With so many styles of pasta available today, being able to get creative and use you own ingredients opens up even more doors. A pasta maker, also referred to as a pasta rolling machine, is hands down the best way to make quality homemade pasta from the comfort of your home. While there is certainly a learning curve involved, after a few tries you’ll never want to buy store-bought pasta ever again.
Keep reading to learn the ins and outs of pasta makers and how to choose the right one based on your preferences. We’ll also highlight the best pasta makers you can buy in Canada this year.
The Different Types of Pasta Makers
There are two main types of pasta makers to consider when looking for a pasta maker.
Manual Pasta Makers
A manual pasta machine is an excellent alternative to making pasta by hand. The machine will save you a lot of time and physical effort. With a manual pasta maker, the dough is manually rolled through the machine and then snipped at the end using the machine’s cutting tool.
Manual pasta makers are ideal for making longer pasta styles, such as fettuccine or spaghetti. They tend to be less expensive than automatic pasta makers due to their simplicity. Their simplicity also allows the machines to have a long lifespan compared to most kitchen appliances.
Automatic Pasta Makers
Automatic pasta makers, also known as electric pasta makers, allow you to save time and effort by doing most of the manual work for you. Electric pasta makers have the extra benefit of allowing you to make a wider variety of pasta styles. For example, you can easily make macaroni or ziti-shaped pasta.
Automatic pasta makers tend to be more expensive than manual pasta makers because of the electric components. The higher price can also be justified by the time you save in the process of making pasta. With an electric machine, all you have to do is make the dough, feed it into the machine, and put together your pasta dish. An electric pasta maker is worth considering if you plan on making pasta often enough that the amount of time saved is worth the extra cost.
The 5 Best Pasta Machines In Canada in 2025
Marcato Atlas Pasta Machine
The Marcato Atlas Pasta Maker is an authentic, high quality pasta maker that lets you make pasta with either an electric crank or a hand crank. An electric crank comes in handy when you’re feeling lazy in the kitchen but still want fresh pasta.
You can either make hand-cranked sheeted and cut pasta or attach a small engine to speed up the process. You still mix and knead by hand, but the motor speeds things up, reducing the number of pasta sheets and cutting time. Because the dough moves fast through the pasta maker, it doesn’t stick as much as it does on other pasta makers.
The machine comes with a pasta cutter, an optional hand crank, a table clamp, and a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty. It also comes with three pasta shape cutters (lasagna, fettuccine, and tagliolini) and ten thickness options to choose from (from paper-thin to 4.8mm). Separate pasta shape accessories are available to purchase separately.
- Comes with a motor
- Has an optional table clamp
- The pasta will have a consistent thickness due to the motor’s regular rotation
- Offers limited variety in terms of pasta styles
Philips Smart Pasta Maker Plus
The Philips Smart Electric Pasta Maker is more than just a pasta roller. It also does the mixing, kneading and extruding for you. It offers 8 different styles of pasta, including penne, angel hair, lasagna, and tagliatelle. It’s easy and quick to use, allowing you to make 1 pound of fresh pasta in just 10 minutes.
The machine is very convenient to use with its built-in scale. It actually weighs the flour for you and lets you know how much water is required for making the perfect pasta dough. This removes a lot of the guesswork and ensures a perfect result every time.
What’s also convenient is that you don’t have to cut and shape the pasta by hand. Simply select the pasta of your choice, click the start button, and the machine will combine, knead, and extrude your pasta.
- Very easy to use
- Mixes and kneads dough for you
- Weighs ingredients for you
- More expensive compared to other models
- Difficult to clean
ANTREE Pasta Maker Attachment Set For KitchenAid Stand Mixers
While this isn’t a pasta maker in itself, it’s a pasta-making attachment for KitchenAid Stand Mixers. The ANTREE Pasta Maker Attachment includes three settings in one attachment. Without switching attachments, you may roll the dough into lasagna sheets and cut it into spaghetti or fettuccine.
Made of stainless steel, the ANTREE attachment also offers 8 thickness options to give you a more personalized pasta-making experience.
