exactly give them a taste test for doneness like you can say hard barilla pasta. I don’t want to over or undercook them.
This is a great simple recipe that really works.
How does it work with whole wheat?
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Do you need a pasta maker to make pasta?
Hi Meg, a pasta maker will make it easier to make homemade pasta, but you don’t need one. You could roll out the dough by hand and cut it into noodles with a pizza cutter if you prefer. That said, many good hand-crank pasta makers are available for under $40. I think it’s worth the investment if you’d like to make homemade pasta often!
Love this recipe. Can it be dried and stored in a container?
So glad you love it, Katie! Instead of drying this pasta, I recommend freezing the nests. You can boil them straight from frozen when you want to use them.
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Hello – it mentions this recipe serves 3 to 4 people. How large are those servings?
I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to make homemade pasta and when I got the attachment for my kitchen aid I immediately looked up recipes! This recipe is so easy to follow and makes INCREDIBLE pasta, it’s become my go-to for meals both while hosting friends and evenings in with my hubby. Can’t recommend enough!
Hi Heidi, thanks for your comment! I’m so glad you love the recipe.
Can I double this recipe?
Hi Sara, yes!
Can you freeze what you dont use?
Hi Tamme, yes! You can freeze the uncooked pasta. In the future, you can boil it directly from frozen.
I made this recipe the first time I ever made pasta. It was easy to make and delicious. A new family favourite. The steps were easy to follow and it turned out amazing. Paired it with my homemade turkey meatballs. Fantastic thank you so much!
I’m so glad your pasta came out perfectly!
This is a great recipe. I have made it about 15 times in the past several months and it always turns out great.
Can you freeze the pasta?
Mine was very rough and difficult to knead
Try adding more water, if it still doesn’t work, continue adding more water untill it’s easier or utill your liking. If you add to much water, try adding some flour.