Spätzle are German egg dumplings (you could also call it pasta). These tiny pieces of dough are delicious and perfect to serve with gravy or sauces. Try them with Rouladen or mushroom sauce!
What are Spätzle?
Spätzle or Spaetzle are one of the most popular German side dishes (or a vegetarian main dish!). These tiny dumplings are made from easy 4-ingredient dough. You could call them dumplings or pasta – the recipe is similar but it´s less thick – it could not be rolled out. The Spätzle dough is pushed through a Spätzle maker or a colander directly into hot water.
Spätzle are perfect to serve with gravy or other sauces, such as mushroom sauce – they absorb them perfectly. They´re also good on their own, served with melted salted butter.
You could also make Käsespätzle, another popular German dish. They´re just Spätzle with cheese sauce and onions! Absolutely delicious.
Spätzle can be found not only in Germany (especially in the Swabia region), but also in Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, and South Tyrol.
Ingredients
Here´s what you need to make this easy recipe – you only need 4 basic ingredients:
- flour – use regular all-purpose flour
- eggs
- milk – you can also use water but milk adds better flavor
- salt – to season the dough so it doesn´t taste flat
What you can also season the dough with:
- ground nutmeg and white pepper (so you don´t see black flecks of pepper) – this is what I´m using
- chopped parsley
- minced garlic
- onion powder
Equipment needed to make Spätzle
Nowadays, the most popular piece of equipment used to make Spätzle is Spätzle press/maker. It’s the easiest way to make Spätzle but it also means that you need to purchase yet another thing for your kitchen. Unless you are absolutely sure you will be making Spätzle on a regular basis, I wouldn’t buy it.
How to make Spätzle without Spätzle maker:
- In the old days, housewives were using just a wooden board that they would spread with Spätzle batter and then they will use a thin and long knife to push thin strands of batter into hot water.
- A great alternative to Spätzle maker is a large-holed colander. You just spread the batter inside the colander and push the batter through the holes directly into the water.
- I also like to use a slotted spoon! It needs to have large holes, just like a colander. It was more convenient for me than a colander. You can try out for yourself what you prefer.
Other method that I´ve read about but haven´t tried:
- flat cheese grater (large holes)
- thick plastic bag – make a couple of holes in a thick Ziplock bag, fill it with batter and push it through the bag into the water
- a potato masher or potato ricer
How to make Spätzle step by step
STEP 1+2+3: Make Spätzle dough:
Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Stir with a wooden spoon until roughly combined.
Continue beating the dough with the wooden spoon or with a mixer fitted with dough hook attachment (speed 2) for about 10-15 minutes. The dough should be well-combined, smooth, and you should see some bubbles forming. It will be very sticky so it’s not possible to knead it by hand (try to not add any more flour).
Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
STEP 4+5: Make Spätzle:
While the dough is resting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Working in batches, press the dough through a ‘Spätzle press/maker’, a large-holed colander (photo 4), or a slotted spoon with large holes (photo 5). Push the batter with the back of a metal spoon directly into boiling water.
STEP 6: Cook Spätzle:
Cook Spaetzle in batches so they won’t stay in the water for too long.
When the Spätzle come to the water surface they’re done – remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl with 2 tablespoons of butter.
While you’re adding Spaetzle to the bowl, stir them to coat them in butter – it will prevent them from sticking to each other.
Enjoy!
Top Tips
- The batter can’t be too thin – the Spätzle should have a bite to them, be nice and firm and not too mushy. It can’t also be too thick or it will be too difficult to push it through a colander.
- Adjust the batter consistency to your liking and to a piece of equipment you’re using to make it (when using a Spätzle maker it’s easier to push a thicker batter than when using a colander). If you´re having a hard time pushing Spätzle through your equipment of choice, you can easily add slightly more milk to the batter to make it thinner.
- Season the cooking water well with salt.
What to serve with Spätzle
- Rouladen (with gravy!)
- any kind of Gravy
- Mushroom sauce or chanterelle mushroom sauce
- Pot roast and Gravy
- Chicken Paprikash
- Jägerschnitzel
- Any dish with a creamy sauce
- German red cabbage
- German cucumber salad
How to use Spätzle
If you already have a batch of Spätzle, here´s how you can use it:
- butter/garlic/parsley – melt butter in a pot, add minces garlic, cook for 30 seconds until fragrant, add Spätzle and cook for 2-3 minutes, take off the heat and stir in chopped parsley
- butter/garlic/parmesan/lemon zest/parsley – like above but add parmesan along with garlic, then take off the heat and finish with chopped parsley and lemon zest
- Käsespätzle (German mac and cheese!) – Spätzle tossed with cheese sauce and caramelized or fried onions
- onions/bacon/parsley – cook bacon until crispy, sautee onions in the bacon grease, add Spätzle, toss to coat, season with parsley and sprinkle with chopped crispy bacon
Storage
Spätzle reheat very well! You pan-fry them in butter until the edges and golden and crispy. They may be even better reheated!
Spaetzle can also be frozen. Freeze in a flat layer for up to 3-4 months, reheat and warm up in a pan.
Recipe FAQ´s
Spätzle is made from flour, eggs, and milk/water.
The dough has a different consistency – is much thinner and can´t be rolled out. It also have a different shape.
Spätzle taste similar to egg noodles.
Before the use of mechanical devices, the pasta was shaped by hand/with a spoon/using a wooden board and a knife and the results resembled Spatzen. Spatzen is plural of Spatz, which means sparrows. Spätzle is the diminutive of Spatz, unchanged in plural.
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Spätzle (German Egg Dumplings)
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled, not scooped
- 3 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pinch of nutmeg optional
- pinch of white pepper optional
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk, or water
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Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until roughly combined.
- Continue beating the dough with the wooden spoon or with a mixer fitted with dough hook attachment (speed 2) for about 10-15 minutes. The dough should be well-combined, smooth, and you should see some bubbles forming. It will be very sticky so it’s not possible to knead it by hand (try to not add any more flour).
- Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Working in batches, press the dough through a ‘Spätzle press/maker’, a large-holed colander, or a slotted spoon with large holes. Push the batter with the back of a metal spoon directly into boiling water. Cook Spaetzle in batches so they won’t stay in the water for too long.
- When the Spätzle come to the water surface they’re done – remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl with 2 tablespoons of butter.
- While you’re adding Spaetzle to the bowl, stir them to coat them in butter – it will prevent them from sticking to each other.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- The batter can’t be too thin – the Spätzle should have a bite to them, be nice and firm and not too mushy. It can’t also be too thick or it will be too difficult to push it through a colander.
- Adjust the batter consistency to your liking and to a piece of equipment you’re using to make it (when using a Spätzle maker it’s easier to push a thicker batter than when using a colander). If you´re having a hard time pushing Spätzle through your equipment of choice, you can easily add slightly more milk to the batter to make it thinner. If your dough/batter is too runny, add a little bit more flour.
- Spätzle reheat very well! Pan-fry them in butter until the edges and golden and crispy. They may be even better reheated!
- Calories = 1 serving (1/4 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!
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