Pasta Maker Battle: Philips vs. KitchenAid vs. Imperia vs. Marcato Atlas?

The best pasta makers make irresistible dishes - you can't beat a fresh bowl of pasta, and contrary to popular belief, it's not that hard to make yourself.

We tested pasta makers from dozens of retail brands including Philips, KitchenAid, Hamilton Beach, and more.

We stretched and shaped homemade pasta into pasta and pasta and tried multiple settings from each pasta maker. The main thing we've found that separates the best pasta makers from the rest is build quality.

Whether you're looking to gift the foodie in your life, or just upgrade your kitchen cabinets, read on to find our best pasta makers and what we've learned while testing them.

Our Top 4 Best Pasta Makers 2024

#1.  Best Pasta Maker: Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Machine

Price: $72.99 | Buy now from Amazon

Marcato machines are made in Italy with the classic model Marcato Atlas 150 in heavy chrome steel. The machine is attached to the countertop with screw clamps and comes with a hand crank and additional pasta cutter attachments. It's best to use clips if you can, but the Marcato is heavy enough to use without clips. Like all machines, the hand crank is detached so you can move it between different cutting and rolling attachments. But unlike other machines, the attachments on the Marcato easily slide into place.

If you put the pasta maker under unreasonable pressure with too thick dough, the pasta maker will often jam. But of the machines we've tried, the Marcato Atlas 150 is the best at handling thick dough. It offers 10 different thickness settings, marked from 0 (4.8mm widest) to 9 (0.6mm thinnest). These settings provide a natural progression for rolling out thinner and thinner doughs without clogging or clogging the machine. Of all the machines we tested, the Marcato was the most resistant to jams when thick dough was erroneously passed through the narrower settings.

The Marcato Atlas 150 comes with an additional knife attachment for fettuccine and spaghetti that slides into the top of the main rolling mechanism. We tested it with high and low hydration doughs to see how the machine handled sticky sides and tough, tough doughs. We found that the cutter couldn't cut the strands completely at higher hydration levels, but had no problem doing so at lower hydration levels. To be fair, properly made pasta dough shouldn't be sticky, but we were interested in testing the limits of the machine. The Marcato manual has helpful instructions on how to fix the dough if it sticks.

In this regard, unlike several other machines we tested, the Marcato Atlas 150 comes with a thorough instruction manual. As trivial as it may seem, having comprehensive instructions can make the difference between perfect pasta or failure.

If you want to go beyond lasagna and lasagna, you can purchase a compatible 12-piece knife attachment that includes knives for mafaldine, pappardelle, vermicelli, ravioli and more pasta shapes.

One bad news: pasta machines aren't easy to clean, and Marcato isn't really an exception. While some of the other machines we've tried can be rinsed under water, they still require you to dry their many nooks and crannies right away. The Marcato comes with clear instructions for removing the pins from the bottom of the extruder for cleaning, which we found to be very easy and quick. The best way to clean the machine is to use a small brush and a soft rag to remove the dough between the threads of the extruder. Since you shouldn't wash it with soap and water (it will rust), if the machine is a little greasy, we recommend cleaning it with absorbent paper.

Overall, we think the Marcato is a good value for money due to its attention to detail, extensive instructional resources, and other accessories available to consumers.

#2.  Best for Unique Shapes: KitchenAid Gourmet Pasta Press Attachment

Price: $208.99 | Buy now from Amazon

This machine is one of our favorites, and we tested its ability to make unique shapes rarely created by other pasta machines (hello, bucatini!). It's simple to use: just connect to the KitchenAid mixer, put in a walnut-sized amount of pasta dough, and use the included cutter to cut the pasta where you want it.

It is very easy to make even and beautiful noodles. The spaghetti does get stuck in the replacement disk, but they give you a solid tool to pick it up. Of course, the main downside here is that if you don't already have a KitchenAid mixer, buying it plus a pasta press is pretty expensive.

#3.  Best for quick and easy pasta maker: Philips Kitchen Appliances Pasta & Noodle Maker Plus

Price: $289.99 | Buy now from Amazon

This machine saves the work of making homemade pasta. All you have to do is add the ingredients and the machine automatically mixes the pasta dough, kneads it and delivers fresh pasta ready to cook in 10 minutes. Your friends will never know that one machine does all the hard work.

It comes with four shaping plates so you can choose from pasta, macaroni, fettuccine or lasagna. A convenient storage compartment in the machine keeps everything together, and the simple LED display is clear and easy to understand. Plus, with dishwasher-safe parts, it's easy to clean.

$290 isn't cheap, but users love the machine and rave about the pasta it makes.

#4.  Best budget: Imperia Pasta Maker 

Price: $59.99 | Buy now from Amazon

The Imperia Pasta Maker has one major flaw that keeps it from being a winner: the scroll wheel knob requires two hands to move. Unlike other models that use a pull-and-turn mechanism, you must press the button before turning the knob on the Imperia. This means you have to drop the pasta before continuing, slowing down the process. This won't cause a major problem with regular pasta, but it can be a big problem with delicate gluten-free doughs.

Other than that, we love Imperia. It makes thin, even sheets and is fully perforated on fettuccine and spaghetti shapes. The clips are large enough to accommodate my thicker table than a regular Boos Block table, and the machine didn't move while we were using it. It does squeak slightly when you turn the handle, but that's a small price to pay for perfect homemade pasta.

Best Pasta Makers Compared: 

Philips vs. KitchenAid vs. Imperia vs. Marcato Atlas

Final thoughts

If you want to step up your home cooking game, making homemade pasta is a great way to take your cooking skills to the next level.

You don't need a pasta machine to get started - you can roll the pasta dough with a rolling pin and cut it carefully with a knife - but we recommend not getting yourself down. Kitchen appliances like the ones we've tested make the process faster and easier while still producing perfectly even noodles.

The Marcato 8320 Atlas 150 machine is our top choice for manual, hand-crank pasta machines. Durable and easy to use, this chrome-plated stainless steel machine produces pasta in 10 different thicknesses and three shapes. Read on for the best pasta makers on the market right now.

Whether you're in the market for a gift for yourself or a foodie friend, we think you'll be happy with our top picks.

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