To Find the Best Pasta Extruders, We Churned Out Pounds of Spaghetti, Fettuccine, and Penne

Unlike tabletop rollers or pasta maker attachments made for stand mixers, extruder-style pasta machines mix, knead, and press dough for you. The dough is forced through a cutter disc, shaping it into noodles. The only time you need to get hands-on with an extruder is when it’s time to guide the noodles away from the machine and slice them off of the disc. But efficiency isn’t the only metric we consider when testing extruders. We, like many other pasta fans, wondered whether extruders were worth the higher price tag than their rolling counterparts. 

To find out, we tested 10 electric pasta extruders from a variety of manufacturers and came away with some key learnings. When given time for trial and error, extruders produced excellent pasta, with attractive, uniform shapes and a springy texture.

The Tests

• Spaghetti Test: To evaluate each machine’s performance with a thinner noodle, we mixed the dough according to the manufacturer’s instructions, choosing the spaghetti die for cutting. We evaluated how easy it was to follow the machine’s directions, the quality of the noodles produced, and whether they came out fully cut or had to be separated by hand.
• Fettuccine Test: We repeated the above methodology to test a thicker, egg-enriched dough. After separating and drying the noodles, we cooked the pasta and evaluated it on standards of texture, appearance, and flavor. For both the spaghetti and fettuccine tests, we severed the noodles from the die with the manufacturer’s cutting accessory (if included) or a knife (if not).
• Penne Test: To evaluate each machine’s performance with thicker doughs with a tubular shape, we repeated the above methodology for penne presets. We dried the pasta on a baking sheet and evaluated the finished pasta as well as the machine’s performance. 
• Cleaning Test: After completing all of the dough formation tests, we cleaned each machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions, evaluating how easy it was to dislodge bits of dough. We also considered efficiency in disassembly and reassembly.

What We Learned

A Powerful Motor Was Key

Perhaps counterintuitively, when using an electric pasta extruder, the dough isn’t kneaded until it’s pushed through the pressing mechanism. This makes a powerful motor essential for developing gluten. The extruder attachments (like the KitchenAid model) struggled with this in particular. All of the Philips models we tested—the Philips Artisan Smart Pasta & Noodle Maker in particular—handled kneading and extruding with finesse.

Dull Cutters Were Frustrating to Work With

The sharpness of a pasta extruder's cutters, or dies, really matters. Electric extruders offer an almost entirely hands-off method for making pasta, but you’ll still need to guide the noodles out of the extruder. During testing, we found this process to be stressful if we had to separate the individual noodles from each other. Dull cutters will merely imprint on the pasta dough, rather than cutting it into distinct pieces. This was the case with the Emeril Lagasse Pasta & Beyond Automatic Pasta and Noodle Maker: We found ourselves attempting to pull apart noodles as they came out of the machine, which resulted in lots of tangled spaghetti.

Even the Best Pasta Extruders Made Messy Pasta at First

These machines are “first pancake offenders” in that the first few inches of pasta will look imperfect. Even the most expensive, fancy, and well-designed pasta extruders struggle with this. It's normal! The ends will be ragged and shaggy, but they can be trimmed with a sharp knife once the extrusion process is complete. When making long shapes, like spaghetti and fettuccine, run the extrusion cycle to completion without stopping. You can slice the noodles into smaller sizes on a cutting board, instead of stopping and starting the cycle each time.

Pasta Extruder Recipes Needed Trial and Error

Consider your first few attempts at fresh pasta with an electric extruder to be trial runs. Adding the ingredients in the correct order, in the right quantities, is crucial to a supple, strong dough. Unfortunately, the dough recipes provided by the manufacturers weren’t always the best ones. Once you’ve figured out the ideal ratio through trial and error, it’s much smoother sailing.

Plan on Big Batches with Pasta Extruders

With the exception of the now-discontinued Starfrit extruder and the Viva Compact Pasta Maker, the models we tested produced large quantities of pasta: more than most families would realistically eat on a regular basis. Halving the recipes produced variable results, depending on the model; in general, we think electric extruders are best used for big batches (think four to eight servings).

Should You Buy a Pasta Extruder or a Pasta Roller and Cutter Set?

For most home cooks, a regular ol' pasta maker is suitable for their fresh pasta needs. These generally come with one roller and two cutters (one of these being fettuccine). Editorial director Daniel Gritzer notes that traditional pasta makers make technically better pasta. "The thing with pasta is the hydration of the dough is key to the final pasta's quality. Too wet and the pasta comes out overly limp once boiled. Really good pasta requires a minimally hydrated dough, and that in turn requires an incredibly powerful extruder."

