Homemade German Spaetzle Recipe - Recipes From Europe (2024)

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Here’s Our German Spaetzle Recipe For Perfect Little Egg Noodles!

If you are looking for a sure-fire German spaetzle recipe, you’re definitely in the right place!

Made from eggs, flour, salt, and water, homemade German egg noodles are versatile little dumplings that are also pretty easy to make.

The best part about German spaetzle noodles is that they go great with so many tasty German or Hungarian dishes… or you can just enjoy them pan-fried in butter (and cheese)!

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What is Spaetzle?

Spätzle– or Spaetzle written without the umlaut – is the German name for a tiny egg noodle. It’s technically an egg dumpling since it’s cooked in boiling water. It cooks quickly, is very soft, and can be extremely filling if you eat a lot of them!

The concept of a tiny egg dumpling is popular in Central and Eastern Europe. With German roots (explained below), it’s also enjoyed in Austria and Switzerland.

Aside from being a side dish to meat dishes like Rouladen or German goulash, cheese can be added to spaetzle to create the incredibly delicious variation known as Kaesespaetzle!

It’s also very well-known in Hungarian as Nokedli. Here, egg dumplings can be made a little larger – but are usually small like spaetzle.

They are often served with chicken paprikash, Marhapörkölt (beef stew), and even sometimes goulash. Eric grew up eating Nokedli without yet realizing it was the same as spaetzle.

These days, you can eat spaetzle all over the place. We’ve eaten spaetzle in Berlin and in the south of Germany – but we’ve also enjoyed it in Budapest (as Nokedli) and made it at home in Canada many times!

The Origin of Spaetzle

The backstory of Spaetzle includes the continent of Asia (where dumplings are very popular). The concept was brought to Europe around two thousand years ago.

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In this day and age, spaetzle is known to come from the cultural/historical area of Swabia.

This is a region of Europe that is now parts of south-western Germany (part of the state of Baden-Württemberg and parts of the state of Bavaria), and a little bit of current day Switzerland.

Lisa grew up in the south of Germany and has family in Swabia so spaetzle are a food she has enjoyed since she was a child.

Buying/Using a Spaetzle Maker

If you want to make homemade Spaetzle, the best way to do so is with a proper Spaetzle maker.

There are other ways to make Spaetzle without one, but – trust us – it’s much easier if you have one.

We read a whole bunch of online reviews and ended up buying this Spätzle Maker and love it. It’s easy to use, easy to clean and doesn’t take up much storage room.

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What we like about our Spätzle maker is that it doesn’t cover the whole pot like some other (mainly steel) spaetzle makers do.

This makes it easier for the steam to escape and makes it much less likely for the batter to cook/harden before it falls into the pot. As a result, the batter gets a chance to fall into the water perfectly each time.

Of course that’s just our personal preference and there are people who swear by their stainless steel Spaetzle makers. You have to decide for yourself what works best for you.

If you don’t have a Spaetzle maker, you can always try to push the batter through a colander with larger holes. You can also try the “Spoon Drop Method”. This is where you take a larger spoon and load it up with batter.

Then, using a smaller spoon, you drop smaller batter droplets from the big spoon into the steaming/boiling pot of water bit by bit.

Eric’s mom made her Hungarian Nokedli this way for years and – to be honest – it’s so tedious. Also, you end up with dumplings that are all different sizes since the batter amount is kind of hard to control.

Honestly, just buy a Spaetzle maker, you won’t regret it!

How to Make Homemade German Spaetzle – Step by Step

If you are keen to make homemade spaetzle, you can follow the spaetzle recipe card at the bottom of this post.

And if you want to see how we make spaetzle, you can check out the recipe process photos below.

This way, you can compare your spaetzle batter and final egg noodle size to see if you’re on the right track at home!

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Start by adding the flour to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Make a little well in the middle for the egg (and try to do a better job than we did in the photo above, haha).

Then add the eggs and the salt to the flour and mix everything together with a wooden spoon or your electric mixer.

(FYI: If you were making spinach spaetzle, this is about where you’d be adding the fresh spinach).

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Now add a little bit of water at a time while mixing vigorously. Keep going until the dough has a lump-free, elastic consistency.

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When you are done mixing, you should be able to see air bubbles when moving your spoon in the batter. This is a way of telling that the dough has the right consistency.

