Homemade Beet Pasta
For a stunning meal to wow your taste buds, make beet pasta! This easy recipe makes a dish that is full of healthy nutrients, and pasta from scratch tastes so much better than store-bought.
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A spin on classic egg noodles, this delicious pasta is made with red beet puree. Take this simple recipe and transform your traditional pasta into a rich, flavorful noodle with vibrant color.
While beet pasta may sound like an intimidating dish to create, it’s actually very simple! It may take a little extra time to whip up, but the steps are easy, and the resulting flavor is so worth the effort.
It’s so fun to see the surprised reactions on guests’ faces the first time you serve this deep-colored pasta dish.
The beets add a beautiful, rich color, and tons of nutritional value, while keeping that neutral flavor profile that pairs so well with the endless combinations of sauces and fillings. Try it in my favorite German noodle casserole for a fun twist on a classic dish.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
Ingredients
Just like any other pasta recipe, there are only a few simple ingredients in homemade beet pasta!
- Flour: This recipe uses both finely ground semolina flour and all-purpose flour. The semolina flour gives more elasticity and a firmer texture to the finished pasta. If you can’t find semolina, you can substitute it with more all-purpose flour.
- Egg: The egg adds a rich flavor, and also helps to bind the ingredients together.
- Sea or Kosher salt: Salt enhances all the flavors in the noodles.
- Red beets: The star of the show in this recipe! The fresh beetroot add a beautiful and vibrant color to the pasta while imparting a subtle earthy flavor to the dish.
Substitutions and variations
- Beets: For a fun variation, try substituting the red beets with carrots for an orange-colored pasta, or spinach or nettles for green.
- Flour: I find the best results by using a combination of semolina and all-purpose flour, but you can swap out the semolina flour and use 100% all-purpose flour instead.
- Beet preparations: There are many ways to prepare the beets for the beet puree. Try roasted beet for an added depth of flavor. You can also boil, or bake them. Once cooked, simply slice the top and bottom off, then peel and cut into quarters before adding to the blender.
- Beet powder: Recently, I have experimented with beet powder and it makes this dish a lot faster and more convenient. I used 2 TBSP of beet powder and decreased the amount of AP flour by about 2 TBSP.
Useful tools and equipment
- Steamer basket: I use this inexpensive steamer basket all the time and find that it cooks my beets in the shortest time. They are very inexpensive.
- Pasta maker: I have used this Imperia pasta maker for a long time and love it. However, if you don’t have a pasta maker and would rather not purchase one, you can totally make this recipe with a simple rolling pin.
- Wooden rolling pin: Instead of feeding the dough through the pasta machine, you will fold and roll your dough many times. It takes a little more elbow grease, but cooks have been making pasta by hand this way for many generations!
How To Make Beet Pasta
This is just a summary of the steps. For the complete instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Make the pasta dough
- Trim and cook the beets. I like to cut off the top and bottom, then dice into quarters. You can cook them in the microwave, on the stove, or bake them in the oven at 350˚F for about an hour.
- Make a beet puree. My trick is to mix the eggs and beets in a high-speed blender. This ensures a smooth puree. You could also use a food processor.
- Measure and combine the dry ingredients.
- Add the beet puree to the flour mixture. Use a wooden spoon to incorporate the ingredients together as much as you can.
Helpful Recipe Tips
- This recipe yields 1 pound of beet pasta – enough for 4 to 5 servings.
- When you’re making the dough, you may not be able to fully incorporate the ingredients. To make the job easier, dump everything onto a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough by hand. The goal is to create a stiff dough that holds together. You may have to add more flour or a bit of water.
- Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before rolling.
- If your counters don’t stick out far enough to attach a pasta maker, you can open a base cabinet door or a drawer for more counter depth.
Shape the beet pasta
- Cut your dough into 4 to 5 equal-sized portions. Starting with one portion, dust it with the extra flour.
- Attach the pasta roller securely to your work surface.
- Feed the dough through the pasta machine. Using your hands, flatten the dough, then feed it through the machine on the widest setting. Dusting with more flour as necessary, fold your pasta sheet in half and feed it through again. Repeat this a few more times, then move the roller to the next smaller setting. Continue repeating these steps until the pasta sheets reach your preferred thickness.
- If you are using a rolling pin, the process is the same. Turn all your dough pieces into sheets, dusting them with flour as you go. This will give the pasta dough extra stiffness and keep it from sticking together or to surfaces.
- Cut the pasta. You can cut the pasta sheets into long strips for fettuccine or linguini. If using a pasta maker simply use your preferred attachments.
Cook the pasta
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add some salt. Carefully place the pasta in the boiling water. Make sure to cook it for only a few minutes. It is very easy to overcook them but really you want them al dente. The pasta will float to the top of the water when it’s finished cooking.
