Keto Pasta
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This keto pasta is a low carb alternative to traditional pasta noodles. Made with just 2 ingredients, they are chewy, cheesy, and perfect to top with your favorite sauces! 1 gram net carbs per serving.
Keto Pasta
When I first shared this keto pasta recipe, I had tried nearly every low carb pasta alternative at the grocery stores, and none of them were like real pasta. They either used ‘konjac’ (which has a rubbery texture) or spiralized vegetables.
Now, there are even more keto pastas available online and at everyday grocery stores, but even so, they still aren’t what I’d call a solid pasta substitute. This is why my keto pasta recipe comes into play.
I drew inspiration from my keto lasagna recipe, which uses a combination of eggs and cheese to make ‘lasagna noodles’. Because I needed strips versus sheets, the mixture needed to be thicker and more pliable. Instead of using whole eggs, I opted to use just the yolks, and the results were exactly what I was looking for- soft, slightly chewy, and light. The flavor is mellow and rich, and is the perfect vehicle for your favorite low carb pasta sauces.
Key Ingredients
- Egg yolk. The yolk gives the pasta stability, making it easier to cut into noodles. When I used whole eggs, they fell apart and weren’t stable when boiled.
- Mozzarella cheese. Finely shredded, low-moisture mozzarella cheese (available as a block or pre-shredded). Avoid using other types of cheese, or your noodles will turn out like wet cheese.
How to make keto pasta
Start by melting your mozzarella cheese. Once melted, let the cheese cool for 1-2 minutes. Next, whisk your egg yolks into the cheese mixture until combined.
Form a rough ball of ‘dough’ and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Place the ball of ‘dough’ on top of it, and place another piece of parchment paper on top of that. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until thin.
Now, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to firm up. Once chilled, use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into thin strips.
Place the pasta back in the refrigerator overnight to firm up.
The next day, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the noodles to it, and stir slowly and carefully, mixing together for 30 seconds.
Drain the pasta and run under cool water before transferring it to a plate and adding your favorite pasta sauce.
Tips to make the best keto noodles
- Use more boiling water than you’d use for traditional pasta or spaghetti. This ensures these ones don’t stick together or clump.
- Drop the noodles into the water and mix slowly and carefully for 30 seconds. After that, cook your noodles to your desired texture. I prefer mine al dente, so 30 seconds is the sweet spot.
- Always rinse the pasta after cooking with cold water. This does not cool the pasta, but rather helps prevent it from sticking together.
- Make sure your pasta sauce is already warm before the pasta is cooked. The longer it sits, the wetter it becomes.
- Don’t try using a pasta machine. I tested this after several reader requests, and the dough is too fragile and unstable to go through the rollers.
Storage instructions
To store: Pasta can keep in its uncooked state for up to 1 week. Lightly wrap it in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
To freeze: Place chilled noodles in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 1 month. Be sure to thaw it completely before reslicing if needed.
Keto Pasta (2 Ingredients!)
Ingredients
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
Instructions
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt your mozzarella cheese until melted. Let it cool for 2 minutes. Whisk in your egg yolks and form the mixture into a ball of dough.
- Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and transfer the ball of dough onto it. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top and using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until thin. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Using a pizza slicer, cut thin strips of dough. Refrigerate overnight.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the noodles and gently stir for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and drain the water. Run under water before transferring to bowls and top with your favorite low carb pasta toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
More keto pasta recipes
- Keto gnocchi– Pillow soft, 5 ingredients, and ready in 25 minutes.
- Almond flour pasta– The version I learned to make in my pasta module in culinary school.
- Keto mac and cheese– The most requested keto comfort food recipe on the site.
- Keto pasta salad– I tested this recipe more times than I’d like to admit to find the right low carb pasta for it.
Originally published January 2021
This is awesome ! I can’t wait to try it. Since I haven’t and won’t get an opportunity for a few weeks while on the road, I’m just curious if this dough would go through a traditional pasta machine to create sheets for tortellini or ravioli. Or through a pasta extrusion machine ?
Thanks for posting !
Hi Dave- I did test it using a pasta machine after getting a few requests, and it isn’t worth the effort and also was too fragile. If you want sheets, I recommend using my keto lasagna recipe, which works really well for sheets.
Can this go through a past dough roller?
Hi Russ- that won’t work, sorry. It’s too unstable to remain intact. I tested it for a few readers.
Your recipe sounds great!
Can’t wait to try, but…
I have some questions:
When you say roll it out thin; how thin?
Can I use a pasta machine to roll out the “dough”?
Thanks for your time/advice!
Regards,
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne- roll the dough to about 1 to 2mm thick, and while a pasta machine is tempting for traditional pasta, this cheese based dough is best rolled between parchment paper and a rolling pin. More control 🙂
Where can I buy low moisture mozzarella from or can I dry out ordinary mozzarella? I am in the uk
Hi Rosemary- I just did a quick search and saw that Sainsbury’s sell it in a block (part skim low moisture mozzarella) or pre-shredded. Tesco’s also has the pre-shredded kind 🙂
Will this dough work in a pasta machine?
