I didn’t think it could be done.
I didn’t think a decent, let alone delicious, low carb pasta existed.
I didn’t think that a homemade pasta even my cheap and lazy frugal and time effective self could make.
I didn’t think I could get away without dishing out copious amounts of dough for a pasta maker. (Pun intended)
I didn’t think I could make any kind of homemade pasta in under an hour.
I didn’t think any low carb pasta would contain ingredients I could pronounce.
I didn’t even dream grain free pasta could ever make me cry tears over tastebud-induced joy while dancing around the kitchen in a super dorky happy dance.
Hmmm…I should be wrong more often.
Easy Grain Free Pasta
Okay, so I’m working an a vegan version, but this is what I have so far. I tried this with an egg white and it did not work. There is a fabulous nutty flavor here, not really chickpea-y at all. I just love it!
I bet you could make a big batch and then freeze the leftovers for those busy weeknights. If you try that, let me know how it goes! Thanks!
From grain-free-gluten-free.com
Total Time: About 30 minutes
Serves 2
Ingredients
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon chickpea flour
1 egg
Note: Feel free to double or triple this recipe as needed. Just use one egg for every 100g of flour (or 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon, as above).
Directions
Put the chickpea flour into a bowl and make well in it. Add egg and stir until combined. If the dough is too dry, add a small amount of water. If it is too wet, incorporate small amounts of water. For reference, you dough should be firm and smooth, like below.
Once the dough is of the right consistency, knead the dough for a bit. Feel free to take out your aggressions during this process. Remember, you can knead all week and the gluten will never develop. Yay for gluten free flours!
Now roll the dough out very thinly on a nonstick surface. I used a silicone mat, but I bet parchment paper would work. This dough wanted to fall apart and stick to everything, so I really needed the mat. Fair warning. Try to make sure it is of pretty even thickness but, unless you’re using a pasta maker, it probably isn’t going to be perfect. That’s okay.
So now you can use a pizza cutter of sharp knife to slice the dough into noodles of your desired thickness, but I made bow ties.
Just cut into squares, and pinch the center. Easy peasy!
Once the pasta is all rolled, cut, and shaped, plunge it into very very very very very well salted boiling water. There is not salt in the dough, so YOU MUST SALT THE WATER.
I’M SERIOUS. SALT THE WATER!!!!!!!
Try to make sure they’re not touching each other, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until al dente.
Eat them all standing up as finger food.
Toss with your favorite sauce and/or veggies, or just enjoy them plain, and eat up!
Being wrong can be really delicious…
Enjoy!
-Kelly M.
The winner of the giveaway is… Meg from Cooking. In. College.! Just send me an email at foodiefiasco@gmail.com with your shipping info and we’ll get you your stuff!
Thank you so much to everyone who participated! I love you all.
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{ 70 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been eating fewer grains recently, and this looks great!! Beautiful recipe!! Thanks!
Thank you so much!!
Doesn’t eating fewer grains make you feel better?
How fun and creative! Chickpeas FTW.
Thank you, Hannah!
I am in loooooove with chicpeas…is that weird?
Aw man, I just got rid of my chickpea flour because I didn’t know what to make with it. Guess I’ll just have to buy more!! Sounds delicious!!
Ouch, sorry about the chickpea flour. At least you have an excuse to get some more!
Hi – thanks for the recipe. I just found your blog…. by way of wheatbellyblog I think. Anyway – this recipe reminded me of the egg noodles an older lady use to make. She just used the flour and egg like in your recipe – but instead of kneading it and rolling it out – she just dropped the rough pieces into her chicken soup. It made wonderful little pasta pieces in the soup. Just thought I’d share
Thank you so much!!!! And I LOVE this story, stuff like this makes my day. You are amazing!
If that’s anything like the chickpea spaghetti I had recently, I know how good it is – and I love the cute bow ties! I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to do a guest post for you in time, it’s been flat out here, but would love to at some point
Actually, you were part of the inspiration for this! So, thank you!
No worries about the guest post, but if you ever want to do one, just let me know!
This looks amazing, Kelly! Your recipes just keep getting better and better. Can’t wait to try it!!!
I love you. Thank you so much!!!
Is there a reason you couldn’t salt the dough before boiling?
Hmm… what a great question! I just followed the original recipe along with some other research, but no one gave a reason why you couldn’t salt before boiling. So if you try it, let me know!
wow, this is really unique and i can see how it’d be pretty tasty!! And ommmgness……I had no idea you went to Solvang, and I so wish I could have been there too!
