Active Time
35 minutes
Total Time
45 minutes
This recipe for fresh homemade pasta dough is designed to be flexible. Instead of the extra egg yolks many recipes call for, it uses oil, giving it a bendy texture ideal for ravioli and agnolotti. But it’s wonderful for fettuccine, lasagna, and pappardelle too.
Learning how to make pasta dough for the first time? The process is simpler than you might think, but it takes practice. Equipment is key: A stand mixer does most of the kneading in this fresh pasta recipe, and while you can use a rolling pin, a pasta maker with a hand crank or KitchenAid pasta roller attachment makes life easier.
Let your dough rest at room temperature so the glutens can relax—skip this step, and the dough will spring back each time you roll it. Pass the dough through your pasta maker several times for a smooth, even dough that doesn’t crack. When ready, you should be able to see the shadow of your hand through the dough. Once you’ve cut the pasta into your desired shapes (note that fresh pasta swells quite a bit while cooking), dust it with a little bit of flour or cornmeal to prevent sticking.
The same rules for cooking store-bought spaghetti apply to fresh pasta making: Cook it in a large pot of boiling salted water, but start checking if it’s cooked through after just a minute or two.
Looking for a pasta dough recipe without eggs? Try one with semolina flour and boiling water. Pair your fresh homemade pasta with our favorite pasta sauce recipes, like white pesto with ricotta and Parmesan cheese, a spinach pasta with preserved lemon, and more.
All products featured on Bon Appétit are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through the retail links below, we earn an affiliate commission.
What you’ll need
Stand Mixer
$330 $280 At Amazon
Cloth Bowl Covers
$18 At Amazon
KitchenAid 3-Piece Pasta Maker Attachments
$130 At Amazon
Ingredients
Makes about 1 pound
3
2
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Mix 3 large eggs, beaten to blend, 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. + ⅛ tsp. Morton kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with your hands until a shaggy dough forms. Knead with dough hook on medium-low speed until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover bowl with a cloth bowl cover or kitchen towel and let rest at least 30 minutes.
Step 2
Dust a large rimmed baking sheet with cornmeal or semolina flour. Set pasta machine to widest setting; dust lightly with cornmeal or semolina flour. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping remaining dough wrapped in plastic as you work, flatten dough into a narrow rectangle (no wider than mouth of machine); pass through rollers. Fold in ends of dough so they meet in center, then fold dough in half and roll again.
Step 3
Repeat without folding, adjusting machine one setting thinner after every pass and dusting with cornmeal or semolina flour if sticky, catching pasta sheet with your hand instead of letting it crumple on the work surface (cut sheet of dough in half if it gets too long). Continue until pasta sheet is ¹⁄₁₆" thick (setting 8 on most machines). (Alternatively, you can roll out sheets lengthwise with a rolling pin until ¹⁄₁₆" thick.) Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet and roll out remaining dough in the same manner.
Step 4
Cut pasta as desired.
Do Ahead: Dough can be made 1 day ahead; cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill.
Editor’s note: This fresh pasta dough recipe was first printed in September 2016 to accompany Sweet Corn and Ricotta Raviolo, Butternut Squash Agnolotti, and Braised Lamb Shank Ravioli, but it’s easy, texturally resilient, and versatile enough to form into any shape. Head this way for more of our favorite pasta dinners →
Leave a Review
Reviews (310)
Back to TopI cannot wait to finally make pasta from scratch. With my great measuring skills I'm sure it will taste great (That's if I read the directions carefully) I've always wanted to be a chef and this recipe brings be one step closer to becoming a chef who is good at my job.
Anonymous
Why do you need to know?????????
2/2/2023
This recipe is great. To those that have said that it's crumbly, I usually add a little more oil and/or water to help pull it together if that happens. I assume that I have that issue because I'm measuring vs weighing. I wrap it in plastic wrap to rest and after a half hour, it's all together and ready to go!
Anonymous
Texas
2/2/2023
Works fine. For those suggesting that its dry, wet or otherwise not right read on. Using cups to measure flour is fraught with danger, measure by weight instead. Add half the liguid, start working it until it it absorbed, add more until the consistency is right and then stop adding liguid. If you make it too wet because you added all the liquid at once or got the proportions wrong, add small amounts of flour until it comes back to a smooth consistency. Work until you have a good smooth elastic dough. for a small quantity like this use a large bowl to contain the mess and it makes kneading easier as well. No power tools required, takes maybe 15 minutes. Dough is fun but takes some time to master. Work it by hand without a mixer until you understand how dough works - its alive. And understand its an art. You need to judge how much water or flour extra to add or additional kneading is required to get it right. This is the way (weigh). ;)
Keith
Brisbane, AU
1/23/2023
Followed the recipe exactly and the dough was perfect as was the finished pasta. The thing that I love most about this recipe is that I can get pasta on the table quickly!
MichMag
South Carolina
12/9/2022
The worst - dry crumbly - won't make again.
Wendy W
Phoenix, AZ
11/27/2022
This is a great recipe! I massed my ingredients (240g = 2 cups AP flour, ~180 grams = 3 eggs in shell) and ended up with a dough on the stickier side, which was easily remedied by flouring the sheets as I rolled them. I eliminated mixing by hand by creating a well in the flour inside the Kitchenaid bowl and gently tapping the bowl to incorporate flour (much like mixing by hand). The pasta was delicious!
Susan
Brooklyn, NY
11/13/2022
Super easy, great tasting product. Used the Kitchen Aid Pasta attachment to make both spaghetti and fusili and both came out perfect. I would only add the cooking time to this recipe.
Troy P
Los Angeles, CA
10/10/2022
I've made this recipe quite a few times and find it extremely easy to follow with solid results. The fresh pasta is yummy and so simple to make. My only complaint is that, for my family of two, it just makes more than we can use in a sitting. Perfect size recipe for four healthy eaters.
Caslewoods
Madison, WI
9/3/2022
I see a lot of mixed reviews and see why. Just reading this recipe, immediately see it needs more details this recipe is incomplete. I am surprised that it would be posted. I am newer to making pasta and tried different recipes with success. The whole rolling steps are basically skipped. There is more to it than the recipe. Why not provide directions for the hand method as well as for the stand mixer method of sponsor. Evan a link in the recipe for other steps and options would be great.
Anonymous
Michigan
8/3/2022
Absolutely terrible recipe. Dry and crumb like. Waste of flour and eggs 🤦♀️
Anonymous
7/17/2022
Turned out great. It was easy to make and my family loved it. I am so glad I bought my pasta machine and got to put it to use. This recipe made it fun.
Shoe
Ohio
2/23/2022
I use this as my go to recipe and works great. It tends to be a little dry so I add water as needed to get it to the right texture
Anonymous
NJ
2/16/2022
this sucked. the dough was REALY hard to roll out before I put it in a pasta roller. tin the mixer the dough did not come together at all. the only good things is its easy.
thomas
victora australia
2/13/2022
This is the best and easiest recipe I have ever used! Easy enough to whip up after a busy day at work. I have been searching for this recipe for over 20 years! Thank you!
JulieB
Northern, New York
1/23/2022
“What you’ll need STAND MIXER $460… Step 1: mix in a stand mixer but with your hands” lol what.
Armani Sun
Hawai’i
12/31/2021