Easy Homemade Beetroot Pasta Dough

5 from 1 vote

Making homemade beetroot pasta dough is easy with my little trick of using canned beetroot to make the beetroot puree. Make this beautiful pink hued pasta dough into any shape you like, perfect for a date night or dinner party.

Pink beetroot pasta fettuccine noodles on parchment paper dusted with semolina.

Hi! I love making pink beet pasta dough as I have such a great hack for cutting the time down. Usually beetroot dough is made by roasting beetroot in the oven but honestly, I can't be bothered with that. I use canned baby beetroot (or canned beetroot slices will work too). You can just blend them with the eggs and voilá you have a ready made beetoot pureé in a fraction of the time of roasting.

You can bring the dough together as in my regular Homemade Pasta Dough and to take a short cut again I tend to do it in a food processor. The beetroot can be messy so keeping it contained in a food processor is a good way to go.

Once you have your dough make it into any pasta shapes you like! You could go simple with some homemade pappardelle or use the fettuccine cutter on your pasta machine like I have. Use it for Homemade Ravioli, anything will work!

Ingredients

Flour - I use a combination of two types of flour, '00' flour and semola rimacinata, which is a very finely milled semolina flour. You can just use all '00' though and all purpose flour works fine too but vegetable doughs can be a bit softer so they do benefit from the semolina addition.

Room temperature eggs - I give a specific weight of eggs to ensure the perfect dough, not too dry and not too sticky. It's roughly 2 eggs.

Canned beetroot - I use canned baby beetroot but use anything you can find. It's SO much quicker than roasting for an hour. Obviously you can roast fresh beets from scratch if you like!

Ingredients on a white bench top. A bowl of flour, a bowl with two eggs cracked in and a bowl of baby beetroot.

Expert Tips

The colour fades the longer it's cooked so it's good to make the dough into a shape that only needs a very short cooking time. That is why pappardelle or fettuccine noodles are a great choice.
Vegetable doughs tend to be a touch softer and more elastic to work with so using some fine semolina in the dough is a good idea.
If the dough seems a little dry add a little bit of the beet juice from the can. Alternatively if it feels too sticky add a little bit of flour.

How to make beetroot pasta dough

The full ingredient list and method is in the recipe card below.

A hand holding a smoothie maker with pureed beetroot.

ONE: Roughly blend the beetroot pieces (I use a bullet smoothie maker).

A hand holding a smoothie maker with eggs added to the beet puree.

TWO: Add the eggs to the beet puree.

Smoothie maker with the bright pink egg and beet mixture.

THREE: Blend into a smooth puree.

Food processor bowl with the mixed dough inside.

FOUR: I use a food processor to bring this dough together as it can be a touch messy otherwise. Blend the egg mixture and dry ingredients until it resembles wet breadcrumbs.

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FIVE: Remove the blade from the processor and squeeze into a ball before bringing out onto a clean work surface to knead for 2-3 minutes.

The finished beetroot pasta dough wrapped in plastic wrap.

SIX: Knead the dough ball for a few minutes, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and rest for 10 minutes. Knead again for 3-4 minutes then wrap tightly again and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

Rolling the pasta sheets

Roll the pink pasta dough like any other regular dough with a pasta maker. My original recipe for Homemade Pasta Dough has a detailed rolling guide with step-by-step photos.

You can use a rolling pin but fresh beet pasta dough is a touch softer so a pasta roller is much easier.

Cut into your desired shape and place on a baking sheet dusted with coarse semolina so it doesn't stick.

Recipe FAQs

Why has the cooked pasta lost it's bright pink color?

It just does unfortunately so that is why it's good to make it into a shape that only needs a short cooking time so it doesn't lose too much. Fettuccine or pappardelle pasta noodles are a great way to go.

What is the difference between semolina flour and '00'?

Semolina is classed as a hard wheat and gives the dough structure and an al dente bite like dried pasta has. '00' is a much softer and elastic flour so using a combination of the two in pasta dough is great. You can use all '00' or all purpose though.

What pasta sauce is best for beetroot pasta?

Use any kind of sauce but you don't want to hide that pretty pink colour so go for a butter sauce. Use my Guide to the Best Butter Sauce for Pasta or my 10 Minute Brown Butter for Pasta.

Can I use the dough for ravioli?

Yes definitely! Just keep in mind that ravioli takes 4 - 5 minutes to cook so the colour will fade. See below for some striped caramelle I made.

Beetroot striped caramelle pasta in a brown butter sauce with crispy sage.

Want some other pasta dishes to try?

I have lots of pasta doughs and techniques in my recipe section for making your own fresh pasta at home. If you would like to start with a traditional fresh egg dough then check out my Homemade Pasta Dough Recipe. Another handy recipe is my Guide for Homemade Ravioli or my Homemade Potato Gnocchi.

Made this recipe and loved it?

I would love love LOVE if you could leave me a review down below and let me know what you thought! I love to hear any changes or adaptions you have made on my pasta dishes too. Also if you put a photo on instagram, please tag me so I can see, it makes my day!

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