To some, pasta is an Italian dish meant to be savored at restaurants and haphazardly thrown together for a quick weeknight meal at home. To others, pasta is art you can eat. There is no in-between.
If you’ve clicked on this article, most likely you identify with the latter. That, or you’ve just grown so tired of store-bought noodles that you’re thinking it’s high time you put your culinary skills to the test. Either way, investing in a pasta maker or some pasta-making tools is the first step away from the packaged stuff and toward authentic Italian cuisine.
Rest assured, we know better than anyone that shopping for the best kitchen appliances can be a massive undertaking, especially when you’re on the hunt for a pasta maker deserving of even Nonna’s stamp of approval. So to ensure you’ll be serving up restaurant-quality dishes at home, we’ve rounded up some of the best pasta makers and tools currently on the market below.
1. Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Machine
BEST OVERALL
You don’t have to be Italian to appreciate this authentic pasta maker that was crafted in the motherland of spaghetti. If you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty (or should we say doughy?) Marcato is a manual pasta machine complete with a pasta cutter, hand crank, and clamp. It’s made from a combination of chrome-plated and nickel-plated steel and comes prepared to roll and cut dough into lasagna, fettuccine, and tag pasta. It’s also compatible with an additional 12 pasta cutting accessories (sold separately) so you can whip up advanced dishes like Asian noodles, dumplings, and pastelitos.
Buy: Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Machine $81.99
2. Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker Plus
BEST AUTOMATIC
Even if you don’t fancy yourself a chef, you can still whip up restaurant-quality creations in your own home. Rather than investing in an automatic machine you’ll likely never use (out of laziness or just blatant intimidation), give this electric appliance from Philips a try. With four interchangeable discs, the electric appliance does virtually all the grunt work for you: it mixes, kneads, shapes, and creates pasta noodles like spaghetti, fettuccini, penne, lasagna and dumplings. All you have to do is supply the ingredients. Plus, the machine breaks down into dishwasher-safe parts, so not only is cooking a breeze, but cleanup is, too.
Buy: Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker Plus $230.93
3. KitchenAid 3 in 1 Pasta Maker Attachment for KitchenAid
BEST ATTACHMENT
Just in case you needed further convincing that a KitchenAid is an essential appliance, there exist attachments for the machine that adds “pasta maker” to its already impressive resume. While the brand does have its own namesake pasta maker attachment, we chose Antree’s multifunctional tool because it can form not two, but three different noodles. The tool can cut and shape dough into fettuccine, spaghetti and lasagna noodles simultaneously. Yes, you read that right, no need to switch attachments; this baby’s an all-in-one device. But it’s not only easy to use, but it’s also easy to clean up after the fact with the brush that’s included in your purchase.
Buy: Antree 3 in 1 Pasta Maker Attachment for KitchenAid $99.70
4. Spiralizer 7-Blade Vegetable Spiral Slicer
BEST VEGGIE NOODLER
For health-conscious carb lovers looking for an alternative to traditional noodles, the Spiralizer Vegetable Spiral Slicer is here to serve. The brand’s third-generation model is between 30 and 35% stronger than its competitors and comes equipped with seven blades built to curl and coil even the toughest root veggies, like sweet potato and turnips, to prove it. This pro-health workhorse can take your favorite vegetables and transform them into angel hair, strings of spaghetti, fettuccine, curly fries, ribbons, fine and hearty-ridged pasta, and because your purchase includes not one, but four recipe booklets, you’ll never be stumped for meal inspiration.
Buy: Spiralizer 7-Blade Vegetable Spiral Slicer $24.97
5. Philips Compact Pasta Maker
BEST FOR SMALL KITCHENS
The sentiment “good things come in small packages,” rings true for this compact pasta maker from Philips. If you have limited counter space, we can (almost) guarantee the automatic appliance will be the perfect fit. It measures 13 x 5 x 10 inches all around, and only weighs 13 pounds. But don’t judge this pasta machine by its size, because though it is small, it is fierce. In just 18 minutes, this workhorse kneads, shapes, and churns out two to three servings of ready-to-cook, fresh pasta. All you have to do is change shaping discs, depending on your pasta preference that night, and, of course, load it up with your ingredients.