That said, pasta extruders are certainly fun, allowing you to make rigatoni, spaghetti, penne, and more at home. They also have a higher success rate than using a roller and cutter—at least for beginners. If you make big batches of pasta, want to experiment with lots of shapes, or don't want a hands-on experience, a pasta extruder is a great buy.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Pasta Extruder

Electric pasta extruders should feel solidly made, and have strong motors that can stand up to the kneading portion of the process. Equally important are the dies, or cutters. Look for a machine with super sharp cutters: This will minimize gummy noodles that have to be separated by hand as they’re extruded. A machine with a clear, easy-to-follow manual is ideal because there’s a learning curve in nailing the timing of ingredient addition when mixing the dough. Most electric extruders struggle with smaller batches of dough, so be aware that you’ll likely be cooking for a crowd (unless you choose the Philips Viva Collection Pasta and Noodle Maker, which we found excelled at producing smaller portions).

Our Favorite Pasta Extruders

The Best Pasta Extruder

Philips Artisan Smart Pasta & Noodle Maker

$250 at Williams Sonoma

What we liked: This pasta extruder from Phillips has a user-friendly digital interface and sharp dies, which help you make noodles without a hitch. It made the best-looking spaghetti, fettucini, and penne with pleasantly springy textures. Compared to the other models, this was the only machine to push out every bit of dough, maximizing the amount of servings. It created the least amount of noise, except for when it beeped to let us know it was beginning and finishing extruding. The automatic weighing system, which signals how much liquid to pour into the chamber depending on how much flour is added, helped us achieve precision. Its functionalities go beyond pasta; you can mix dough for pizza, bread, and cookies. We loved that cleaning the chamber and mixing the paddle took only a few minutes with minimal effort. The app is easy to understand and genuinely helpful.

What we didn’t like: Most pasta extruders, including this model, don’t come with labeled dies, making them difficult to identify unless you read the manual. When it came to extruding the penne, this one created tubular noodles with a slight bend resembling a more traditional macaroni shape. Slicing the penne away from the die was a little challenging, but not impossible with finesse. It took about 10 minutes to clean the dough stuck to the penne cutter due to all the tiny grooves. 

Key Specs

• Presets: Program selection, extrusion only, start/pause, display
• Number of cutting attachments: 10 (spaghetti, fettuccine, penne, lasagna, thick spaghetti, angel hair, tagliatelle, pappardelle, shell, paccheri)
• Primary material: Plastic body, metal mixing paddle, metal front panel, plastic dies, plastic cleaning tools
• Weight: 15.3 pounds
• Height of machine: 12.75 inches
• Max number of pasta servings: 8
• Average extrude time: 7 minutes
• Warranty: 2 years

Another Great Pasta Extruder

Philips Viva Collection Pasta and Noodle Maker

$180 $100 at Amazon $100 at Williams Sonoma $100 at Sur La Table

What we liked: This compact pasta extruder took up minimal room and has a storage compartment for dies and accessories. While there is no digital interface, the preset knobs were easy to understand. The spaghetti, fettuccine, and penne were high-quality and uniform in shape. It took about five minutes to make two to three servings, which was two minutes quicker than our winner. The machine beeps to signal when it’s finished extruding. It comes with a cleaning and cutting tool with a sharp end that is ideal for getting into the crevices of complex dies like the penne one. 

What we didn’t like: There are only three pasta-cutting discs. The machine emitted a subtle hum, which could get annoying. It’s a card-carrying member of the first pancake club, as the initial strands came out unevenly during tests. It comes with a lot of parts—mixing paddle, squeezing bar, squeezing tube, shaping disc, shaping disc holder, chamber—which means more pieces to store and clean. 

Key Specs

• Presets: Extra-extrusion, auto operation
• Number of cutting attachments: 3 (spaghetti, fettuccine, penne)
• Primary material: Plastic body, plastic dies, plastic cleaning tools
• Weight: 13.5 pounds
• Height of machine: 10.75 inches
• Max number of pasta servings: 2-3
• Average extrude time: 5 minutes
• Warranty: 2 years

The Best Budget-Friendly Pasta Extruder

Vevor Electric Pasta Maker

$74 $67 at Amazon $86 $67 at Home Depot $75 at Wayfair

What we liked: This under-$100 model from Vevor surprised us. It extruded high-quality results the quickest—in four and a half minutes, to be exact. While its motor had to work harder than our top picks, it produced nice spaghetti and fettuccine with perfectly al dente textures once cooked. It can make eight different shapes, offering versatility in your pasta-making endeavors. It extrudes a portion or two more than the pricier Philips Viva Compact model. That said, it’s still on the small side, making it easier to store. It comes in a striking navy blue shade for cooks who prefer appliances with a pop of color.

What we didn’t like: The Vevor motor had to work hard, which resulted in a loud sound during its run. While it was the quickest at extruding, its mixing process took longer than other models, averaging about six minutes compared to the three of our other picks. Most of the winners have an “extrusion only” setting, but this one doesn’t, which made it difficult to extract any leftover dough. It struggled to push out penne. It left a few clumps of dough in the chamber, resulting in fewer portions. 

