Preview: Make this Homemade Egg Noodle recipe with a food processor and a simple hand-crank pasta machine.
My grandma made her famous noodles by hand. I can still picture her wearing a full-length apron over a simple cotton dress with her long gray hair twisted into a bun. Her work area was an aqua-colored
The dough submitted to her silver-handled rolling pin with little resistance. After letting the noodle sheets dry, she cut wide strips and stacked them. Finally, she cut each stack crosswise into slivers she described as “thin as frog’s hair”.
When asked her secret to fabulous noodles, I remember her saying, “It’s all in the broth.”
Table of Contents
Why make egg yolk noodles?
TRADITION.
And they taste really good, too.
Here’s the problem…
In our family, the noodle recipe is controversial. I asked around but could find no consensus.
Aunt Marg says the best noodles come from using only egg yolks, cake flour, a dab of cream, and salt. That formula would result in some very tender noodles indeed, but she didn’t specify amounts.
Ingredients:
I prefer using all-purpose flour and a touch of baking powder to give my noodles lightness.
The baking powder is an obscure detail I seem to remember copying from my best friend’s recipe book. This was coming from the same friend who eventually married my cousin. Maybe Grandma gave her inside information or perhaps it was her own mom’s recipe. I’m not sure.
How to serve noodles:
One thing we agree on. Serve and eat Homemade Egg Noodles with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Since I’ve moved to Texas, I like to throw some cornbread dressing and buttered corn into the mix too. I’ll spare you a picture of that concoction.
If chicken stock isn’t your favorite, try cooking these noodles in beef stock. That’s the way my sister-in-law always does it. Her grown grandkids go crazy for them.
What you should know about making this recipe:
#1
You can mix, roll and cut these by hand, but I prefer a simple noodle machine.
A pasta machine will produce noodles much skinnier than I can cut. With that in mind, the directions on this post are for a noodle machine. Grandma would have nothing to do with a machine.
#2
Your noodles will be no better than your stock. Grandma said so.
My favorite way to prepare chicken stock is to put the bones of a rotisserie chicken into a slow cooker overnight. If you prefer, you could try the recipe I use for my Chicken and Dumplings, but I would leave out the lemon juice.
#3
Don’t be deceived by the small amount of dough produced by this recipe.
It has a way of birthing babies and you will begin to think you won’t finish cutting noodles before Santa drops down the chimney.
This recipe makes enough for 4-5 people or even more if there’s a lot of other food such as Thanksgiving. I usually double the recipe for a big family gathering.
#4
Don’t throw out the egg whites with the shells.
Grandma and my sister-in-law, Susan, always make angel food cake with the leftover egg whites. If you like that idea, here are a few ideas: Espresso Angel Food Cake, Chocolate and Vanilla Angel Food Cake with Dipped Cone Ising, Snowball Cake.
Mixing up the dough in a food processor:
Add flour to the food processor bowl along with salt and baking powder. Pulse several times to mix. Add egg yolks and half of the cream to dry ingredients and process until the texture of cornmeal.
Gradually add the rest of the cream by dripping it until the mixture is just damp enough to stick together when pressed with your hand. It should not be wet or excessively sticky.
Knowing when you’ve added the right amount of liquid takes some experience best learned from your own mistakes or while watching over Grandma’s shoulder. If necessary, add more flour or cream/milk if needed.
How to roll out noodle dough:
First: Use your fingers to press dough into a ball and remove it from the bowl. Cover and allow to rest 10+ minutes. Divide dough into 4 sections. Smash each section into a flat pancake with the palm of your hand on a floured board. It’s OK, even advisable, to be liberal with the flour.
Kneading the dough
Second: Set noodle machine thickness to 1 and roll one dough patty between the smooth rollers. Fold over and put through the machine again.
Repeat the process at least 4-5 times until the sheet of dough is smooth and shiny. Do this with each patty.
Although this sounds time-consuming, it goes fast once you get the hang of it.
Set the thickness of the smooth rollers on #2 and roll each sheet through once or twice, tugging slightly on the dough as you pull it through. Keep moving the roller thickness up a notch and repeat the process. I like my noodles as thin as possible so I go all the way to 5 or 6 on my machine.
Along the way, use flour whenever necessary to keep the dough from sticking. As dough strips get thinner, they get longer. Cut in half crosswise as needed.
Cutting the noodles:
Third: When noodles reach desired thinness, lay them out to rest and dry making sure there is no overlap between strips. When noodles have dried just enough (again,
Feed strips through the fine noodle cutter. Noodles should NOT stick together as they come out of the cutter. If they do, allow the dough to dry longer or dust with more flour.
Fresh-cut noodles may be cooked immediately. Otherwise, allow cut noodles to dry for several hours.
When you’re hanging out in the kitchen…
Occasionally, walk over to the noodles and give them a quick toss with your fingers to encourage even drying. When brittle, place in zippered plastic bag and store in a cool, dry place for up to a week or freeze.
How to cook egg yolk noodles:
Pour 3 cups rich chicken or turkey stock into a medium saucepan and boil. Reserve 1 cup of stock. Drop noodles into boiling broth and cook until tender–about 1 minute if noodles are fresh and undried. If dried, cook longer–5-6 minutes.
