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Best Homemade Pasta Dough Recipe…Ever

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This homemade pasta dough recipe will help you create tender, homemade pasta — and it’s so easy! Step by step instructions and images help you all the way through. Once you’ve made a batch try this easy grilled chicken and fettuccine in creamy basil sauce!

For this recipe you’ll need: all-purpose flour, salt, eggs, olive oil

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homemade pasta dough chicken alfredo lasagna

I was going to post my Chicken Alfredo Lasagna recipe today and then I remembered that I wanted to post this homemade pasta dough recipe first so that you could really make a lasagna that would make your entire family (including random inlaws) drool.

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Don’t get me wrong – store bought pasta is fine. Better when it is organic but …all in all… it does the job. It just doesn’t do the job as well as this homemade kind… which isn’t hard to make. It’s sort of like saying that a pair of sneakers will work fine with that sexy little black dress… but if possible a pair of Betsy’s would be so much better.

You know what I mean. I know you do.

Homemade pasta dough is really quite simple, pretty fast and very inexpensive. It is messy and that is the one negative about making your own pasta. Maybe it is just me – I tend to be messy anyway. You don’ believe me? Who found red food color on her upper thigh when she had been wearing jeans? Yep. Me.

When I get done in the kitchen it looks, more or less, like someone took the flour scoop and just pretended it was fairy dust and I was Wendy (from Peter Pan). Fly!

The first thing you will want is a pasta roller. Now, you can roll the pasta by hand with your rolling pin but it is more difficult to get it exactly right. It is usually thicker when made that way which does detract from the delicacy of the finished dish. If you have a kitchenaid you can buy a pasta attachment and there are actual electric pasta makers, too. Personally, even though I have an electric pasta maker I prefer the hand cranked kind, like this –

homemade pasta dough pasta maker

This is the one I have and I think it is worth every penny. It is heavy duty and easy to use. It is easy to clean up…and it doesn’t get bogged down with whole wheat or vegetable pasta doughs. So, if you don’t have one consider this.

I attach mine to a plain wooden stool. It works best for me. You can attach yours to the table, counter, or whatever is convenient. It just needs to be stable.

Step one is to mix the dough together and knead it. You will probably want to do this in your mixer unless you have arm muscles like the Incredible Hulk. I used to knead this stuff by hand but I am not that interested in firm youthful upper arms. At least not interested enough to actually knead this. But you can…if you want to. Once it is kneaded you will form it into a ball and let it rest for about a half hour. This allows all the gluten that you have developed to chill out and relax. Just leave it on the counter with a towel tossed over it.
After your half hour has passed and the gluten is relaxed you will roll it out into a rectangle, then cut it in fourths, and it is ready for you to begin feeding it through the machine.

Rolling out homemade pasta dough

If you are using a pasta maker like the one above you will set it on #1 and feed the dough through 4 or 5 times. Then you will set it on #2 and feed it through 1 or 2 times… I usually set it on #3 for a thinner pasta and feed it through again. Experiment to see how thin you like your pasta – and you will probably find that you use different thicknesses for different dishes. For lasagna I stop with a #3. This particular pasta maker has 9 different settings. Anyway you just keep feeding it through until you have the thickness you want.

Putting homemade pasta dough through the machine

Once that is done it is ready to be cut into the shape you desire. Most of the hand cranked pasta makers just have two different flat noodle settings but you can buy extra attachments for different shapes. For lasagna you don’t need to cut it with the pasta maker. Just measure the length of your lasagna pan and cut it short enough to fit. Use as many pieces and you need for the width.

For fettuccine or linguine you will just feed the homemade pasta dough through the proper sized cutters on the machine (usually on the back) and it will be automatically cut to size.

Homemade pasta is easy to make and it's so delicious! From RestlessChipotle.com

I usually let homemade pasta dough dry for a half hour or so before I cook it but you don’t have to. Keep in mind that fresh pasta will cook VERY quickly. Test it after 2 minutes. You can even use the lasagna noodles in the lasagna without boiling it first – I don’t like to do that because I think it gives it a raw doughy starchy taste but other people say it is fine. Try it and see if it works for you – after all you will save about 2 minutes. 🙂

Making homemade pasta is fun. And it's SO delicious! From RestlessChipotle.com

Ready to try it? Here’s the recipe I use… oh…and that lasagna? Here’s the recipe: Chicken Alfredo Lasagna with Homemade Pasta

Finished homemade pasta dough

You May Need…

 

Pasta is delicious and inexpensive when it is homemade. you might think that it takes a lot of time but it really doesn’t – especially with one of these pasta makers. You can use the electric kind or a hand cranked version. This is the Pasta Maker I have and you can get it on Amazon. If you’d rather have an electric one this Gourmia Pasta Maker kneads the dough, too! Plus it has 8 different shapes that you can make and will handle whole wheat pasta, too.