Buy: Philips Compact Pasta Maker $179.95
6. Emeril Lagasse Pasta & Beyond Deluxe
BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
Bam! Emeril Lagasse’s pasta maker does it all and then some (did you expect any less?). The Deluxe model of the master chef’s appliance is an investment, sure, but a really good one. The fully automatic pasta maker comes with eight pasta shaping discs (including udon, penne, and tagliatelle), a noodle cutter, one dry measuring cup, one liquid measuring cup, a spatula and cleaning tool, a cleaning brush, and a cookbook full of Emeril’s own recipes. The machine mixes, kneads and extrudes up to 1 pound of pasta, but that’s not all this workhorse is capable of: the appliance doubles as a slow juicer and soft-serve dessert maker, so you get a lot more bang for your buck with this purchase.
Buy: Emeril Lagasse Pasta & Beyond Deluxe $249.00
7. KAYCROWN Stainless Steel Ravioli Mold
BEST FOR RAVIOLI LOVERS
Frozen ravioli just doesn’t compare to a freshly made batch, especially when you’re in control of the filling. KAYCROWN’s stainless steel mold lets you stuff your raviolis, pierogis, potstickers, dumplings and more with whatever filling tickles your taste buds by keeping the pasta in place while you plump it up. And the best part is, the tool comes in three sizes — small, medium, and large — so your creation really is entirely in your control.
Buy: KAYCROWN Stainless Steel Ravioli Mold $13.59
8. Norpro Wooden Pasta Drying Rack
BEST PASTA DRYING RACK
Hang your pasta out to dry with this wooden rack from Norpro. If you love making homemade pasta, and can’t help but to whip up noodles in bulk, Norpro’s rack has plenty of space for your heaps of pasta to air out. The handy tool stands 16 1/2 inches tall and comes equipped with 4 – 18 inch dowels that slide through the holes in the post, creating 8 arms perfectly angled so your pasta doesn’t overlap or touch the countertop. And while it’s quite the display, all of the pieces of this pasta drying rack come apart for easy clean-up and storage.
Buy: Norpro Wooden Pasta Drying Rack $15.41
9. Mangocore Noodle Lattice Roller
BEST BASIC NOODLE MAKER
For the low-maintenance home chef who can’t be bothered with bulky appliances, there’s the Mangocore Noodle Lattice Roller. It doesn’t get much simpler than skinny spaghetti noodles, and this rolling slicer digs into dough and slices eight uniform size noodles at a time. It can also be used to cut and suppress herbs like parsley, ginger, and garlic, all of which you can use as ingredients to enhance your pasta dish.
Buy: Mangocore Noodle Lattice Roller $7.99
10. Homemade Pasta Made Simple by Manuela Zangara
BEST FOR BEGINNERS
Making homemade pasta is no small feat, so if you’re a beginner on a mission to master the basics, refer to Manuela Zangara’s cookbook for a rundown. Available in paperback or kindle, this is a comprehensive cookbook for novice pasta makers that breaks down how to make noodles and sauce from scratch. From mixing dough to drying your pasta to restaurant-quality sauce recipes (think Bolognese or a pumpkin and sage sauce), consider this a textbook to school you on the basics (and then some).
Buy: Homemade Pasta Made Simple by Manuela Zangara $14.17
11. Mastering Pasta by Marc Vetri and David Joachim
BEST FOR INTERMEDIATE PASTA CHEFS
Think you know pasta? Think again. Award-winning chef Marc Vetri is about to school you on all things pasta — the food’s history, cooking techniques, and recipes. A collection of recipes and nuggets of knowledge on subjects like pasta, gnocchi, and risotto, this book is bound to show you sides to pasta you never knew existed.
Buy: Mastering Pasta by Marc Vetri and David Joachim $17.97
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