- You can roll and cut pasta without switching attachments
- Budget-friendly and easy to store in the kitchen
- You need a KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- Not compatible with all KitchenAid Stand Mixer models
Philips Compact Pasta Maker, Viva Collection
While it’s not as powerful as Philips’ full-size pasta makers, the Viva Compact Pasta Maker is an excellent pasta maker for small kitchens. The machine does the physical work for you and can make up to 3 servings of pasta in about 18 minutes.
This machine comes with three discs for making spaghetti, penne, and fettuccini-shaped pasta. It’s a great choice if you wish to make more than just standard pasta. Adding liquid without overflowing is easy with this machine, thanks to the multiple long slots on the door that allow more liquid to enter through at once. It’s easy to operate and use, making it excellent for beginning pasta producers.
The machine also includes a colourful recipe book with step-to-step instructions for making several types of pasta.
- Extrudes pasta and mixes and kneads dough
- Doesn’t take up much counter space
- Easy to assemble and disassemble for cleaning
- Only three pasta shapes are possible
GOURMET Stainless Steel Manual Pasta Maker
The Gourmet Manual Pasta Maker is made of heavy-duty stainless steel and provides excellent performance and efficiency in making pasta. Whether you prefer thick and soft lasagna, long and thin angel hair, or even thin ravioli, this machine has you covered.
The GOURMET Pasta Makers kneads your dough for the best, most delectable pasta recipes imaginable, with 7 adjustable thickness settings. It doesn’t matter if you make wide fettuccine for dinner or small spaghetti for a salad. This device takes up very little space while providing excellent performance.
- The clamp lock keeps the machine firmly in place on its surface
- It’s a delight to utilize the easy-grip handle
- Folds up and is easy to store
- The clamp isn’t easy to use
- Not easy to clean as you need to dissemble before cleaning
What To Consider When Choosing A Pasta Maker?
Your Favourite Types of Pasta
To prevent disappointment, decide which types of pasta are the most important to you. While manual pasta machines are more affordable and take up less space, they are not recommended for making more complicated types of pasta, such as macaroni or ziti. If you plan on making pasta in a wide variety of shapes, opt for an electric pasta maker.
Ease of Use
A pasta maker should simplify the process of making homemade fresh pasta, not make it more complicated for you. There is obviously a learning curve involved in making pasta with a machine, but after reading the user manual you should have a clear idea of how to use the pasta maker in question. In general, automatic pasta makers will be easier to use than their manual counterparts.
Ease of Cleaning
Kitchen appliances can be difficult to clean, and pasta makers are no exception. Dough can be sticky and there are many crevices to clean. If you’re looking for a pasta maker that’s easy to clean, opt for a machine that can be disassembled for easy cleaning. A machine with dishwasher-safe pieces will also save you a lot of time cleaning.
Durability
The most durable pasta makers tend to be manual pasta makers, since there are no electric components to worry about maintaining. However, high-quality electric pasta makers can still outperform certain manual pasta rollers.
Is a Pasta Machine Worth it?
If you make fresh pasta at home often enough, a pasta maker is well worth the investment (and storage space). Here is why:
It’s tough to control the thickness of pasta rolled by hand. For a uniform cooking time, and even thickness is essential.
- Cutting and rolling pasta by hand is a lengthy process that requires finesse.
- Manual pasta makers are affordable nowadays.
- Fresh pasta ingredients are basic and cheap.
- You’ll no longer have to buy store-bought pasta.
How to Choose The Best Pasta Machine?
Pasta makers range from around $50 for the most basic models to several hundred dollars for more advanced electric pasta making machines. The type of machine you decide to buy will ultimately depend on your pasta-making needs. Here are some factors to keep in mind when buying a pasta maker:
- Manual pasta makers are less expensive, but they take longer to use and require more effort.
- To ensure durability, choose a pasta maker made of high-quality materials such as stainless steel.
- Your ingredients will be kneaded, mixed, and extruded for you if you opt for an electric pasta maker, making the procedure easier and quicker.
Is fresh pasta better than dry?
When comparing dry pasta to fresh pasta, the answer is complex. In fact, the choice between the two really depends on the particular pasta dish you’re making. Dry pasta is sturdier and best for heavy, saucy meals like lasagna. Fresh pasta, on the other hand, is softer and lighter than dried pasta. For that reason, it pairs well with creamy sauces.
