This fresh egg keto pasta (or fried gnocchi!) is surprisingly easy to whip up! And while different from the original, it yields killer al dente-like results to pair with your favorite Italian sauce.
Please note this recipe was first published on March 6th 2018, and has since been updated with more tips and tricks!
Grain Free & Keto Pasta
Ready For Your Favorite Italian Sauce!
Because pasta!! Undoubtedly one of the things peeps understandably miss the most when going keto. Because let’s face it, not much beats a bowl of pasta!
And while this low carb version is a different from the original (think fried pasta or gnocchi!), you’ll still be surprised by how wonderful it pairs with traditional Italian sauces! Ahem, homemade pesto being my favorite here (but marinara cannot be dismissed!!)!
My one important tip? Keep your pasta shapes small and thick (gnocchi, cavatelli, orecchiette and bows work great!), so you get that al-dente bite after frying it. Whipping up noodles unfortunately makes it more bread like (#tear!).
Plus, while it can take about an hour to put together (counting resting time and depending on the amount to shape), think of it as meal prepping supreme. The pasta can be cooked after briefly thawing it out, making it ideal for a quick weeknight meal!
The Flours
I’m using our famous Crazy Keto Dough (for everything!) here… but without the baking powder. You have encountered the base dough already in our famous keto tortillas and subsequently in our keto ravioli.
Think almost the same ingredients: super fine almond flour (Anthony’s super fine is awesome) and coconut flour (again Anthony’s, best taste and texture by a mile!), a touch of xanthan gum and an egg. But slightly wetter, allowing for better rolling and cooking.
Fact is, the recipe for this keto pasta is very similar to the staple fresh egg Italian. Think roughly a cup of grain free flours per egg, and a little water as needed.
Allergic to nuts? I’ve heard great things about substituting the almond flour with sunflower seed meal or pumpkin seed meal from readers. Color and taste will be different though.
Otherwise, no substituting flours here and the xanthan gum is absolutely necessary. And, if possible, weigh your ingredients for consistent results.
The Method
This pasta dough is, perhaps surprisingly, very easy to shape (particularly with a little practice!). I timed myself and it took me 30 minutes to shape cavatelli and 20 for the orecchiete and farfalle. And maybe I’m into manual work, but I’ve always found making homemade pasta to be ultra relaxing.
As mentioned, however, that the shape of choice (for most pasta-like results) are the cavatelli. Both because the ridges help the sauce to stick better, and for the resulting texture and mouthfeel.
Though you’ll need to procure a (9 bucks!) cavatelli & gnocchi board. Cavatelli are very similar to gnocchi in shape (which you can make too!), though slightly thinner and with more of a bite.
Otherwise orecchiette and farfalle (i.e. butterflies or bows) are super easy to make, and yield wonderful results too.
And, as many of you know already, you can make killer ravioli with this dough. Check out the full ravioli recipe post for deets and tips!
The trick to even shaping? Divide the dough in four, roll into a log and slice off pieces (see picture below). This is a traditional Italian method to ensure even-sized pasta.
How To Cook This Keto Pasta
You’ll want to freeze the shaped pasta for 15 minutes prior to cooking. And yes, you can go ahead and freeze them too (think a couple months!), but thaw them out slightly before cooking.
You’ll also want to always cook these guys in a little olive oil or butter, never in water (they’ll just be mushy as keto flours cook very differently). But they’re absolutely killer lightly fried.
Though be sure to only cook this low carb and keto pasta until it just begins to get some color. I found this is the best way to get an al dente-like texture. Soft, but with a nice bite.
(Fresh Egg!) Dairy Free & Keto Pasta
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
Ingredients
For the keto pasta dough
- 96 g almond flour
- 24 g coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2-4 teaspoons water as needed
To cook
- 56 g grass-fed unsalted butter as needed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic slivered, optional (but highly suggested!)
Special equipment (optional)
Instructions
For the keto pasta dough
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, xanthan gum and salt to food processor. Pulse until thoroughly combined. Note: you can alternatively whisk everything in a large bowl and use a hand or stand mixer for the following steps.
- Pour in apple cider vinegar with the food processor running. Once it has distributed evenly, pour in the egg. Add water teaspoon by teaspoon, as needed, until the dough forms into a ball. The dough should be firm, yet sticky to touch and with no creases (which mean the dough is dry and you need to add a little more water).