Turn off the heat but do not drain. As noodles sit in the hot broth, they will absorb moisture and the entire mixture will thicken slightly. That’s just what you want for serving over or next to mashed potatoes.
Add the remaining broth, if necessary, to keep your noodles moist. Like all pasta, they will absorb more liquid the longer they marinate in broth.
p.s. Did I mention this recipe is not for beginners unless you have a grandma beside you?
Did you enjoy this recipe? You can help others (and me) by leaving a rating on the recipe card itself underneath the picture. No comment required. Thank you.
Hope to see you again soon!
Paula
p.s. Questions? Email me: paula at saladinajar.com.
Posts Related to Homemade Egg Noodles:
Homemade Egg Noodle Recipe: A Holiday Tradition
Recipe and instructions for homemade egg noodles using food processor and simple pasta machine.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)
- 1 quart seasoned chicken or turkey stock
Instructions
- Add flour to food processor bowl along with salt and baking powder. Pulse several times to mix.
- Add egg yolks and half of the cream to dry ingredients and process until texture of corn meal.
- Gradually drip in the rest of the cream until the mixture is just damp enough to stick together when pressed with your hand. It should not be wet or excessively sticky.
- Knowing when you've added the right amount of liquid takes some experience best learned from your own mistakes or while watching over Grandma's shoulder. If necessary, add more flour or cream/milk.
- Use your fingers to press dough into a ball and remove from the bowl. Cover and allow to rest 10+ minutes. Divide dough into 4 sections. Smash each section into a flat pancake with the palm of your hand on a floured board. It's OK to be liberal with the flour.
Rolling Out the Dough
- Set noodle machine thickness to 1 and roll one dough patty between the smooth rollers. Fold over and put through machine again.
- Repeat process at least 4-5 times until sheet of dough is smooth and shiny. Do this with each patty. Although this sounds time consuming, it goes fast once you get the hang of it.
- Set thickness of smooth rollers on 2 and roll each sheet through once or twice, tugging slightly on the dough as you pull it through. Keep moving the roller thickness up a notch and repeat the process. I like my noodles as thin as possible so I go all the way to 6 on my machine.
- Along the way, use flour whenever necessary to keep dough from sticking. As dough strips get thinner, they get longer. Cut in half cross-wise as needed.
- When noodles reach desired thinness, lay them out to rest and dry making sure there is no overlap between strips.
- When noodles have dried just enough (again, experience is the best teacher), cut strips as long as you want your noodles. I usually make mine 3-4 inches.
- Feed strips through the fine noodle cutter. Noodles should NOT stick together as they come out of the cutter. If they do, allow dough to dry longer or dust with more flour.
- You may cook fresh-cut noodles immediately. Otherwise, allow cut noodles to dry for several hours. Occasionally toss cut noodles with fingers to encourage even drying. When brittle, place in zippered plastic bag and store in a cool, dry place for up to a week or freeze.
To Cook
- Pour 3 cups rich chicken or turkey stock into a medium saucepan and boil. Reserve 1 cup of stock.
- Drop noodles into boiling broth and cook until tender--about 1 minute if noodles are fresh and undried. If dried, cook longer--5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat. Do not drain.
- As noodles sit in the hot broth, the noodles will absorb moisture and the entire mixture will thicken slightly--perfect for serving over or next to mashed potatoes.
- Add remaining broth if necessary to keep noodles moist. Like all pasta, they will absorb more liquid the longer they marinate in broth.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 210Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 102mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 16g
Angell Vasko
Wednesday 27th of November 2013
I am so excited to see your post about egg noodles for the holidays! Growing up in Indiana I too thought everyone did this for the holidays and was dismayed when I moved around the country and found out only my Indiana family did. Thank you for making me realized it was not just family!
Paula
Sunday 1st of December 2013
Angell, Did you have your noodles for Thanksgiving? We had them at my sister's house in Alabama. Wonderful! Talk about comfort food. That is the ultimate.
Tina
Thursday 22nd of November 2012
Oh, I'm so homesick right now!!! These are like the noodles I grew up eating. Every holiday my Grandmother made a huge pot of these. They were everyone's favorite item on the table. I am from Indiana as well and now live in Texas. Just like Paula, I thought everybody ate noodles like these. Seems odd that I am making them now without having a my entire family with me to devour them. Thank you Paula.
Marilou
Sunday 9th of September 2012
I have been making noodles w/ machine since my mother had to order crank machine from Italy (over 50 years ago). When RA hit I could no longer crank so my son bought me the same type machine w/ a motor. I have used every recipe known and they are all good as long as they contain eggs. Love your site.
Paula
Sunday 9th of September 2012
Hi Marilou, What a thoughtful and generous son you have. I'm looking forward to making noodles soon for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Good to hear from you.
Jules @ Everyday Mommy
Monday 3rd of January 2011
I just keep staring at these noodles.
sis
Friday 24th of December 2010
Aaaaah yes! As a certain smell can bring back so many memories, so the sight of homemade noodles reminds me of past family holidays, traditions, fun, Rook games and board games, lots of noise and laughter with aunts, uncles, and cousins. I even confess to a few tears over the memories of Grandma Herd rolling out noodles and pie dough in her kitchen with that feed-sack apron. Merry Christmas to you and all the family in Texas Gotta run and get my noodles rolled out and cut. (by hand)