Another way to test this is to lift your wooden spoon with batter in the air. If the batter drips off the spoon very slowly but evenly you know that it has a good consistency.

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Now bring a large pot with salted water to a boil. Reduce the heat once boiling so that the water is just lightly simmering.

Spoon portions of the batter onto your spaetzle maker and scrape the batter through into the boiling water.

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This works best if your scraping movements back and forth are quick but evenly paced. You’ll develop a feel for it rather quickly.

Just make sure to not add to much batter at once so it doesn’t drip off the sides. Most spaetzle makers will easily attach to or fit different pots so you don’t have to worry about it falling into the hot water.

Also make sure to not use too much batter at once and give the dumplings in the pot enough space to float to the top when done.

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After 2-3 minutes in the lightly boiling water, the spaetzle will float to the top. When they do that, you know that they are done.

If your batter is too thin, to begin with, the spaetzle might become runny and very soft in the boiling water.

That’s why we’d recommend that you follow our recipe as is and only modify the amount of salt used (if desired).

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Remove the fully cooked little dumplings with a straining spoon and place them into a different bowl.

Then get another portion of batter to scrape through the spaetzle maker and repeat the steps until you have used up all of the batter.

You can also shock the cooked Spaetzle noodles in cold water after you remove them from the pot and then reheat them in a frying pan with a bit of butter.

This way they don’t stick together, keep their shape better, and stop cooking further after you remove them from the boiling water. We usually don’t do this since we are kind of lazy and eat the spaetzle right away anyway.

Also, if you know that you want to make cheese spaetzle (Kaesespaetzle) out of your cooked egg noodles, you can sprinkle some grated Emmental cheese onto each batch of spaetzle once you have taken them out of the boiling water.

This way the cheese will melt nicely on the hot dumplings.

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Storage Tips

If you have any leftover spaetzle, you can store them in an airtight container with a lid in the fridge for a few days.

Before consumption, you can either reheat them with some butter in a frying pan or drop them into hot water for a couple of minutes before straining them.

Alternatively, you can also freeze egg noodles in a freezer container. For this make sure that you shocked your boiled spaetzle in cold water first (if they are still hot).

To reheat from frozen, drop the frozen spaetzle into a pot of boiling, lightly salted water, or reheat them with some butter in a frying pan. If the egg noodles got stuck together in the freezer, we’d recommend the boiling method.

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Homemade German Spaetzle

These homemade German Spaetzle are authentic and very easy to make. Made from a simple flour-egg batter, these classic little dumplings make the perfect side to saucy dinner ideas like goulash and go well with meat dishes like Rouladen!

4.81 from 36 votes

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 medium-sized eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup water

Instructions

  • Add the flour to a medium-sized mixing bowl and make a little well (or a mini volcano) in the middle.

  • Add the eggs and the salt to the flour and give everything a stir with a wooden spoon or your electric mixer. Now slowly pour in the water while mixing vigorously until the dough has a lump-free, elastic consistency. When you roll the wooden spoon in the batter, you should be able to create air bubbles as a result of the sticky yet smooth consistency. Another way to tell that the batter has the right consistency is when it drips off the spoon very slowly.

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat so that the water is simmering.

  • Now, spoon portions of the Spaetzle batter onto your spaetzle grater/maker and scrape the batter through into the boiling water. The spaetzle will float to the top when they are done. This takes around 2-3 minutes.

  • Remove the little dumplings with a large straining spoon and place them into a different bowl. Repeat the steps until you have used up all the batter. Enjoy!

Notes

  • This recipe makes approximately 4 1/2 – 5 cups of egg noodles.
  • You can also shock the Spaetzle noodles in cold water after you remove them from the pot and then reheat them in a frying pan with a bit of butter later if you don’t plan on eating them right away.
  • If you know that you want to make cheese spaetzle (Kasespaetzle), you can sprinkle some grated Emmental cheese onto each batch of spaetzle after you take them out of the boiling water.
  • We’d highly recommend using a proper spaetzle grater/maker but you can also make spaetzle by dropping bits of batter off a spoon into the boiling water using another spoon or knife. It’s tedious but it can work.
  • As mentioned, Spaetzle taste great as cheese spätzle with a salad on the side, or as a side to meat dishes like goulash or rouladen.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1g | Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 164mg | Sodium: 594mg | Fiber: 2g

    This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.

