I love spaetzle. It’s so comforting and German. It’s pasta with a twist, with some crunch, with some extra butter, and some herbs when you feel like it. This recipe from TK member Candi reminded me how great and versatile spaetzle can be.
One of the things I like about her recipe is that it is 4-ingredient cooking, and they were all things that I had on hand. I of course couldn’t help myself and made it 5-ingredient cooking. I added mustard powder for a little extra flair and color. But you don’t have to.
Begin by adding the flour to a large bowl.
To that add the salt …
And the mustard powder …
And mix it all together.
Next come the wet ingredients. Beat the eggs …
And add them to your mixture.
Then add the water.
Begin to stir it all together and work out all of the lumps.
It will be the consistency of a batter, slightly elastic but able to pour easily.
Bring some water or stock to a rolling boil. Add a bit of salt if your liquid is salt-free.
Have a colander and a pastry scraper or spatula ready. You could also use a spaetzle maker but I didn’t have one so I used a colander with large holes.
Pour the dough into the colander. You’ll want to keep it above the steam so that it doesn’t cook before it gets pushed through the holes.
Press it through the colander with the pastry scraper or a spatula. Drops will fall into the water and cook instantly.
Let it boil for about 3-4 minutes so that the flour cooks well.
You’ll then remove the spaetzle from the water and strain it into a bowl.
This is what it will look like when fully boiled.
You could serve it like this tossed with a bit of olive oil.
Or you could take it one step further, which I like to do.
I toss the spaetzle in the pan and brown it in some olive oil or butter. It gives it a nice texture and flavor.
Fresh herbs are also a bonus. Parsley would be great but I had sage so that’s what I used.
Chop it up finely …
And just as the spaetzle is browned how you’d like it, add a bit of butter to help loosen it from the pan.
A little pepper …
And the herbs …
And there you have it!
Crunchy, flavorful spaetzle. Thanks to Candi for this great recipe! Go check out her blog, All Day Night, to see more of her recipes and read about the adventures of the Carson family.
Also check out the great spaetzle recipes by these other TK members:
- Homemade Spaetzle by Christined
- Spaetzle with Gruyere Cheese and Caramelized Onion by Global Table Adventure
- Spaetzle and Lentils by Fujimama
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Description
Tasty little dumplings! Serve in place of noodles, rice, or potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 whole Eggs, Beaten
- ¾ cups Water
- 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
- ¼ teaspoons Salt
- 1 cube Bouillon (I Used Chicken)
- Butter, To Taste
- Parsley, To Taste
- Salt To Taste
Preparation Instructions
Combine eggs, water, flour and salt, beating until smooth.
Add bouillon cube to 6 cups boiling water. Put batter into the spaetzle maker and place over the pot of boiling water.
Slide the basket back and forth letting tiny dumplings fall into the water. When done, they will rise to the surface.
Do not put too much batter into water at a time or it will not cook properly.
Use a slotted spoon to strain them and place in a colander.
Gently shake off excess water and place into a large covered bowl.
Repeat the process until all of the dough is used.
Lightly toss with butter, parsley, and salt to taste and serve in place of noodles, rice, or potatoes. In the picture above, I served it with my honey balsamic chicken.
I’ve never tried making this without my spaetzle maker, but I’ve heard you can use a rubber spatula to press spaetzle batter into pot through 1/4-inch holes of coarse grater, colander, etc….
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful book Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.
61 Comments
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Julie on 6.17.2011
I made these the other night. They were yummy! But a word of caution…Don’t let the colander get hot. Hold it well away from the boiling water. If the colander is hot the batter will cook in the holes which clogs them up and makes it impossible to push the batter through. And it will be a royal pain to clean the colander, requiring scraping EVERY INDIVIDUAL HOLE with the point of a knife. Ask me how I know this??
That said I will definitely try again with a cool colander. I ended up dripping the batter off the end of a fork which worked ok, then browned in butter with herbs, It was to die for.
Em on 6.5.2011
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I made some just now (hubby is making a sauce) and its turned out great!
Bea on 6.3.2011
Wow… I’m amazed. How does this taste? It’s new to me. Thank you for sharing..
d.liff @ yelleBELLYboo on 6.3.2011
I love spaetzle. For my first real date with my boyfriend, I cooked at home and I made a side of spaeztle but I bought it because I didn’t have a recipe. Of course, Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe the next day. I’ve still yet to try it, but I really want to – thanks for the motivation!
fromscratch on 6.2.2011
Yummy!! I wowed my husband with a homemade German dinner last night. Thanks for the recipe, love it!
patimk on 6.2.2011
Thanks for posting this. I’ve always wanted to try making these. I make my mother-n-law’s bread dumplings that my kids love but want to try something different. This is it. Thanks.
