Almond Flour Pasta
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My almond flour pasta is a grain-free and gluten-free alternative to classic pasta noodles! Made with just 3 ingredients, these noodles are thick, chewy, and perfect with your favorite sauces.
Growing up, my mom always made pasta from scratch. She learned this from her Zia Christina (yes, the same aunt who’s famous for the Tuscan white bean soup) and passed those techniques on to me.
Once I learned the basics, I used them to develop a homemade pasta made with almond flour instead of wheat. I was inspired to create it after so many readers asked for a sturdier make-ahead alternative to my keto pasta.
Unlike traditional pasta, almond flour pasta is a little thicker and chewier, but still has a tender bite. Its mild flavor makes it perfect with everything from Bolognese to my partner’s favorite cottage cheese pasta sauce.
Best of all, you don’t need a pasta machine or any complicated techniques to make it.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
- Almond flour. Blanched almond flour must be used, not almond meal. The latter tends to be gritty and can make the pasta a little denser.
- Tapioca starch. This gives the pasta a classic chewy, thick texture. Arrowroot or potato starch is a decent substitute, but the texture won’t be quite as chewy.
- Eggs. Mixing room-temperature eggs into the dough is much easier and helps prevent it from becoming a little gummy.
- Water. Combines everything to form a dough.
How do you make pasta with almond flour
Start by mixing together your almond flour and tapioca starch in a large mixing bowl. Next, form a well in the center and add the eggs and water. Using a fork or a large spoon, gently fold the ingredients together until a dough forms and it is thick enough to knead by hand. If the dough is still a little dry, add more water.
Now, transfer the dough onto a flat kitchen surface dusted with extra tapioca flour. Gently knead the dough several times until it becomes smooth. Form a large ball of dough, cover it with a kitchen towel, and set it aside to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. After you let it rest, roll out the dough until it is thin, then use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into noodles about 1/4 inch thick.
Finally, bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta to the pot and let it boil for around a minute until it floats to the surface. Drain the pasta and serve with your favorite pasta sauce.
Arman’s tips for making almond flour noodles
- Don’t worry about over-kneading. Since there’s no gluten in the dough, you won’t develop a tough texture. If the dough feels sticky, knead in a little extra tapioca flour. If it’s too dry or cracks as you roll it, add a splash of water.
- Use a pasta machine if you like. I usually cut the noodles with a pizza cutter, but a pasta machine works just as well. You can also use it to make different shapes if you prefer.
- Cut the noodles to suit the sauce. I like thinner noodles for lighter sauces like Pomodoro or sugo, or thicker noodles for hearty sauces like mushroom or Alfredo.
How to store leftovers
To store: Leftover pasta can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 2 days. Any longer, and it will begin to stick together.
To freeze uncooked pasta: Arrange the uncooked noodles in a single layer on parchment paper and freeze until firm. Transfer them to a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 6 months. I recommend cooking the pasta straight from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to the cooking time.
To make ahead: I often make the dough a day or two in advance and keep it tightly wrapped in the fridge. You can also roll and cut the noodles a day ahead- just dust them lightly with tapioca flour, arrange them in a single layer, cover, and chill until you’re ready to cook.
Almond Flour Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour 224g
- 2 cups tapioca starch 260g
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 4 tablespoon water * See notes
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add your almond flour and tapioca starch and mix well. Form a well in the center and add the eggs and water. Slowly whisk together, until a smooth dough remains. If needed, add more water.
- Lightly flour a kitchen surface with tapioca flour. Transfer the ball of dough onto it and gently knead it several times. The dough should feel smooth and firm. If the dough feels sticky or wet, add more tapioca flour. Cover the dough in a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, roll out the dough until a thin layer. Using a pizza cutter, slice thin strips of noodles from it.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta into it and let it boil for around a minute. Remove from the heat and drain the pasta in a colander. Distribute the pasta into bowls and top with your favorite pasta sauce.
Would I be able to use this for lasagna noodles? I’m trying to find a low carb pasta recipe that will still hold up cooking in a lasagna in the oven.
I haven’t tried to be honest! You are welcome to experiment and see.
I want to make this now and eat later tonight. Can I let the noodles air dry and cook when we want to eat? Thanks.
Hi Amy- yes, I’ve updated the recipe to include make ahead instructions! 🙂
Hi Armen your almond flour fettuccini sounds good but only one problem for me! too high carbs? 29 gr? I’ m trying to eat higher protein and small amount carbs. Can you modify the recip. Thankyou.
