Best pasta maker: Our favourite pasta machines for lasagna, tagliatelle, ravioli and more
Treat yourself to the fresh stuff with our selection of recommended pasta makers
For most of us, a trip to the supermarket is rarely complete without bagging a packet or two of dried pasta, but homemade pasta made with a good pasta maker has a texture and flavour that is truly unique. Whipping up your own spaghetti, tagliatelle or lasagne sheets needn’t be an involved process that takes hours on end though, as the best pasta makers will do most of the hard work for you.
Our favourite recommended pasta machines can roll your dough into thin sheets, stretch it, and if you’re making linguine or any of the variants, also cut it to size. Pasta extruders can even mix and knead the dough for you and if you don’t think you have time to do all this before dinner, fear not. Fresh pasta can be stored in the fridge for two or three days or even frozen for up to three months.
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Scroll on and you’ll find our handy buying guide, showing you what to look for when choosing a pasta maker. Further down, you’ll also find a list of our recommended pasta machines to buy.
Best pasta maker: At a glance
- Best budget option | ProCook Pasta Maker
- Best all-rounder | Imperia Pasta Machine
- Best pasta making set | Lakeland 5-piece pasta making set
How to choose the best pasta maker for you
What types of pasta makers are there?
Pasta extruders mix and knead the dough, then extrude it through dies that create the pasta shapes – anything from rigatoni to spiral pasta. The electric machines can’t make wide pasta, however. So if you want, say, sheets for lasagne then you’ll need to roll it out by hand or use a pasta rolling machine.
Manual rolling machines don’t prepare the dough for you, but you feed already-made dough through rollers to make it smooth and silky before turning it into pretty much any flat shape you’d like. These include flat sheets for lasagne, squares for ravioli, thin strips for spaghetti, thicker ones for tagliatelle and fettuccine, and so on. They can’t create hollow or elaborate shapes, however.
Electric rolling machines do the same as the manual machines, but instead of using a hand-crank, a motorised attachment does the work for you.
Why do I need a pasta maker?
A pasta extruder takes all the hard work out of making pasta dough. A pasta-rolling machine will flatten your pasta dough evenly and to a precise thickness that’s almost impossible to achieve by any other means.
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What features should I look for?
For rolling machines:
- A good range of thickness settings
- Different attachments for different kinds of pasta
- A clamp to fix it to your kitchen table or worksurface
- Smooth action
- Easy to clean
For extruders:
- Easy to set up, with clear instructions
- Quick to create pasta dough from scratch
- Easy to store, if you’re short on storage space
- Ability to experiment with different flavours
- Easy to clean
Is it easy to make homemade pasta?
Once you’ve got the knack, yes, but getting the right consistency may take a few attempts. Your first few goes may result in a crumbly mixture that won’t hold its shape. But persevere – you will get there. Don’t be tempted to blame the pasta maker, though: it can’t do its job unless the consistency of the dough is right.
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The best pasta makers you can buy
1. ProCook Pasta Maker: The best budget pasta maker
Price: £35 | Buy now from ProCook
Most cheap pasta makers are okay for your basic tagliatelle but struggle to achieve that super-thin sheet needed for delicate, angel hair pasta or super-light ravioli. Procook’s affordable classic pasta machine is an exception to this rule. It has an attachment for cutting spaghetti, linguine, tagliatelle and pappardelle, as well as eight thickness settings. On its lowest setting, it produces incredibly thin sheets of pasta that are an even thickness throughout and as light as air.
As is the case with many cheap manual machines, both the hand crank and clamp could do with some improvement as they felt fairly unstable during use. This got easier after a bit of practice but it’s a design flaw you won’t be able to avoid unless you’re willing to spend a bit more. All in all though, this is a solid budget machine.
Key specs – Dimensions: 19.5x 12.8 x 22cm (WDH); Type: manual pasta maker; Number of thicknesses: 8; Warranty: 12 months
2. Imperia Pasta Machine: The best pasta maker you can buy
Price: £78 | Buy now from Amazon
This Italian brand comes up trumps with this enormously popular machine that clamps easily to the side of your worktop, freeing your hands for feeding the dough through the rollers. The chrome-plated steel machine is beautifully engineered and built to last, with six thicknesses and all the usual suspects when it comes to cutters, including tagliatelle and fettuccini. We couldn’t believe how simple it was to use, even on the first go. In fact, we kept coming back to it when testing other machines, wondering why on earth they couldn’t be as good. It’s a cinch to clean, too – although be sure not to immerse it in water; it’s wipe-clean only. The only downside is that the guiding tray can be knocked out of place quite easily.