- If no food processor is at hand, you can also do it by hand (it just takes a little more time and arm muscle!). Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour in vinegar and whisk until thoroughly distributed. Pour in egg while whisking vigorously and keep whisking until the dough becomes too stiff to whisk. Using your hands, knead the dough until thoroughly incorporated, adding a teaspoon of water at a time as needed (we use 2).
- Wrap dough in cling film and knead it through the plastic for a couple minutes. Think of it a bit like a stress ball. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes (and up to 5 days) in the fridge.
To shape
- Farfalle (i.e. bows) and orecchiette are probably the quickest shapes to make. Though cavatelli might just be my favorite, but you'll need a board (see special equipment for details).
- For farfalle: roll out the pasta to its thinnest point using a tortilla press between parchment paper (our favorite) or a pasta machine. You can also use a rolling pin, but it'll take a little longer. Cut into roughly 2x1-inch rectangles. And if you're fuzzy about presentation, use a knife to cut lengthwise and a pastry cutter to cut widthwise.
- For orecchiette: cut dough into 4 pieces, roll out into even-sized logs and slice off even-sized pieces. This will ensure evenly-sized pasta. Using your thumb, press each piece against your opposite palm, creating an indentation. Lightly dust with coconut flour as needed. You can either leave them as they are or turn them out (see post for gif images).
- For cavatelli: cut dough into 4 pieces, roll out into even-sized logs and slice off even-sized pieces. This will ensure evenly-sized pasta. Lightly dust the board and pasta pieces with coconut flour. Place a piece on the board and using a knife press the dough towards you, angling the knife tip upwards as you press (see post for gif images), making the pasta curl into shape.
- Place shaped pasta in the freezer for 15 minutes (and up to a couple months).
To cook
- Heat up butter and oil in a skillet or pan over low heat. Once warm, add in garlic slivers. When the garlic begins to brown, add in chilled pasta and baste right away.
- Cook pasta until it just begins to get some color, we found this gave the most 'al dente' texture (soft but with a bite). Feel free to make a test with one piece.
- Serve right away with toppings of choice.
I’ve used this a few times now. First was the ravioli recipe you have. Loved it. Then I made more pasta, used half to make little bows. Used those for the mushroom sauce recipe you have here. Then used the other half a week later (had it frozen), for lasagna.
A recipe I previously used for the ‘pasta sheets’ in the lasagna was more like omelette.
I wasn’t sure how it would do with lasagna as you say it doesn’t do well with water, or in this case moisture from the meat sauce and the cheesy white sauce I used. But considering last recipe, I was willing to take that chance. Would still be better mushy than omelette.
However, I cooked the pasta sheets in the pan as usual, to slight colour best I could. (Some were more coloured to browning haha). Patted off the oil and butter, then used it in the layering. Cooked in oven for 20 minutes. Was just like classic lasagna sheet pasta. Taste and texture were good.
So, it’s a okay for lasagna if anyone wants to do that. Just make sure to cook as instructed first.
Thanks for this awesomeness. Will be making it when amazon (thru ur link) delivers it.
However its ~14 now.
Love Love this recipe. Wondering if “Mac and cheese” can be made with this pasta? Thanks
YES! But you can’t boil it in the liquid sauce (so they would be fried per usual then coated in the cheesy sauce right before serving) xo!
Hi,
I was wondering if adding some wheat glutin would give it more stickiness and consistency so as to be able to boil this dough in water like normal pasta?And is it worth the extra carbs?Anybody try this?
Can’t help you there as I have celiacs, but in my experiments the Keto flours simply turn to mush as they’re not grains 🙁
I put 1 or 2 tbl Vital wheat gluten in it (can’t remember 1 or 2tbl). Stood up to boiling for a few minutes but keep an eye on it. I think next time I will add into sauce at the end of cooking to have them warm up. I tried frying them but totally failed as they got crunchy really fast. When I fry again, I will make sure I just flash fry very quickly.
I posted a picture of my Pre-cooked creations on Pinterest for this recipe. Very important to use chilled dough so it holds together and doesn’t start cracking and will be more plaiable.
Paola thank you for your amazing inspired recipes and how thorough you are! It would be helpful to have a cutting size reference for the farfalle and tsp scoop sizes for the other two shapes. Thank you bunches!
I put 1or 2 Tbls of Vital wheat gluten and boiled for a few minutes. Held up pretty well. Next time I will add to my simmering sauce right before serving to warm them up instead of boiling or frying. I tried frying and they were crunchy and not pasta like.
