Want to Make Pasta From Scratch? These 17 Staff-Fave Tools Make It Easy

Mar 27, 2025 9

Hands pass a sheet of fresh pasta through a hand crank pasta machine. — Dina Ávila

Making homemade ravioli or bucatini isn’t as intimidating as it may seem — especially when you’ve got these tried-and-tested gadgets and kitchen staples

The first time I ate homemade pasta, I felt like I was tasting the world in 4K. There’s nothing wrong with the store-bought stuff — Sfoglini’s whimsical Vevusio pasta enchants my dinner plate on the regular — but something shifted in me, on a molecular level, when I first ate pasta that was made from scratch. Few joys in life are as delightful as a Sunday night spent eating pumpkin and nutmeg ravioli with butter-crisped sage, all from the comfort of your couch.

Making pasta from scratch also doesn’t require an elaborate list of ingredients or techniques. As Eater correspondent Jaya Saxena explains, the egg well method beloved by Italians, while visually impressive, can be needlessly fussy; as Saxena writes, plenty of “recipes for French ravioli (a culture no less finicky about tradition) say you can make pasta in a bowl.” A few choice tools can help, however, in your quest to make a hearty lasagna for the next big family function, or colorful ravioli filled with homemade ricotta.

Below, you’ll find a short list of the best kitchen tools for making pasta from scratch, many of which you may already own (think, colanders and thermometers), and a few — including a head-turning Italian pasta machine for less than $100 — that will help you cook like a seasoned tagliolini master.

The best countertop pasta machines for under $100

This clamp-equipped pasta machine

This Marcato machine is super-popular for good reason

KitchenAid’s iconic pasta attachment for stand mixers

Cookies, bread, ice cream — a powerful stand mixer can be a portal to cooking so many cool things — including pasta — thanks to the right attachments. KitchenAid makes some of the most beloved pasta accessories out there to go with its iconic stand mixer, but you can also find plenty of comparable, budget-friendly options online.

This 6-in-1 stand mixer attachment

This 3-in-1 stand mixer attachment

Tools for every pasta shape

Whether you need crimped edges for your spinach ravioli or an easy cavatelli maker for creating the charming shell-shaped pasta, the right tools can be a game-changer in your pasta journey.

A ravioli cutter for perfectly crimped edges

A cavatelli maker (that is surprisingly easy to use)

A gnocchi board for doing things the traditional Italian way

A great lasagna pan

Pyrex’s dish comes with a freezer-safe lid

Start with a great flour

Make sure you select the right flour for your pasta, as it will determine the elasticity and texture of your precious, slightly firm penne or a delicate, silky noodle. 00 flour is a finely ground wheat flour that is popular in Italy for its smooth texture, and is ideal for softer pastas such as ravioli and tagliatelle (it’s also recommended for pizza dough). Founded in 1924, Caputo has been making some of the best flours for Italian cooking for over a century, including this silky 00 flour with high gluten content for stretchiness.

00 flour

Durum flour

Durum flour has a higher protein content (usually 13 percent) and is made from extra-hard wheat, making it great for fresh and dried pastas with more architecturally bold shapes (think, penne and fusilli). We like this pasta-ready flour from King Arthur.

Semolina flour

Finally, semolina flour is made from hard durum wheat for a heftier, chewier dough, and, in addition to having a high protein content, is another ideal option for shape-heavy pastas that could benefit from a coarser texture (again, think, fusilli, orecchiette, and farfalle).

Want to make ricotta? A thermometer is your best friend

A big, round Dutch oven (is actually perfect for pasta)

You may typically associate Dutch ovens with homemade breads and stews, but they can also be ideal for cooking pasta thanks to their high sides and heavy bottoms, which help keep sauce and pasta from spilling out, and provide great heat distribution for more evenly cooked pasta. In this Eater guide to shopping Dutch ovens, Stephanie Ganz breaks down why Le Creuset and Great Jones make two of her favorite options.