My favorite Homemade Pasta recipe made from scratch that requires just 3 ingredients. Mix, roll, boil, and bask in the glory of these noodles that taste so much better than what you can get in a store.
I love finding ways to make my favorite grocery store staples at home! As you all know, pasta of any kind is high on my list for favorites. Making your own pasta is incredibly easy. With just these 3 simple ingredients, it’s fool-proof to make pasta with the perfect texture every time.
I’ll toss theses noodles with a bit of butter and salt, throw them into soup, load them up with sauce. They taste fantastic in so many forms! I don’t know if you’ll ever go back to store-bought pasta after trying this recipe out for yourself.
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a list of FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page!
- Flour – I used all-purpose. If you have semolina flour, you can mix the two and use half of each. Semolina flour is a bit more coarse and it’s usually used in making mainly pasta and couscous.
- Salt – Use more or less as you prefer.
- Eggs – I used large eggs. For every cup of flour you need 2 large eggs.
- Water – I have water in my picture above, but I didn’t need to use any, however if you find the dough too dry add a bit of water. Again this can depend on where you live and your environment.
That’s it! Homemade pasta is so much easier than you thought.
How to make homemade pasta
- Start the dough: Add the flour and salt to a large bowl or clean surface and mix. It’s easier to do this on a clean work surface. Create a well in the center of the flour, and crack the eggs into the well. Beat the eggs with a fork and slowly start incorporating the flour into the beaten egg.
- Finish the dough: Keep mixing, with the fork, until a dough starts to form. Continue to mix in flour until you can no longer work with the fork. If you find the dough is too dry, add a bit of water, a tbsp of water at a time. Flour your hands well and start kneading the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
- Shape the noodles: Flour your work surface and roll the dough out as thin as you can, 1/4″ at the very least. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut noodles into the desired shape and size. Dry the finished noodles as you finish with the dough over a noodle drying rack or spread out and tossed with flour.
- Cook the noodles: Boil the noodles in salted water until cooked through and tender, 1-3 minutes, depending on thickness.
Homemade pasta equipment
While you can do this entire recipe by hand, there are a few tools you can use that will make pasta making even easier for you. Here’s what you can use:
- Pasta Machine – If you love making your own fresh pasta then I strongly recommend buying your own pasta machine. It’ll just make this process so much easier. Not only can you make fettuccine or spaghetti with it, but it will roll out your dough to the desired thickness, which saves you the hassle of rolling this out on your own.
- Pasta Drying Rack – While this rack isn’t entirely necessary it is nice to have and makes drying pasta more fun. It’s fairly cheap and it will make you look like a professional pasta maker, so why not!
Other ways to make pasta dough
While the ingredients remain the same, you can make this pasta using a stand mixer attached with a dough hook or even a food processor.
If using a stand mixer, simply add all the ingredients to the bowl of the mixer and mix well using the dough hook attachment until the dough comes clean from the side of the bowl.
If using a food processor, add all the ingredients to the food processor and blend until the mixture resembles a crumply mixture. Depending on what food processor you have it is possible for the dough to actually come together in the food processor. If it doesn’t simply turn over the crumbly mixture to a floured work surface and slowly knead it until it comes together into a nice firm pasta dough.
What can I make with my homemade pasta?
Cook your pasta in a pot of salted boiling water. Fresh homemade pasta cooks fairly quickly, it shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes. Drain and toss it with some butter, parmesan cheese, and freshly cracked pepper for a lovely side dish for any meal. You can also use these either cooked or uncooked in a plethora of recipes! Use them uncooked and boil them in soups like these:
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
- Minestrone Soup
- Beef Stroganoff Soup
- Flu Fighter Chicken Noodle Soup
Or you can pre-cook the noodles for these recipes:
Homemade pasta made in advance
Unlike bread doughs, pasta dough doesn’t need to rise. This takes a lot of complication out of the recipe. You can form your dough up to 2 days in advance. Wrap it well with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. You may need to let it rest on the counter for 20-30 minutes prior to using it because it’s easier to roll.
How long will leftover cooked pasta last?
Transfer cooked pasta to an airtight container and store for 2-3 days in the fridge. They may stick to each other a bit, so it’s helpful to toss them in some oil or butter before storing. Reheat either in the microwave or in a skillet over medium heat. You can add a splash of water or broth to reheat in a skillet to keep them moist.
How to freeze fresh pasta
If you plan on making a big batch and freezing some for later, I highly recommend freezing the pasta uncooked. You can freeze the dough ball or the pre-shaped noodles. Freezing pre-cooked noodles will result in a mushy consistency after they thaw.
For the dough, wrap it well with both plastic wrap and foil before storing in the freezer. For pre-shaped noodles, lay them out, tossed with flour, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet- not touching each other. You may need to do this in batches. Freeze for 1 – 1.5 hours, then transfer to a large freezer bag.
Did you love this homemade staple? Try these:
- Homemade Mayonnaise
- 2 Ingredient Dough
- No Knead Bread
- Cajun Seasoning
- Biscuit Mix
- Classic Dinner Rolls
- Enchilada Sauce
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Homemade Pasta
Equipment
Instructions
- Add the flour and salt to a large bowl or on a clean work surface and mix to combine.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and crack the eggs in the well.
- Use a fork to beat the eggs and gradually start incorporating flour into the eggs. Keep going with more flour until a dough starts to form. The dough will be sticky at first so just keep adding flour to it.
- When you can no longer work the dough with the fork, flour your hands really well and start kneading with your hands for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Add a bit of flour to a clean work surface. Unwrap the dough and start rolling it with a rolling pin until the dough is anywhere from 1/4 inch thick to paper thin, go as thin as you can.
- Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, start cutting into noodles, make them as wide or thin as you like, just try and make them as uniform as possible.
- While finishing up with all the dough, cool the noodles on a noodle drying rack, or spread them and sprinkle a bit of flour over them so they don't stick together.
- Boil the noodles in well salted water until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes, then serve with your favorite pasta sauce, butter or cheese.
Recipe Notes
- Make ahead: You can form your dough up to 2 days in advance. Wrap it well with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. You may need to let it rest on the counter for 20-30 minutes prior to using it because it’s easier to roll.
- If you plan on making a big batch and freezing some for later, I highly recommend freezing the pasta uncooked. You can freeze the dough ball or the pre-shaped noodles. Freezing pre-cooked noodles will result in a mushy consistency after they thaw.
- For the dough, wrap it well with both plastic wrap and foil before storing in the freezer. For pre-shaped noodles, lay them out, tossed with flour, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet- not touching each other. You may need to do this in batches. Freeze for 1 – 1.5 hours, then transfer to a large freezer bag.
First time making pasta and it was dead easy thanks to this!!! Love your recipes, thank you.
Hi Joanna. you suggest using semolina is it the stuff they use for polenta I have some of that but it’s a bit coarse please advise thank you
No, polenta is made from cornmeal! Semolina is a course-ground durum wheat.
This is a great recipe but I have to ask why the ratio of 2 eggs to 1 cup of flour? I assume that there is a good reason.
Many years ago, my grandmother taught this recipe to me which is very similar, almost identical but it was one egg, one cup of flour, and one generous pinch of salt (about 1/2 tsp), add milk as necessary for moisture. I always look for a better recipe, even at 74 years of age so I would sincerely like to know what the two eggs do to the final product.
This is not a criticism, just a question from an old guy that likes to cook!
We like the texture of an eggier noodle! Especially when you’re making thinner noodles, an extra egg really helps give a better chew.