Stephanie on 6.2.2011
Thanks for sharing….this is definately a recipe I will use next year with my students (Family & Consumer Sciences Teacher), but for now, I will sip my iced tea and enjoy the summer…….
Katherine D. on 6.2.2011
You have just solved my “what’s for dinner tonight” dilemma. I love the idea of using the colander for those of us without a special spaetzle maker.
Thanks to all who commented with additional tips and ideas. I’m all over frying it in butter! Yum!
Grace on 6.2.2011
I also grew up on these, but we never used dry mustard in them. We simply made the dough, and ran them through the spaetzle maker into boiling water. The thing my family does that’s different, is we fry them in BURNT butter. The butter has to be burnt, just to the point where it turns brown. It makes all the different in the world!!!
Dumb the burnt butter on, salt to taste, and it is almost always served with a pot roast of some kind, so you drowned the spaetzle in gravy! MMMMmmmmm….
I eat it every year as my birthday meal! ;~)
vickig on 6.2.2011
we grew up eating this every sunday with sauerbraten, but i didn’t really love it until i was an adult. i just have a quick question for all/any of you of german descent: my austrian nana (great grandma) and finnish grandmother always pronounced this as “spetzle”, while a local german restaurant’s employees say “spatzle, with a long a. the first time i was there i didin’t know what they were even saying! which is the correct pronunciation? thanks for the info!
tsimon7275 on 6.2.2011
this should SO have a like or love button. That looks so easy to do! Thanks for sharing!
Susan on 6.2.2011
I made my first spaetzle about 2 months ago. I used my flat cheese grater and a spatula to scrape the dough into the water. It’s fairly chewy just boiled, but fried..OMG..it’s so crisp and airy, almost like it’s a little hollow inside. I loved it fried in butter.
Angelina on 6.2.2011
We eat tons of spaetzle around here! My mom is 100% German, born and raised there, so I grew up on the stuff. I just want to say that I’ve never seen a recipe that calls for water, only milk. And we’ve always added parsley to the dough (dried, not fresh). The first night we have it with butter and gravy if I’ve made a roast. On day two it gets fried in butter and served with scrambled eggs. It’s also terrific with the eggs poured over it in the pan, to fry up together (after you’ve pan-fried the spaetzle some). Yum!!
irene on 6.2.2011
Make sure you keep some of the spaetzle aside and save them for in the morning. They are great fried up in some butter with bacon or sausage and scrambled eggs for breakfast! And if you make a large batch and want to freeze some, make sure you freeze them spread out on a tray first (after boiling but before the frying) them baggie them into the portion size you want.
Cecily on 6.2.2011
YUM!!! We had homemade spaetzle this weekend. My mom inherited an original german spaetzle press from my grandmother…. Hard work, but sooo worth it. I wish I could post a photo I took just this last weekend when we made it. We always add nutmeg to our recipe, but will have to mention the mustard powder to my mom and try that.
Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen on 6.2.2011
I’ve never had spaetzle, but it looks down right delicious!
Emily on 6.2.2011
I always add a little nutmeg to my dough – great idea to use mustard powder and sage with the final product!
Sweet Charity on 6.2.2011
My husband will love this. Thanks for the tutorial!
Jenny on 6.2.2011
I love spaetzle! I haven’t had it in years. I’d rather do butter than oil, though. There’s just something about the flavor of the butter with the spaetzle that is awesome. Adding the mustard to the dough and pan frying them sound like a nice twist! Yum!
Diana K. on 6.2.2011
GAH! I would love to make this for dinner but I just started a low-carb diet. Looks really yummy and super simple!
Bonnie from Louisiana on 6.2.2011
Dont let “from Louisiana” fool you, I am of Russian/Polish/German descent and am a transplant from northern Ohio. Spaetzle was one of my mothers favorites. She bought a spaetzlemaker from Amish contry in Ohio years ago (which I now have, miss you terribly mom).. and I also never heard of mustard powder in the dough. I will not make it that way.. only with a little fresh grated nutmeg. We used to make fried cabbage and onions and add in spaetzle instead of plain noodles.. To die for… But thanks for posting a good recipe like this. This is cooking from the heart!!