- Drain the beet pasta in a colander and rinse with warm water. Return it to the pot. You might like to add some olive oil to keep it from sticking.
- Serve it immediately with your favorite pasta sauce or save it for later.
Serving suggestions
This homemade beet pasta is delicious with crumbled soft goat cheese, toasted walnuts, and parmesan cheese.
Other great toppings for pasta:
- ricotta cheese or feta cheese
- sour cream
- white sauce with nutritional yeast
- pine nuts
I also love it with a crab-cream sauce topped with a bit of fresh red onion, lemon juice, and a bit of lemon zest.
Keep it easy: Sauté some minced garlic in olive oil, toss in the cooked pasta and sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and some fresh herbs for a simple meal.
Pair this delicious red pasta with a creamy beet sauce for a showstopping and colorful plate.
Make ahead of time
Go ahead and make the noodles up ahead of time. After cooking, toss them in a bit of olive oil to keep them from sticking together. Store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Fresh beet pasta will stay fresh for anywhere from 3 to 5 days.
Other pasta and noodle recipes you might like
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Have you tried making pasta at home? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Homemade Beet Pasta + Video Tutorial
Equipment
- Pasta maker or wooden rolling pin
- Blender or food processor
- Steamer basket optional
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup finely ground semolina flour or substitute with AP flour
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 whole eggs
- 1-2 whole red beets
- ¼ tsp salt
- extra flour for working the dough and dusting
Instructions
- Steam, bake, or boil the red beets until soft. Cut off top and bottom. Peel and cut into quarters.
- Put beets with the eggs in a mini-blender or kitchen processor to create a puree.
- Measure and mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the beet puree and create a uniform dough.
- Dump dough onto your work surface and knead some more, adding either more flour or a bit of water to create a stiff dough. Let rest for 10 mins.
- Divide dough into 4-6 equal pieces.
- Flatten one dough piece, adding more flour to keep it from sticking and feed it through the pasta maker on the widest setting.
- Fold pasta sheet, dust with more flour and feed through pasta maker again. Repeat these steps a few times until you have a soft pasta sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
- Set your pasta machine to the next narrower setting and repeat the above steps. Gradually narrow the setting until you have the desired thickness.
- Either use a fettuccini/linguini/spaghetti attachment or a knife and cut pasta sheets into desired shapes. Dust with flour and set aside until all the dough has been turned into shapes.
- Cook pasta in salted boiling water for only a few minutes. Pasta is done when it's floating on top. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.
- Alternatively, you can keep the pasta in the refrigerator for a few days.
Notes
- for convenience, you can use 2 TBSP of beet powder (then decrease the flour by 2 TBSP)
Video
Nutrition
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If I were to make the dough and keep in fridge overnight, would that be okay? Or should we only wait 10 mins before we divide into 4 parts?
Yes, you can easily put the dough in the fridge overnight ~ Anja
This pasta looks lovely. I am wondering if it could be made with a different kind of puree, like spinach or squash puree? How much of an adjustment to the dry ingredients would be needed? Thank you for your nice, realistic (mishaps and all) videos! 😊
Yes, you can use other vegetables. If the dough is too soft, just add more flour ~ Anja
I just got the kitchen aid mixer attachment and I’ve made regular pasta a few times. I can’t wait to try your recipe…the color will make it so fun to make. Your pictures and instructions are wonderful!
Yay, that is so awesome! And I am so glad you like my recipe! Happy cooking ~ Anja
I am a very experienced pasta maker. I learned from my own Nonna Many Years ago. But I just made beet ravioli this last Tuesday filled with a goat cheese / ricotta filling. Best new thin* I’ve made in awhile. This was Before I saw this video so I used a different but similar recipe from yours. Anyway I was very impressed with your wonderfully detailed video.
Tip, if your pasta maker shifts around like yours did place a corner of a silicone hot pad between the clamp and the underside of your counter. Then tighten down on that.
I have two manual pasta sheeters but I now prefer the one that attaches to my Kitchen Aid. Like having an extra hand!
Thank you for sharing and the tip with the silicone! I will definitely try that – but also tighten the clamp better 😜
This is SUCH A GOOD IDEA! I grow tons of beets in my garden every year and obviously love pasta – can’t wait to try this combo! My kids will love it
I might have beet envy … Thank you for sharing and enjoy!!
Wow! I have never heard of beet pasta before but it looks gorgeous and I bet it tastes delicious!
Thank you and it is super delicious 🙂
This is the most beautiful handmade pasta I have ever seen! <3
Awww … thank you! And yes, the color is pretty stunning.