I hear that place is just amaaaazing….
Well, I’ll just have to take you with me next time I go.
What an intriguing recipe, looks good, and delicious, I would like to give it a try! by the way, I like your blog header very much!
You are amazing. Thank you so much!!
Thank you for the compliment! I was actually thinking about changing my blog header, so I really appreciate the reassurance.
Oh my gosh I can’t believe how easy this is!!! I have chickpea flour in my pantry right now!!! I can’t wait to try this!
You are so great, Lauren. Thank you!!
grr I just used up all my chickpea flour!! Would it work with others?
Hmm, I don’t see why it wouldn’t… I think it just depends on what flour you use because of the varying protein contents. I have a feeling your best bet would be to google around a bit to see how many eggs/ how much water you should add and then save time and $$$ by not getting a pasta maker! Thank you so much for you question!
is there anywhere online i can buy chickpea pasta?
Great question! I found a link here Good luck, and thank you for reading!
i’m looking for pre-made, dried chickpea pasta! Thanks!
Hmm… sorry about that! One of the inspirations for this recipe was the lack of chickpea pasta on the market, so I didn’t find anyting decent in my Google search. I know Eleanor of Eating Like a Horse has tried some, so you may want to ask her! Thanks again for the question!
Kelly – I finally got around to trying this recipe. And wow! LOVE it. It is now a staple in my menus.
And, I blogged about it over on my new little foodie blog. It’s not much of a blog, but I wanna share the love. Here’s the link to my post if you wanna check it out: http://wholefoodsmenus.blogspot.com/2012/05/homemade-cream-of-mushroom-soup-and.html
Keep the recipes coming! You’re amazing.
How many calories are in this? I want to try to make this.
Thanks for the question! There is about 200 calories for one serving of pasta (1/2 the recipe). I hope you enjoy!
has anyone tried a vegan version of this?
I haven’t tried a vegan version, but I do imagine it would work. If you try it, could you let me know how it goes? Thanks!
Wow, I am so excited to try this! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I love your blog. I find that it is very easy for vegetarians to just overdose on grain products, but I love that you’ve found healthy alternatives to many standard unhealthy everyday foods.
Made this for dinner tonight! It was easy, looked like pasta, had the texture of pasta, and had a slight pleasant nutty taste as you said. Just simply excellent. I cannot thank you enough for posting this!
Hi – I was wondering if you had tried mixing other flours in such as almond or coconut flour to lessen the carb count? I looked the carb count for Chickpea Flour up and it’s 13 Net Carbs for 1/4 cup.
Any other suggestions or thoughts on this?
Hi Donna! I am sorry that I have not tried using other types of flours in this recipe, but I imagine almond flour would work better than coconut flour. Perhaps you could sub almond flour for half of the chickpea flour? I have not tried this myself and therefore cannot vouch for it, but it seems like it should work. If you do try, can you let me know how it goes? Thank you!
Hi – was wondering if anyone has tried adding different flours in this like coconut flour to lower the carb count even more?
I will give it a shot – the almond flour is more like a fine ground meal so I’m not sure how that would work out…that’s why I was thinking coconut – why do you think coconut flour wouldn’t work?
Coconut flour has WAY different properties than most flours. It is super absorbent, for starters, and is much denser/heavier, and will give a grainy texture if not treated right. I have a feeling that if you used coocnut flour here, it would just become a crumbly mess. Hope this helps!
almond flour it is then
So I’ve made this a couple times and loved it. I was wondering if you think this would be suitable as pasta sheets for lasagna, and if so, would you recommend cooking them before using them as lasagna sheets? I know that when we use our homemade regular lasagna pasta we do not cook it before putting it in the oven with the rest of the lasagna ingredients.
Thank you so much for making this, Monique, and I am thrilled you are enjoying it! I LOVE the idea of using this pasta recipe as lasagna sheets, but I haven’t tried it myself and therefore cannot vouch for the results. That being said, I would probably not cook the sheets before baking for fear that they would fall apart. If you try it, could you let me know how it goes? Thanks!
Just tried this and i loved it! I could not roll the dough flat though, way too sticky. I just dropped little pieces in the boiling water though and it did the trick!
Thank you so much for trying these, Cee (love your name, by the way), and I am thrilled you enjoyed them! I am sorry the dough was too sticky, though, it can really be tempermental. I love the idea of just plopping them in the boiling water… kind of like dumplings!
