Gluten-Free Cheese Ravioli Recipe with Homemade Pasta

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Gluten-free ravioli are often one of the harder items to find in a gluten-free alternative. While they are available, they can be expensive or be limited in options. So when I mastered the art of making fresh gluten-free pasta, I knew ravioli would be next!

Making fresh homemade ravioli is a lot easier than you'd think. Granted it is time consuming; this is definitely a weekend project, not a weeknight endeavor! It is so worth it though!

It all starts with my homemade gluten-free pasta dough, which can be used to make many different shapes of pasta. I've made fusilli, rigatoni, and gluten-free lasagna sheets with it as well. Even though it's gluten-free, the dough holds up remarkably well and doesn't break apart when cooked.

Once you've made the pasta dough, simply prepare the four-cheese filling or any filling you prefer, and assemble the ravioli. Cook to al dente and serve with your favorite pasta sauce. If you want to go extra step, make a homemade gluten-free marinara sauce to go with it!

Gluten-Free Ravioli Dough Ingredients

For the fresh pasta you'll need three simple ingredients plus water:

• Gluten-Free Flour Blend: I recommend Cup4Cup multipurpose flour for this recipe. Caputo Fioreglut is also a top recommendation. I have had success with King Arthur Measure for Measure flour, but the dough usually requires a bit more water. My homemade Cup4Cup gluten-free flour blend also works well here. Your dough may need a bit more water with my homemade blend.
  **Please note: As of October 2024, Cup4Cup has changed their blend. The milk powder was removed and cornstarch is no longer the first ingredient. It is not performing as well as it used to in this recipe. You will likely need to add a bit more water than the recipe states to achieve the same results.
• Salt: Use plain table salt another very fine salt.
• Eggs: The recipe calls for a combination of whole eggs and egg yolks. I do not have recommendations for egg substitutes at this time.

Basic Cheese Filling Ingredients

For a four cheese filling you'll need:

• Whole Milk Ricotta cheese
• Shredded Italian Cheese Blend or a mixture of mozzarella and provolone cheese: Shredded cheeses are gluten-free.
• Parmesan Cheese
• Egg
• Garlic
• Dried herbs or fresh herbs

Filling Variations

While this ravioli recipe includes a simple cheese filling, you can fill these ravioli with almost anything you like. Here are a few flavor ideas with links to recipes. Use my gluten-free ravioli dough and the other recipe for the filling.

• Spinach and Ricotta Filling:
  • Add 1 cup chopped spinach (cooked and drained) to this basic cheese filling recipe.
• Butternut squash
• Mushroom and thyme
• Beef or Italian sausage
• Lobster ravioli

Sauces that Pair Well with Ravioli

A delicious sauce is the perfect compliment to your homemade ravioli! Try these flavor suggestions:

• Marinara sauce
• Burst tomato sauce
• Gluten-free Alfredo sauce
• Browned butter and sage
• Homemade fresh basil pesto or store-bought pesto
• Creamy pesto sauce
• Olive oil, lemon juice and herbs
• Make breaded, toasted ravioli and dunk in gluten-free pizza sauce.

Special Equipment

If you don't want to purchase any equipment at all, you can make homemade ravioli by hand with a rolling pin and a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or round cookie cutter.

If you want to make the process as easy as possible, I highly recommend a pasta roller. This will allow you to roll the dough very thinly, which is key. I have the Kitchenaid pasta attachment that attaches to a KitchenAid stand mixer. I've found it to work very well. A food processor takes the work out of making the dough as well. I recommend this Cuisinart food processor, it's simply the best.

To make the ravioli shapes, use a ravioli stamp, a ravioli maker, or a ravioli wheel.

How to Make Gluten-Free Fresh Pasta

1. Add the flour and salt to a food processor bowl and pulse to combine.
2. Pour in the eggs and water mixture and begin to mix the dough.
3. Continue to process the dough until it comes together into a ball.
4. The ball should be firm, smooth, and only slightly tacky.
   • If it is crumbly, add more water.
   • If it is soft and sticky, add more flour.
   • Do this a little bit at a time so you don't go too far with it.
5. After you've gotten a smooth, firm ball of dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. You can let it chill up to overnight if desired.

How to Make Fresh Pasta Sheets

1. Once chilled, divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Take one piece of dough and flatten it into a disc. With the pasta roller attached to your stand mixer, set the dial to setting 1, or the widest setting. Feed the disc through the pasta roller. On the first pass, the dough will probably come out the other side shaggy and may fall apart, this is normal.
2. Take the dough and fold it over on itself, like a letter. Pass the dough through the roller again on the same setting. 
3. Repeat this process 2-3 times, or until a you get a smooth sheet of dough that is about the width of the roller.
4. Next, turn the dial to setting 2, which is the next smallest setting. Feed the dough through the rollers 1 or 2 times. Do not fold the dough during this step. 
5. Turn the dial one more notch to setting 3 and feed the dough through 1-2 more times. Repeat with settings 4 and 5. The sheet will get thinner and longer with each increased setting, leaving you with a thin pasta sheet.

How to Assemble Homemade Gluten-free Ravioli

Once you have a thin pasta sheet, it's time to assemble the ravioli.

1. Lay out one sheet of pasta, keep the remaining covered so it doesn't dry out. Place dollops of the cheese mixture on the sheet of pasta dough. Keep them about 2 inches apart.
2. Fold the dough over to cover the cheese mixture. (Or, place a second sheet of pasta on top.)
3. Smooth the dough out around the filling and try and get as much air out as possible.
4. Use a ravioli stamp to cut out the ravioli. (Or, use a sharp knife or ravioli wheel to cut out shapes.)
5. Crimp the edges with a fork to be sure they don't come apart when cooking.

How to Store Gluten-Free Ravioli

• Fresh ravioli can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Store in a single layer, separate layers with parchment if needed.
• If you need to keep them longer you can freeze ravioli for several months.
  • Place ravioli on a baking pan in a single layer so that they are not touching.
  • Freeze until solid.
  • Once frozen, place the ravioli in zip-top bags or another airtight container and place them back in the freezer.

Cooking Time

To cook ravioli, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop ravioli into boiling water one at a time and stir frequently to be sure they don't stick together.

• Fresh ravioli can be cooked until tender, about 5-8 minutes.
• Frozen ravioli does not need to be thawed before cooking. Cook for 8-10 minutes.
• Cooking times can vary depending on the thickness of the pasta.

What to Serve with Gluten-Free Ravioli