Hi Andrea- I tested it, as a few readers wanted to know, and I don’t recommend it. The dough is way too fragile for it.
I love how this recipe is both nutritious and indulgent at the same time. Perfect for my diet without compromising on taste!
Love to hear that, Priya. Thanks for making this recipe 🙂
Could this recipe be used in a pasta making machine?
Hi Sandy- I’ve tested it in one and I don’t recommend it, as it was too fragile.
Would these work for lasagna noodles? Just wondering since they would be cooked in the lasagna.
I haven’t made this pasta yet but it seems more labor intensive than the keto lasagna recipe also on this site which I’ve used several times and is fantastic. Similar idea but includes cream cheese and is baked. No chilling needed.
Hi Tricia- you can definitely use that as noodles. How it differs with this is just that it didn’t hold the noodle shape well itself.
Overrated
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it, Tim.
Hey Arman your pasta looks good but I don’t see why the recipe can’t have a small amount of some sort of keto flour so that we are not just eating mozzarella and egg yolk as a pasta dish? Look this is just my opinion so no offence to you. Try to create an Italian sort of keto pasta dish. Maybe we can brake the rules just a little and try adding some keto based flours with your mozzarella and eggs? (Just a suggestion). Yes i’ am Italian and I like to follow some keto recipes. Thankyou for reading my long message. I always look at your recipes.
No offence to you, but instead of thinking the author should change their recipe styles to suit a single person, perhaps you should put in 12 hours daily to develop your own recipes, content and website? Just a suggestion.
Hi Rose! I’m so sorry for not seeing this comment earlier. I did test this with coconut flour and almond flour to see how it woiuld hold up, and it ended up needing a few other ingredients to make stable pasta dishes. When developing this recipe, I wanted it to be as close to traditional pasta noodles. I do have an almond flour pasta recipe which could work for what you are after 🙂
I haven’t tried this yet, I was wondering if you use fresh mozzarella or pre packaged shredded? Thanks!
Hi Gina- I’ve tested both, and didn’t notice much of a difference. Whichever you can find is great.
I attempted to make this pasta. But it got stuck to the parchment paper and was really stringy so I don’t know what I did wrong if you can give me any pointers that would be greatly appreciated thank you
Hi Heidi- did you use a good quality parchment paper? I find that is usually the key factor for things sticking to it and easy removal. The egg yolk/cheese combo is quite firm enough for it to peel off easily.
I made the pasta once and loved it!!
Could you dry it!
It’s fragile but yummy. Absorbs garlic butter easily and tastes great even cold.
I will definitely be trying this recipe. Sounds delicious. The fact it is gluten free makes it a great choice. Thanks.
Let me know how you go, Fran!
Any tips on how long to microwave the cheese? I did 40 sec and then let it sit 2 min and could not incorporate the yolk at all- it just smeared on the top
Hi Beth- hmmm what wattage is your microwave? Mine takes about 20-ish seconds, and perhaps another 5-10 second burst.
Good
This is my favorite keto pasta recipe. It’s SO good and you’d never think it was made with cheese!
Best keto pasta recipe I’ve ever made- made it exactly as wrtitten!
These are fantastic. I have had mixed success with boiling them and rinsing with cold water. A method of heating/cooking them that works well for me is to lay a serving on a plate and microwave for 30 seconds on high and then let them cool for a couple of minutes on the plate. Then scrape the noodles off of the plate. They have a very similar texture to noodles this way. Thanks for the recipe!
Used these to go with chicken alfredo. Plain, they do taste cheesy to me. In a meal, they are an amazing sub for noodles. I boiled a bowl of water in the microwave and just threw a serving size of noodles in for 30 seconds, drained and rinse with cold water. They were so good. And super easy to make.
Thanks, Bobbie!
Can this recipe be used with a KitchenAid pasta attachment?
Hi Bev- no it can’t sorry. It’s just too fragile to work with any pasta machine.
This was fantastic. I followed your step by step process completely and it worked. Thanks for the photos and videos, they helped.
You are welcome, Darin! 🙂 Thanks for the lovely review!
Love the idea of this recipe – and it’s sensational.
I made the noodles, put them in the fridge and forgot about them. This allowed the noodles time to dry out so they looked similar to the noodles in the video
They turned out better than I expected.
The person I made the noodles for enjoyed them very much
I have never left a review before but this recipe has knocked it OUT OF THE PARK!!!!!
So perfect and satisfying!!!! Game changer!!
could you please tell me what brand of cheese you use in Aus,
thank you
I had a problem with dough sticking to parchment paper any suggestions?
Hi Ronald, you can try using parchment paper with a silicone coating (usually called “non stick”) or try dusting the parchment with some almond flour. Let us know how you go!
Hi, Thanks for the recipe, I would like to try this……I am in Aus, which brand do you use when in Aus? Thanks, Peter.
La probaré y te cuento!