I posted my Pre-cooked Pasta in Pinterest for this recipe. They turned out pretty with some practice. Paola thank you for all your detailed instructions for your recipes! I really appreciate all your very inspired creations to our everyday favs! Only suggestion on this one is that you give us a size reference for cutting the farfalla rectangles and maybe the scoop size for the other two.
Thanks again!
yes I tried this. It does keep it together in the water but the texture is “cakey” and very unpleasant on the tongue so ended up frying and trying to cover the strong marzipan flavour with chili sauce >I love this site for fab recipies but this one did’nt work for me.:))
Yeah… the recipe and post states that these cannot be boiled! Remember that they’re not grains, so they will get mushy rather than cook in water 😉 xo!
I tried putting the recipe through the kitchen aid pasta attachement (the one with a screw that makes rotini, macaroni, etc). I was able to get a few macaronis but then the dough just started to keep rolling around the screw without coming out and a lot of oil was coming out of the dough… so i took it out and made little pasta by hand. i was wondering if anyone tried the pasta attachement which makes spaghetti and fettucine? i don’t want the dough to get stuck in the rollers….
I am making these for my 10 years old niece which is on the diet for medical reason… just want her to eat the food she likes so any trick is appreciated!
I’d love to know if anyone has had any luck with this as well in the KitchenAid pasta attachments. Any idea what the oily residue was from? I’m wondering if maybe a bit extra almond flour or slightly less on the apple cider vinegar might get it through the machine?
Cheers!
I use the kitchen aid mixer and I have had no issues. I made the Large macaroni and I baked them before I fried them. So they were a little hard. I also made the Fusilli and it held up its shape the best. Those I fried and they were fine.
I tried all the kitchen -aid pasta attachments and also had no results.):
Paola, have you tried these pasta pieces in soup to see if they fall apart? I miss a good chicken noodle. Fingers crossed this may work if the noddles are added right before serving? Any thoughts?
It would just get mushy Shawna 🙁
Would you recommend this pasta dough for making lasagna noodles?
You better baked the sheets of pasta first in oven and cut them in lasagna size.
Hi! My dough was firm, sticky to touch, but it had creases and came apart when i was rolling it into logs. I already added 4 teaspoons of water and put it in the fridge for 24 hours. It was soft but did not have the bite. Am I missing something?
When my doctor suggested I go on a low carb diet when he diagnosed me with PCOS and pre-diabetes, I was devastated because pasta is literally my favorite food ever. It is by far the thing that has been the hardest for me to give up. I’ve tried a few low carb pasta recipes and had several fails, but this was AMAZING! I actually wanted to cry, I was so happy when I ate this. I made the dough into long, linguine which I rolled very thin and cooked it in butter and garlic and I honestly can say that this is the best low carb meal I’ve ever made.
The taste was pleasant but the texture was odd (more like pita bread or flatbread than pasta, if that makes sense).
Could these noodles be baked into a Mac and cheese dish? I didn’t know if baking them in the cheese sauce would turn them into mush.
You would need to cook them first in the oil. I haven’t tried myself, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work- maybe try with a small batch first?
Exactly. That’s the whole reason I came here. Lol
Thanks so much , it’s the extruded one
Hi , I have a Phillips pasta machine ,do you think I could use this recipe in my machine .thanks so much
If it’s the extruder one I’m picturing you may have to cut down on the water a bit. This one works on my kitchen aid attachment, but for the extruder attachment I need to cut down the water so its more like coarse breadcrumbs rather than a dough xo!
can you substitute the coconut flower with arrow root flower
It should work to some extent (you’ll prob need to add more), but in all honesty I haven’t tried it myself (if keto, just keep in mind the higher carbs)
Hi, enjoying all the above posts re pasta. I’m researching buying a pasta machine and noticed you have said the above pasta recipe will go through it ok. My question is can you only fry it then? Not boil it like “normal” pasta. Thanks Jenny N.Z.
Hi Jenny,
The detailed notes do include info stating to never boil this pasta.
I just tried this. I did have to let it “soften” in the sauce for a few but it did feel like I was having pasta…eventhough the portion was tiny. It was pretty good and more filling than regular pasta. I also made a batch of sauce with meatballs and made Keto meatballs for me. Just made them bigger than the others so I could scoop them out. SHHHHH I put a little swerve in the sauce instead of real sugar…nope the family did not catch on either.
Love your recipes….keep them coming you are amazing!