I can’t do egg yolks! Top of my allergen list 😔. Anyone try this with flax egg?
This won’t work with a flax egg, Wendy- it does need to be traditional whole eggs.
This was my first time making thes noodles and they were fabulous! I’ll be adding them to my rotation. They were so good, I swear if you didn’t tell anyone, they wouldn’t notice the difference between the almond pasta and regular wheat noodles.
This recipe was very easy to follow
Thanks, Pandora, I appreciate it!
I have a question about the tapioca starch. The link to the package indicates that there are 27 grams of carbohydrate per 1/4 cup which would equal one serving to this recipe. It doesn’t seem ketogenic at this point. Am I missing something?
Hi Amy- you aren’t wrong. This is lower net carbs than traditional pasta, but still does have some carbs in it.
This is going to be absolutely awesome! It just feels like 👍 unbelievable 😕 we’ll talk soon
Thanks, Michael- let me know how it goes!
Is the consistency suitable to use my kitchen aide pasta roller/cutter?
I tried it with mine and it wasn’t as good!!
Let me say I am full Italian and grew up on handmade macaroni and if I hadnt made this myself I never would have known it wasnt my moms or grandmoms. I loved the texture especially!!! It was so so super easy too!!!!
Hi.
My daughter is on scd (special carbohydrate diet. She loves noodles/pasta/ macaroni. Can u please create some recipes that are free from starches. She cant eat anything with tapioca starch or any other starches. I found many recipes with starches.
You can search my site for keto recipes they don’t use starches.
Do you think that zucchini puree would work in place of tapioca starch?
No it will not
I love all the recipes on this site and none have ever failed me. And Arman’s fun loving spirit is always all over every webpage. I truly love your work.
But sadly this recipe was a disaster and I cannot figure out how on earth you got a yours to look like what is in the picture. Mine wasn’t even close. First I never got a smooth dough. I added more water like you noted but after 6T we start to wonder if 3x the recipe amount is ok or not. Still it was lumpy like a ball of sticky clay. When trying to roll it out it was literally a joke. It split in too many places before it even got down to 1/2” thick. Regardless, I kept rolling and had to take small pieces and roll them thin by themselves. Whatever portions didn’t crack I sliced thin like fettuccini, and the parts that cracked I kept short like an egg noodle to cook separate.
But when I added it to the boiling water, I was stirring the water slowly but continuously to make sure they didn’t stick to pan or each other, but after 60 seconds it all broke into tiny pieces and then became a mush.
My Alfredo sauce burned and my chicken over cooked during the handling of all this. Lol It was my first failed keto dinner.
I do not know what cooking skill I should have under my belt that can produce what you did out of these three ingredients. My husband is convinced something is missing but you are thorough and never leave anything out.
I used Anthony’s Unblanched Almond Flour so it would be the smoothest kind, and I even sifted it into bowl to be double sure. But it still had a grittiness to the dough before cooking.
Could my tapioca starch (flour) have been too old? How do you have absolutely no grainy grittiness in your picture having used Almond flour?
Hi! I think the error was the unblanched flour— he mentioned above to use blanched. I’m sorry it fell apart!
I suspect your problem may have been using *unblanched* almond flour, which includes the skins of the almonds. I would imagine this would add an additional element of graininess compared to blanched flour, and the skins probably don’t behave the same way as the flesh of the almond in terms of soaking up liquid and binding to other ingredients.
I used Anthony’s Unblanched Almond Flour so it would be the smoothest kind, and I even sifted it into bowl to be double sure.
Were you able to successfully make these??
Correction I DID use Anthony’s “blanched” almond flour. That was a typo in my original post. All the Almond Flours I buy are blanched (Kirklands, Anthony’s, or Blue Diamond.)
So it was the smoothest you can buy without skins. So I’m still waiting for what else would make it fall apart.
I am much more experienced now after a year of learning to cook with Keto. I will give it another try and report back. Maybe I have naturally acquired some technique working with the ingredients that makes some difference??
This sounds good, but is there a tapioca alternative? I’m allergic to it. Thanks!
Hi Louise! Yes, arrowroot starch is my favorite alternative, or potato starch. Several readers have made it using arrowroot 🙂
Is this keto? Is the whole recipe only one portion?
Hi Gina- it’s lower carb, but depending on how strict you are with keto. One portion is 3 ounces/85g.
Hi, The recipe says tapioca STARCH in the ingredients, but the instructions say to knead on a tapioca FLOUR surface so I’m a little confused. Thanks!
Hi Sharon. Both are the same thing 🙂