We don’t have a microwave; can you recommend another way to melt the cheese?
You could try stovetop
Such a good idea and so easy to make just delicious 😋
It worked out better in my kitchen to dry the dough rolled out in parchment in the refrigerator for a few days before cutting with kitchen shears into fettuccine like the author’s photo. (Day of, dough was soft, stuck to parchment and broke too easily). The drier it is, the less it tastes like mozzarella and the better it boils without dissolving.
Thanks for the tip!
Would this work with egg whites or an egg substitute like flax seed? Trying to watch the cholesterol.
I haven’t tried but you can experiment with one of these https://thebigmansworld.com/egg-substitute-for-baking/
can you use pepper jack cheese? like a little spice.
I haven’t tried- Feel free to experiment and see.
This was amazing!!!! Came out perfectly 🙂
Low moisture part skim or whole milk mozzarella?
Low moisture 🙂
Idk what we did wrong. We followed all the steps perfectly, except letting it sit overnight because we needed pasta right away, and all of it melted. We let it sit in the fridge for like an hour, but as soon as it hit the water it melted.
You need it to sit overnight. Here is a video with the process. https://youtu.be/n_EqalWFQ64
lol ashli, “I skipped a vital step, why did my recipe come out bad?”, why do you think lmfao
Awesome recipe!!! Thanks for sharing.
Delicious ….but you can make these noodle 5 stars if you add a 1/2 tsp of Xanthum gum powder to the mix right after you put the cheese into the bowl
I wish I had read this before I made mine, which is currently in the fridge for the night. 🤞🏻
I’ve made several of your recipes and they’ve been terrific. However I keep running into trouble with this one. I have two persistent problems:
1) I have a hard time whisking/mixing the egg and melted cheese together to make a “dough”. what should the finished consistency be, before refrigerating? lumpy or smooth? Should this mixture be heated to help mixing?
2) I can not get the noodles off the parchment paper to cook them without them breaking up. I have tried oiling the parchment paper before so they don’t stick but this only helps a bit.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Do I absolutely need to leave it overnight? Wanted to try it tonight, would 5 or so hours be ok?
5 hours should be fine 🙂
Mine disintegrated into a doughy mozzarella ball as soon as I added them to the boiling water…. obviously this is a very precise recipe and technique yo get it right.
Here is a video, Ali- https://youtu.be/n_EqalWFQ64
You should find a way to mass produce these and market them! Jackpot!
Does this taste like plain cheese?
Promise it doesn’t! 🙂
Was wondering how many eggs and how much cheese To mix together or did I miss that part.
Check out the recipe card!
Have you tried them for lasagna yet? Should I cook them first or just put it straight from the fridge into the lasagna as it gets cooked in the oven…
I have a keto lasagna recipe on my site you might like instead https://thebigmansworld.com/keto-lasagna/
What of using squeaky cheese like halumi rather than low moisture mozzarella?
Haven’t tried!
I had the same issue with the noodles dissolving as soon as I put them in the boiling water. I had made some of your other recipes with great success. Actually made English muffins for breakfast! Please let us know if you have any ideas of what I did wrong. I miss pasta! Thanks
Hi Sue! Did you let them dry long enough?
Do I need to refrigerate overnight, or can I use it after maybe an hour in the refrigerator?
Overnight is much preferred.v
Why do I have to refrigerate overnight. Can I use after they cool in refrigerator for 30 min?
No, they need to firm up.
Yes I did. Slowly and gently.
I was so excited to try this recipe. All was well until I boiled them. Within 10 seconds it was all disintegrated. What did I do wrong?
Did you start mixing as soon as you added them in?
Would it be possible to use this dough with my pasta maker?
I haven’t tried!
Questions:
Do you cover the initial “dough” in the fridge? With what? Ziploc baggie? Saran wrap?
Also, to store in freezer, lay flat on parchment paper in Ziploc bags to store? So not to stick together?
Lastly, how (much) many servings does this yield?
It doesn’t need to be covered, as it will soften when added to the water. Yes, lay flat in the freezer.
4 servings.
You prefer it cooked 30 seconds. Is that 30 sec after the first 30 sec or just the original 30 sec
The original 30 seconds 🙂
How did you get the pasta in the appropriate shape for your keto Mac and cheese recipe?
Hi Susan- this isn’t the same pasta used in the mac and cheese. I’ve included the specific brands used in that post 🙂
Hmm…do you think a pasta roller/cutter would work for this recipe?
I haven’t tried 🙂
What mozzarella do you use for this? I’m worried that most store-bought low moisture stuff would have too much cellulose powder to work.
I’ve tried both successfully.
This is awesome! Thanks for posting! What’s your opinion on replacing the egg for olive oil or flax? Think it would work?
I haven’t tried!
I would recommend spraying the parchment paper. my noodles were stuck to the point that they were ruined and i had to make it again. they did not disintegrate when boiled but broke into tiny pieces despite cooling/drying for over a day. overall was a great noodle substitute and would make again