If you use the type of chickpea flour called “besan” NOT garbanzo flour, then the carbs will not spike your blood sugar. Chickpea flour of this type, made from chana dal, is so low on the glycemic index scale that it is safe for diabetics and people on low-carb diets.
Thank you so much for the info, Patty! It’s really interesting to know more about the ingredients I work with, and I really do appreciate you sharing your expertise.
Glad to share what I’ve learned! You could try making these vegan using an egg replacement:
In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp. ground flax seed and 3 tbsp. warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes, or until thick and jelled. This can be used in baking. Might work in this case. Perhaps a touch of olive oil to replace the fat in the yolk?
I can’t believe, I only JUST discovered you’re blog . You are a FOOD GENIUS <333 and to think you are only 14!!! You have a gift!!! Thanks so much for your creativity and DELICIOUS recipes. It really helps keep the bore out of eating healthy!!!!!
Okay, you just made my week. Thank you so much, Michelle! You are so sweet!
Thank you, thank you, thank you SOOOO much for being wrong! I am gluten intolerant and have been looking for an easy pasta recipe. And seeing as that my parents just got a vita mixer blender machine, which will allow me to grind my own chickpea flour. YEAH! I am doing this for dinner tonight! So many good things in chickpeas. Thanks again!
Haha- I’m glad my wrong-ness was beneficial to you!
I’m thinking of using banana. What do you think the total carb count is for the entire recipe? This will help me decide on how large or small to cut the pieces.
Oops, sorry. Disregard that last question. I found it.
Hi,
Have you tried making a big batch and then freezing the rest? It would be a great timesaver if this pasta freezes well.
Thanks!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was awesome! My son was just diagnosed with allergies to rice, corn, wheat and oats so there isn’t any pasta available at the store he can eat. Anything gluten free has corn or rice. I almost cried when I thought we’d have to give up pasta completely! I changed the type of flour I used as I didn’t have time to go to the store and get the chickpea flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill brand gluten free all purpose flour which has: garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, white sorghum flour and fava bean flour. I did have to add a little water and it was really sticky but it worked. My son just finished his second helping of pasta with meat sauce and I couldn’t be happier! He hardly ever has seconds because he is so picky, but this he loved!
This morning I lept out of bed thinking of making pancakes with chickpea flour (besan) they were delicious, my son thought so too. I didnt use a recipe but they worked out great anyway!
Hi! I was curious if I can dry it out like I would my regular homemade pasta!? I have a gluten free friend that I’d love to take some to next time I visit!
Thanks!
Okay, the idea of drying this pasta is BRILLIANT. I haven’t tried it myself, but I have a feeling it would just fine. Prepare the recipe as directed, and then proceed with the drying process as you would with regular pasta. If you give it a go, could you let me know how it turns out? Thank you so much, and I hope you have a lovely day!
How does it taste like!???
Thank you for the question, Jun! This pasta has a mild nutty flavor and a very plesant texture. I happen to prefer it even over “regular” pasta!
Ooh cool! Sounds like my kind of food
do you eat it with any sauce?
Thanks for the question, Jun! I usually eat the pasta either straight up (it has a wonderful slightly nutty taste!), with a marinara type sauce, or a vegan “cheese” sauce I’ll be posting soon.
I’ve been switching over to a grain free diet for the past couple of weeks and this recipe has been a godsend! Thank you so much for sharing, I tried it for lunch with a little bit of butter and parmesan, was delicious.
So quick and simple to make. Dough was ready and rolled by the time the water came to the boil. I used a pasta machine and found this dough much easier to handle rather than normal egg pasta. Didn’t find it overly sticky, I did go easy on the water though so was maybe a bit stiffer than it should’ve been.
Cooked in a few minute and devoured in less! Lovely firm bite to it. Not just saying this but I preferred it to normal egg pasta.
Thanks
Just made some of this for dinner – half chickpea half black bean flour (ran out of chickpea), a 1/4 tsp guar gum and an ener-G egg replacer, topped with arrabbiata sauce. OMG perfect! So, yes, it does work as vegan with a few careful swaps. If I could eat egg I’d be making as is for sure!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this pasta! And thank you for testing out a vegan version. I’ve gotten a lot of requests for one, and I’m glad to hear that it works. Have a lovely day, Sarah!
Would subbing egg white for the whole egg work?
Hi Pippa! I haven’t tried subbing egg whites, so I wouldn’t know if it works. Sorry!
Just started on no grains & gluten, will try this tomorrow
Good luck!
What is cheakpea flour??
Chickpea flour is simply ground up chickpeas.
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