Key specs – Dimensions: 12 x 20.5 x 12cm; Type: manual rolling machine; Number of thicknesses: 6; Warranty: 5 years
3. Lakeland five-piece pasta-making set: The best pasta-making set
Price: £30 | Buy now from Lakeland
If you already have a basic pasta maker and are looking to take your shaping skills to the next level, Lakeland’s five-piece pasta-making set provides you with the tools to do so. In the box you get a pappardelle rolling pin, farfalle rolling cutter, pasta wheel, round ravioli cutter and classic square ravioli cutter. That’s more than enough tools to impress your family, or just yourself at dinner time.
Each tool is made in a traditional style from beechwood, aluminium and stainless steel and is easy to use, even for beginners. You’ll also find some handy tips in the box to help you along if you’ve never used manual cutting tools before. So whether you’re stretching your pasta out by hand or using a mechanical pasta maker for ultra thin sheets, this is the perfect way to expand your pasta repertoire.
Key specs – Dimensions: N/A; Type: Manual pasta shaping kit; Number of thicknesses: N/A; Warranty: 3 years
4. Marcato Atlas 150: The best pasta maker for extra thin and smooth dough
Price: £75 | Buy now from Lakeland
If shiny chrome just isn’t your thing then you’ll be pleased to discover that the Marcato Atlas 150 comes in a range of gorgeous colours. The rolling action was the smoothest of the bunch here, with a fantastically grippy handle and an even and effortless turning mechanism that far exceeds cheaper models – something that Marcato puts down to the “patented anodised aluminium rollers”.
Also working in its favour is the sheer number of thickness settings (10), which got our dough thinner than any other machine we used. You can buy additional attachments for ravioli and pappardelle, if you feel the two cutters aren’t enough for your culinary needs and replacement handles and clamps are available too – although this pasta maker is so well built we doubt you’ll need it. There’s a motor attachment available for those who prefer a bit of automation. Note that this machine is heavy, and it has a few nooks and crannies that can be tricky to clean.
Key specs – Dimensions: 20.3 x 20.3 x 17.8cm; Type: manual/electric rolling machine; Number of thicknesses: 10; Warranty: 10 years
5. KitchenAid 3 Piece Pasta Roller and Cutter Set: The best pasta maker attachment set
Price: £169 | Buy now from Argos
You’ll need to own the KitchenAid mixer to make use of this pasta machine, but if you do then we strongly advise you splash out on this Italian-made attachment set with three rollers. Kick off by using your KitchenAid to make your pasta dough – ours came out perfect every time – then attach the roller to create the thickness of pasta you need; there are eight thickness settings on offer. If you adjust the settings, and have the knack, it’s even possible to make angel hair pasta.
There are two cutters for making fettuccine or thinner spaghetti; other shapes, such as lasagne and tortellini, are easy enough to cut by hand. A cleaning brush is included, which is all you’ll need to scrape off the dough. Not exactly a budget option, but an exceptionally well-designed and engineered set that will outlive most other pasta makers.
Key specs – Dimensions: N/A; Type: electric rolling machine; Number of thicknesses: 8; Warranty: 3 years
6. Ravioliera Ravioli Tray: The best tray for batch ravioli
Price: £16 | Buy now from Sous Chef
This tiny, unassuming ravioli tray is a fantastic way to make lots of mini ravioli in one go. With 24 spaces for filling, it’ll make plenty of fresh pasta for two. The build quality is great: it’s made from a non-stick, steel surface and has grippy feet on the bottom to prevent slips. It comes with a small rolling pin included, to help you cut through the pasta.
If you’re new to making ravioli, you might need to give this a few tries before you get it right, as this tray can be a bit fiddly. To get the flour to stick to the tray, it’s best to use cooking spray first, then coat it in semolina – we dipped ours into a plate of flour for full coverage. Then, simply layer a sheet of well-floured pasta over the tray, add ¼ teaspoon of filling to each section, layer over your second floured sheet and use the rolling pin to cut out the parcels. Once you’ve got the knack, you’ll be batch making raviolis in no time.
Key specs – Dimensions: 30cm x 10cm; Type: Filled pasta tray; Number of thicknesses: N/A; Warranty: N/A
7. Philips HR2375/05: The best for fast and easy pasta making
Price: £237 | Buy now from Amazon
This machine takes the effort out of homemade pasta. All you have to do is add the ingredients and the machine automatically mixes the pasta dough, kneads it and delivers fresh pasta, ready to cook in under 10 minutes. Your friends will never know a machine did all the hard work.
It comes with four shaping discs so you can choose either spaghetti, penne, fettuccine or lasagne. A handy storage compartment in the machine keeps everything together and the simple LED display is clear and easy to understand. Plus, with dishwasher safe parts it’s easy to clean.
At £200, it’s not cheap, but users love this machine and rave about the pasta it produces.
Key specs – Dimensions: 31.5 x 34.3 x 21.5cm; Type: Extruder; Number of thicknesses: 4
