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Staff, Courtesy of KitchenAid
Whether you’re gearing up for a goal marathon, a weekend long run, or just a fun event, at one point or another, you (like most runners) have probably fueled up on pasta the night before. And while there’s nothing wrong with dropping a box of dried pasta into a pot of boiling water in a pinch, making your own fresh noodles is a deeply gratifying way to nourish yourself and delight your taste buds. And, surprise! It’s easier than you might think.
The Expert: I am a trained chef, recipe developer, and food writer. I’m also a marathon runner who loves a great pre-race pasta meal, which is why I like to keep a batch of homemade noodles in the freezer. A reliable and hard-working pasta maker is a must-have tool for making springy, smooth, and chewy noodles that can soak up any sauce. I love my pasta sheeter and extruder attachments for my KitchenAid stand mixer. The stand mixer does the cranking work for you, which makes the process faster. The noodles always come out uniform, and you can get sheets thin enough for delicate, translucent ravioli. Of course, if you don’t have a stand mixer, a sturdy hand-crank countertop pasta sheeter and cutter is a great inexpensive option.
With a high-quality pasta maker in your kitchen, you can churn out restaurant-quality dishes with your favorite sauces, fillings, and flavorings. Not only will your friends and family be impressed, but you’ll also have more control over the ingredients and nutrients in your pre-run fuel. When you make your own pasta dough, you can incorporate more whole grains and flavor-packed superfoods (like beets, herbs, and squash), and experiment with a variety of noodle shapes and sizes.
So if you’re ready to take your carb-loading routine into your own hands, here’s what you need to know to find the absolute best pasta maker.
What to Consider
What’s Your Favorite Pasta Shape?
The pasta maker you buy will determine the noodle shapes you can produce. The two main camps of pasta makers are extruders and sheeters. Extruders squeeze out circular pasta shapes like bucatini and spaghetti. It’s a faster process because there’s no need to start with pasta sheets—whether rolled by hand or with a sheeter.
The sheet-and-cut style of pasta maker presses globs of soft pasta dough into wide, rectangular ribbons, then slices them into flat fettuccine (or thinner) noodles. Though this kind of machine requires the extra step of sheeting dough, the pasta tends to come out more uniform. Sheeting produces a more reliable result that’s easier to cut into identical noodles. You may run into more problems pushing dough through an extruder machine, and extruded noodles tend to break more easily if the dough is dry.
When you use a sheeter, you also have the option of making rustic hand-cut pasta shapes. All you’ll need is a pasta dough cutter or pastry wheel to make delicate lasagna noodles, farfalle (bowties), or fusilli.
Electric vs. Manual
The question of whether to get an electric or manual machine comes down to how much effort you want to put into your homemade pasta and whether you have an extra set of hands to help you. Electric machines do much of the work for a faster and smoother-running process. With a hand-run pasta maker, you’ll need to manually crank the pasta dough through the machine, which can be tricky to do on your own, as you need to handle the pasta going in and coming out.
Electric pasta makers can be either standalone machines or attachments that work with some stand mixers, such as both KitchenAid models on our list. Check your owner’s manual to see if your stand mixer can accept pasta attachments. Even if they’re sold separately, which they usually are, attachments are a less expensive way to make pasta quickly without manual cranking.
Noodle Thickness
Every sheet-style pasta maker offers a range of thicknesses, which are usually represented by numbers on a dial. If you plan to make filled pasta, like tortellini and ravioli, you’ll want a pasta maker that offers at least seven thickness options (many Italian chefs prefer super-thin, 1.5mm sheets to create translucent noodles that offer a sneak peek at the filling).
Pasta Maker Maintenance
Most pasta makers, electric or not, must be washed by hand. This can be more difficult if you’re working with a more complex machine. For easier maintenance, look for a pasta maker that comes with a cleaning brush or other tools made specifically for the job or one with at least a few dishwasher-safe parts. It’s very important to keep your pasta maker clean and free of dough between uses. Otherwise, you risk jamming up the machine.
How We Evaluated
As a professional chef who spends most of my time in the kitchen, I depend on appliances that do their job well and are built to last. As an avid pasta lover (mile-high piles of pillowy ravioli are my favorite), I don’t like fighting with my pasta maker to push dough through, and I’d rather spend more time perfecting a rich tomato sauce than separating stuck-together noodles coming through the cutter. I also think that making homemade pasta is a deeply satisfying, accessible, and creative experiment that home cooks of every level can excel at. I’ve recommended the pasta makers here based on personal product testing, research, and customer reviews and ratings so that you can find a machine that will hold up for years of your famous bolognese nights.
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