    Course Dinner

    Cuisine German

    Author Recipes From Europe

    Homemade German Spaetzle Recipe - Recipes From Europe (2024)

    FAQs

    What is the best flour for spaetzle? ›

    wheat flour. Type 405 wheat flour is probably the most widely used today for spätzle. Type 405 indicates how high the degree of milling and the content of minerals such as magnesium or potassium.

    What do Germans eat with spaetzle? ›

    Spaetzle—also spelled spätzle—originates from Swabia, a region of southwest Germany, and served with hearty dishes like schnitzel and goulash.

    What does spaetzle mean in German? ›

    German Spätzle, from German dialect, diminutive of Spatz sparrow, dumpling.

    How thick should spaetzle batter be? ›

    The consistency of the batter should be pourable but not super runny (it should drop off a spatula or spoon in thick ribbons). Bring a pot of lightly salted water or broth (about 2 to 3 quarts total) to a boil. Press the batter through a spaetzle maker in batches (see notes for alternate methods).

    What makes European flour different? ›

    In Europe, the majority of wheat grown is soft wheat, lower in proteins and thus lower in gluten content. Fact: American wheat is covered in glyphosate. Glyphosate is a herbicide (main ingredient in Roundup) used on American wheat to kill bacteria, dry out and prepare the wheat crop for harvest.

    What kind of flour do they use in Europe? ›

    European Flou r Types

    These include: Universal (type 480), Stronger White (type 550), Spelt (630), Bread (type 750), Ancient Grain (Einkorn), and Rye (type 720).

    What are the top 3 German dishes? ›

    These are considered to be national dishes. Of all these regional and national dishes, Germany is most famous for Currywurst, sausages, pretzels and Black Forest Gateau, but as you can see, there is plenty more to German cuisine than just these.

    What to put on top of spaetzle? ›

    I've served the dumplings plain with melted butter and chopped chives. I've crisped them in a pan of brown butter and almonds. I've topped them with hearty beef stew. But layered with cheese and caramelized onions is still my favorite variation.

    What is the most important meal in German culture? ›

    Traditional German breakfast

    For years, people liked to say: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

    What is eggs in German slang? ›

    Eier sounds very much like "eyes" and means quite innocently "eggs" but is also used as a colloquial term for "testicles".

    What is the nickname for spaetzle? ›

    Spätzle is the Swabian and Alsacian diminutive of Spatz, thus literally "little sparrow". They are also known as Knöpfle (diminutive of button).

    How do you say tasty in German slang? ›

    What is the word “tasty” in German? “Schmackhaft” ist the best approximation. “Geschmack” means taste and “-haft” signifies an adjective. “Lecker” is also possible.

    Why are my spaetzle tough? ›

    If you mix the batter too little it does have a similar consistency to dumplings. If you mix the batter sufficiently and to the right consistency the end product will be “rubbery”. Spaetzle is meant to have a somewhat rubbery consistency once cooked, not soft and squishy.

    How to know when spaetzle is done? ›

    Press batter through a spaetzle maker, a large holed sieve or colander into the simmering water. Work in batches, after using about 1/3 of the batter stop adding new spaetzle and let them cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until they float to the top.

    Can you use a cheese grater to make spaetzle? ›

    Some people like to make a thick dough and grate it through the holes of a cheese grater. But if you keep the spaetzle mix as runny as cake batter, you'll be able to push it through a spaetzle maker (or colander) into a pot of boiling water fairly quickly.

    What is the best flour to use for dry pasta? ›

    Durum Flour

    Its strength means you can use it for shaped pastas, like orecchiette, as well as extruded pasta, such as spaghetti.

    Which flour to use for what? ›

    The answer to 'which flour should I use? ' is simple: Choose low protein flour for cakes, cookies, muffins etc. and use high protein flour for bread.

    Which flour is best for pasta dough? ›

    Pasta dough also needs some plasticity for it to be moulded into all of those wonderful shapes. All-purpose flour does what it says on the tin, so it's perfectly fine to use for making pasta. However, most pasta recipes will recommend either semola or “00” flour.

    What is the best flour for crispy dough? ›

    Bread Flour

    It's easy to find in any grocery store (again, King Arthur Flour is a favorite brand), is affordable, and adds some extra oomph and crispiness to thin crust and New York-style pizzas. It will make your crust crispy on the outside and chewy and textured on the inside.

    References

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