Hi. I have just made these… Four shapes like gnocchi. Had first portion fried in bacon fat with bacon and mozzarella and sundried tomatoes. Loved every thing about it. Next time I’m putting herbs and chilli flakes. And it freezes. You are a GENIUS. XXX much love from Scotland.
This was a failure, sadly, and an expensive one at that. The coconut flavor is a bit too prominent, but it would be better with sage, brown butter, and walnuts. The big issue was texture. It tasted more like stale bread. Add salt and rosemary, and may be a nice recipe for crackers, baked!
Oh no! I’m going to suggest you shop around for a coconut flour you like (they vary A LOT!) as it shouldn’t taste stale in any way 😉 xo!
I thought this was a simple recipe with minimal dishes. But, I was looking for a more savory taste then sweet. I felt there was a little to much coconut flour. Also, I think cooking in a skillet may have altered the texture. I would really enjoy experimenting with this recipe to alter to my liking. All in all, this was a pretty well made recipe.
Thanks for this recipe! I tried it last night when my family was having a regular pasta with cheesy tomato sauce, and although my portion looked very meagre cooking in some butter, by the time I added sauce and allowed it to rest while I was preparing the other plates, it did soften/swell a little, and was really quite filling when eaten slowly with a salad alongside. It did feel a touch grainy to the tooth, but not unpleasantly so. I did use Bob’s red Mill almond and coconut flour, and they do feel pretty finely ground.
When making the batch, I inadvertently added 2 tablespoons of AC vinegar instead of 2 teaspoons, so I had to add more of everything to double the batch. I split the batch into 8 portions, then tried the rolled out farfalle shape. That was a little time consuming, so I have done the remainder as cavaletti. Looking online for help with making these, I used a plastic sushi mat for my board. Rolling the dough bits into little torpedo shapes helped with forming them, as then they only needed a little flick-roll with the side of a butter knife on the mat to give them ridges and make them form little rolls. I tried pressing and rolling them with my thumb, but I just always ended up making the dough into the grooves, and it sticks to my thumb. The knife was way faster, and they jump right off! Anyhow, looking forward to trying some other sauces for the rest of these, thanks again for the recipe.
This was terrible, I’m really sorry! It tasted like mini almond cakes. Almond flour is definitely not good for a savoury flour substitute. I only feel the need to comment because it took me a while to prepare and I was really looking forward to it, my dinner was ruined. If you love pasta don’t bother!! Zucchini noodles are probably the best substitute for me so far.
Could you give me an idea of what one serving looks like? Fifty-six grams is about two ounces, and I am having trouble imagining that being a decent sized serving. If you could tell me by volume, such as half a cup, or a cup, etc., it would help.
2oz is the traditional serving size for any pasta.
I’m pretty sure that’s two ounces of dry pasta before it’s cooked. Since dry pasta absorbs quite a bit of water and swells up as it cooks, I wouldn’t expect that to translate well to fresh pasta.
Thanks for this recipe! Just made it and it was amazing….
This recipe makes me giddy. I lived in Italy when I was younger, so pasta is the hardest loss for me on keto. LOL
I’m wondering if it would hold up if cooled after frying to make pasta salads. I’m gonna have to experiment!
Grazie mille!
OMG. This looks amazing! Can I put the dough in a pasta maker for fettuccine or spaghetti, even though you don’t boil it?
Hi Beks! Do you mean to shape it? If so definitely! You just need to play around it a bit (flouring etc) to get it right 😉 xo!
Do you think this recipe would work using a pasta maker and extruder? I have one that mixes the dough then extrudes the dough through dies, there are 15 different shaped dies even for gnocchi.
I haven’t tried it personally marguerite, but I don’t see why not? xo
is there a replacement for the apple cider vinegar? white wine vinegar maybe? x want to try but dont have apple cider vinegar
White wine works great xo!
I made this with corn starch instead of xanthan gum as I was super desperate. Tastes good although texture didn’t have that “bite” that normal pasta has. Even still it was yum! Definitely going to try with xanthan gum when I get a chance to pick some up.
hi can i do this without the egg? or at least use an egg substitute? thank you!
Unfortunately I haven’t done it successfully without the egg 🙁
Hello! First i wanted to say I love your participation with the comments section. Too many times i see someone asking a question that goes unanswered.
My question is that I noticed that you only mentioned the short, stubby, and unique pastas. How does it work out as pappardelle or fettucine? I wanted to make something carbonara or cacio e pepe with this pasta and I was just curious as to how it would hold up.