Key Specs

• Presets: Start/pause, backwards, forwards, mixing, batch
• Number of cutting attachments: 8 (lasagna, angel hair, spaghetti, tagliatelle, udon, penne, linguine, fettuccine)
• Primary material: Plastic body, plastic dies, plastic cleaning tools
• Weight: 11.02 pounds
• Height of machine: 12.91 inches
• Max number of pasta servings: 4
• Average extrude time: 4.5 minutes
• Warranty: 1 year

The Best Pasta Extruder for Big Batches

Philips Artisan Pasta & Noodle Maker

$280 $190 at Amazon

What we liked: This powerhouse pick carries many qualities we love about our winning model, also from Philips. It extruded with minimal intrusive sound. It can make eight shapes, including excellent spaghetti, fettuccine, and penne. It’s designed with a compartment to store dies and accessories. It took only three minutes to mix and five minutes to extrude, and can pump out up to eight servings at a time. Its sleek design will shine on any countertop. Its “extrusion only” setting was efficient for pushing out those last strands of dough. We liked the unique tools to tidy up, including a multifunctional brush and angel hair cleaning instrument. 

What we didn’t like: This Philips model has no alarms to indicate when the machine is about to start extruding, so you will need to keep an eye on it. In our fettuccine test, some of the strands came out stickier, so we had to separate them by hand. Cleaning out the penne die, like with all the other top picks, demanded significant time to remove the dough from the small holes and crevices.

Key Specs

• Presets: Automatic, extrusion-only, start/pause, display
• Number of cutting attachments: 10 (lasagna, penne, fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair, thick spaghetti, tagliatelle, pappardelle, shells, paccheri) 
• Primary material: Plastic body, metal mixing paddle, metal front panel, plastic dies, plastic cleaning tools
• Weight: 15.3 pounds
• Height of machine: 12.75 inches
• Max number of pasta servings: 8
• Average extrude time: 5 minutes
• Warranty: 2 years

The Competition

• Starfrit Electric Pasta and Noodle Maker: We really liked this pasta extruder—it was previously our budget pick—but it has been discontinued.
• Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker Plus: This was previously one of our winners, but it's been discontinued. Its updated model, the Philips Artisan Smart Pasta and Noodle Maker, earned a spot on our favorites list.
• Hamilton Beach Electric Pasta Maker: This model struggled to extrude pasta, resulting in clumps of dough in the mixing chamber. At times the chamber lid was impossible to close. The motor experienced difficulties and emitted smoke while churning out penne.
• Cuisinart Pastafecto Pasta/Bread Dough Maker: This pricey model was able to roll and cut the dough without any jams, but swapping out the cutters required partial disassembly. It produced extraordinarily uneven pasta: The top of the extruder yielded 20-inch long noodles, while the bottom struggled to turn out five-inch ones.
• Emeril Lagasse Pasta & Beyond Automatic Pasta and Noodle Maker: An overwhelming amount of fiddly problems made this machine a headache to use. We experienced undermixed spaghetti with visible lumps of flour, and penne that was too tough to extrude.
• KitchenAid 6-Piece Gourmet Pasta Press Attachment: If you’re looking for a pasta-making attachment compatible with your stand mixer, skip this one and get the 3-in-1 roller attachment. KitchenAid’s take on an extruder produced sloppily shaped and cut noodles, and it was a nightmare to clean. 

FAQs

How does a pasta extruder work? 

A pasta extruder is a helpful, almost hands-free option for small noodles and specialty shapes, or anyone looking to make fresh pasta with less mess or hands-on time. These machines measure and mix the dough ingredients according to a programmed recipe. Instead of being kneaded traditionally, the dough is processed with a large amount of force and pressed through a die in the desired shape. Heard of “bronze die” pasta? That refers to the material (bronze) of the cutting mechanism (the die).

Is the KitchenAid pasta extruder worth it? 

Although we recommend the KitchenAid pasta-making attachment, the extruder attachment fell short in our tests. We found that dough that performed well in the roller attachment was too wet to form quality pasta with the extruder. The extruder does not have enough power (or sharp enough cutters) to produce consistently shaped noodles and is extremely hard to clean. 

Why do pasta dough recipes call for eggs? 

When making pasta from scratch, many recipes will call for eggs in the dough. “Egg adds richness and color to pasta,” says Shawn Matijevich, lead chef-instructor of Online Culinary Arts and Food Operations at the Institute of Culinary Education. “It also gives it a small bump in texture,” he explains. Eggs provide the necessary liquid for the dough, ensuring it is hydrated enough to be extruded. Additionally, the proteins from the egg support the formation of the delicate yet springy texture of the pasta.

Why We’re the Experts

• Rochelle Bilow is a commerce editor at Serious Eats.
• She has been writing professionally for almost two decades and has written for Serious Eats since 2021; she joined the team full-time in 2024.
• Ashia Aubourg is a freelance writer with experience researching cooking appliances and working in kitchens (and farms!).
• Her work with Serious Eats spans gift guides, educational pieces, and product reviews. She recently compared every blender we’ve ever tested to find the best ones for smoothies. 
• For this story, Ashia tested and re-tested five pasta extruders, considering how well the models performed, in addition to how well they translated to a home cook’s kitchen, based on the machine’s learning curve as well as the quantity and quality of pasta produced.