Noodle Dough Really Does Need to Rest—Here’s Why (2024)

Store-bought noodles are nonnegotiable in our pantries, but homemade noodles? They are something else—earthy, chewy, and ridiculously fun. So grab an apron and let us show you how toMake Your Own Noodles. We’ve got glorious recipes, expert tips, handy guides, and so much more.

If you’ve ever watched someone hand-pulling noodles, you’ll know that the age-old practice looks like magic. Stretched and folded onto itself endlessly, like a large-format cat’s cradle, a firm mound of dough is transformed into a sheet of fluttering, paper-thin noodles. But magic isn’t the force at play—it’s well-rested dough.

“Well-rested dough will be fully hydrated, easier to work with, and yield a better texture,” says BA’s deputy food editor Hana Asbrink. A bit of patience will reward you with chewy, bouncy noodles. It’s a step you just can’t skip.

By mixingflour and water, you make gluten, a protein that forms strands that bind together into a web. This is what provides structural integrity to your dough—essential to the bounce and spring ofbread,cakes, and yes,noodles. If you try to handle noodle dough too early, before it’s had enough time to form that miraculous gluten network, you’ll find it tight and brittle—in other words, the opposite of workable.

“If it’s not rested, it’ll break, it won’t be elastic, you can’t pull it,” says Jason Wang, owner of Xi’an Famous Foods. Wang likens noodle dough to a muscle, requiring rest and relaxation before being worked out. That’s why his recipe forBiang Biang Noodles calls for 15 minutes of resting before being stretched and smacked into shape.

You can, however, go too far. Wang cautions home cooks not to get complacent when resting their dough either. After about 20–30 minutes, the dough will start to ferment and turn sour. That Goldilocks window, though, depends on environmental factors like altitude, temperature, and moisture in the air.

To account for these differences, Wang suggests checking every now and then for visual cues to help you determine if your dough is properly rested. When your dough is just kneaded, it’ll be bumpy and lumpy. After resting, it’ll shape-shift into a smooth, taut mound, and it’s ready for action. “That’s the magic of resting,” he says.

A friend of Wang’s, a pierogi chef, once approached him with a puzzling dilemma. Her pierogi dough and his dumpling dough were virtually identical recipes; even more, she used the exact machine as those of Xi’an’s kitchens to flatten the skins. Why did her dough keep breaking? Wang watched as she molded the dough and then immediately fed it into the machine. Right there was the point of difference: the rest time, or lack thereof.

Even if you aren’t stretching your dough by hand, foregoing or rushing this crucial step can have an impact on the texture of your cooked noodles too. “Not giving your dough time to relax will give you something a bit tougher, more demanding, ornery, and perhaps even less flavorful,” says Asbrink. “Dough needs a minute to relax in order to be its best self—just like us.” So let that dough rest, and take 20 while you’re at it.

Take a break