Homemade Pasta Dough Recipe

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4.2 from 15 votes
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Best Homemade Pasta Dough Recipe…Ever
Prep Time
45 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 
A delicate, delicious homemade pasta that is easy to make and quicker than you might think.
Servings: 8
Author: Marye Audet
Ingredients
  • 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • About 4 to 5 tablespoons of water give or take
Instructions
  1. Blend the flour and salt together.
  2. Add the eggs, oil and half of the water.
  3. Mix slowly, adding more water as needed until the dough can be formed into a ball that holds together. don't let it get too wet or it will be hard to work with.
  4. Knead for about three minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  5. Cover with a clean tea towel and allow to rest for thirty minutes.
  6. Divide the dough into 4 parts.
  7. Roll each part out on a lightly floured board so that it will fit through the #1 setting on your pasta maker.
  8. If you are rolling by hand just roll each piece of dough out until it is as thin as you can get it and cut into the desired sizes.
  9. Rub a light coating of flour on the dough.
  10. Put the dough through the #1 setting about 5 times or more.
  11. Change to a #2 setting and put the dough through that setting two or three times.
  12. Change to a #3 setting and put the dough through that setting.
  13. Continue to make the dough thinner until it is as thin as you want it.
  14. Cut into desired shapes and allow to rest for a few minutes more.
  15. Place in salted, rapidly boiling water and cook until done - 2 or 3 minutes.
Recipe Notes

You can use whole wheat flour, semolina flour, or a combination if you like.
You can substitute vegetable puree for the water.
I'd suggest following the recipe exactly before trying any variations.

finished pasta

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Comments

  4. Thanks for the great recipe and tips with the dough. I struggle with the drying process. I don’t have a drying rack. Can you just lay it out on wax paper for thirty minutes or need hang it from something? How long does it need to dry when you make a large batch and want to keep the noodles to use at a different time? Thank you!!

    Reply

    • I’ve never kept them to use at a different time so I am unsure. You can cover them and keep them fresh in the fridge, though. They do need to hang… I’ve suspended wooden spoons between pans and done other things to create a drying rack. Use your imagination. 🙂

      Reply

    • One of the neatest drying rack I ever saw was a few of those large plastic coat hangers. Hang the pasta over them. Hang the hangers maybe in the kitchen where it’s the warmest. Use your imagination. Also use wooden dowels suspended somewhere in your kitchen. Tell your husband you heard it was impossible to do….tee hee

      Reply

  5. Hi, I just finished rolling the first ball of dough (I’m doing it by hand.) Something’s come up, can i leave the dough to rest???? Or is there some way I can cook them and then use them some other day?????

    Reply

    • You can let the dough rest … or you can oil it and put it in a container or storage bag and then keep it refrigerated. Let it come to room temp before you roll it out.

      Reply

  6. I have made this recipe numerous times and it always turns out wonderful! It works great with my kitchen aid attachment and the family scarfs it down. It reminds me of when my Grandma made fresh pasta by hand for soup. Thank you. ?

    Reply

  8. I tried the recipe that came with my pasta maker, but it was so dry it crumbled coming through the machine. Your recipe also has just the littlest bit of liquid. What should the dough feel like when it’s resting? Can I add water if it seems too stiff?

    Reply

  10. Wow! I have always wanted to make my own pasta but I have never done it. This looks so good.And not too hard… Thanks for this! I know it won’t be the same,but I want to try and use my gluten-free flour blend and see what happens. 🙂

    Reply

  19. I made this tonight and it was perfect! I had double the amount of dough that I needed for the meal, can I freeze the rest of the dough, does it do well once unthawed? Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  23. I love making homemade pasta, but you’re right, it’s quite the work out! I’ve got a pasta roller on my list of things to buy myself ASAP.

    Reply

  30. Do you fold the dough in half between each time you put it through the pasta maker? Or just straight in each time? I’ve seen on food network that they fold it in half sometimes. So I wanted to make sure 🙂 thanks! Can’t wait to try it

    Reply

  31. Hi! Thanks for the great site! How do you clean your hand-cranked pasta roller? Thank you in advance for your reply!

    Reply

  32. im making this recipe right now as we speak! Dough is resting for thirty minutes before I roll it into a rectangle, and so far so good! 🙂 love this recipe! Wondering if you can freeze these and then re cook them? Hmm.. 🙂

    Reply

    • Yes, you can freeze them, I do so on floured parchment paper in piles of cut pasta…or single layer if making Rolled up pasta with cheese mixture inside…like shells, or rolls of lasagne noodles. I put mine in parchment paper and wrap in foil as flat and tight as possible after freezing individually. When baking, pull out and put in baking dish with sauce on bottom of dish. Then, shells, and then, Cover with sauce and cheese in oven so the pasta stays soft. We make pasta now..but made so much at our Inns for 16 years. So easy and much more delicious. I also freeze pasta dough but make sure you flatten it out a bit before freezing. I take it out of the freezer a day or two in advance of using to defrost.

      Reply

  35. I have just made the pasta following your directions and they turned out wonderful. Thank you so very much for sharing your great recipe.

    Karen Swank

    Reply

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