Heather in Kansas on 6.2.2011
My Hungarian friend passed the recipe to me several years ago. She used a flat cheese grater with the large holes. I saw her make these with a Hungarian goulash type of thing. I use them in a chicken and noodle dish. Super yummy!
Alli R on 6.2.2011
Mmmm.. so similar to knoephla!
Grandma always made knoephla with fried bread crumbs, sauerkraut and kielbasa!
To this day it’s still one of my favorite meals.
ZeTallGerman on 6.2.2011
Hi there! I agree with Simone… no mustard in the dough, and only butter on Spaetzle, no oil… or even better: baked with cheese under the grill if you’re feeling very sinful… or fried in the pan with some bacon (Schinken pieces)… yum! I make these quite often as my husband (from Scotland) has decided that these are one of the best things ever to come out of Germany, haha! You don’t necessarily need a Spaetzlemaker (I’ve never seen anyone in my family use one of those before). You can either use a potato ricer with large whole (makes lovely long noodles), or with some practice you can put the dough on a small board and “scrape” it into the water with a small knife. This is the way my Oma (grandmother) does it, but she’s got about 50 years of practice so she does it at warp-speed, haha!
Katrina on 6.2.2011
I LOVE spaetzle! I’m living in Switzerland right now and it’s a very common dish here. Delish!
Kirsten on 6.1.2011
OOooh straight to my heart, baby.
This little song popped in my head:
I love little dumplings, yum yum yum.
Gnocci or Spatzle, straight to my tum.
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t go to my bum,
So keep on coming, yum yum yum.
Penny on 6.1.2011
That looks really tasty! I’ve never had it before but I may try it since it looks doable. Thanks for the recipe. =)
~Penny
http://thepennywisechick.com
Lynn Silberman on 6.1.2011
I am a southern born girl who married a German Jew. His mother began teaching me how to make spaetzel from the moment she decided I was going to marry him (smiles that was 37 years ago) It is a regular sunday dish in our house with slow cooked roast along with Knodel ( potato dumpling) or baseballs as my daughter’s and grandchildren call them. Even now with my in-laws no longer with us the tradition of Sunday dinner with spaetzel keeps all the grest sunday’s at Oma’s house alive for us. I have a spaetzel machine( its a lot like a ricer, just more heavy duty and makes the noodles nice and long) she gave me mine as a wedding gift and when she left us she passed her own down to me and even now after 60 years it still makes the best spaetzel.
Angela on 6.1.2011
Could I use whole wheat flour? Hubby doesn’t eat white flour and I reeeeally want to try this recipe!
Feli on 6.1.2011
Another german here, though not swabian. I know these without the mustard powder and nutmeg instead, as already said..and very important: the butter, not olive oil! I was told that the “actual” version (if there is one) is with onions, you just fry them in hot butter for a few minutes, till they are light brown. And then you take a huge roasting tin and put alternating layers of spätzle, fried onions and frehsly grated cheese (like gouda, e.g.) in it. Leave in the oven at 200°C for 20 minutes, just till all the layers are melted into each other. Well..not the healthy low carb stuff, but soooo good. And have a salad as a side, for balance
Sasha (Global Table Adventure) on 6.1.2011
Thank you for mentioning my spaetzle recipe, yay!
Yours looks gorgeous… my stomach gives it two loud grumbles. 
Nikki on 6.1.2011
YUM! My husband spent quite a few stints in Germany as an exchange student and we still go back regularly to visit. Spaetzle and a visit to a bakery are always top of my “things to eat” list while we’re there. I’ll have to try this recipe!
Jean F on 6.1.2011
Ooh, I bet the mustard powder gives it a good background flavor… Have to try that.
Sherri in WI on 6.1.2011
True German spaetzel (at least from the Rheinland Pfalz region) don’t have mustard powder int hem. They have salt, pepper, and a hint of freshly grated nutmeg. Love them browned in butter with bread crumbs. Yum yum… now I want some so I guess I have to break out my spaetzel maker.
Laura on 6.1.2011
Simmer them in chicken broth and then toss with butter. Mmmm. I make chicken paprikash and serve it with spaetzle. Good stuff.
pjaneh on 6.1.2011
My Hungarian family made these. In Amish country in Ohio, we bought a device which is sort of like a sliding metal bowl over a grater-looking metal thing that you can put on the edges of your boiling water pan and slide across to drop the batter quickly and evenly (although my mother simply used a cutting board and a knife!). If you remember to spray the bottom of this “device” with Pam, it cleans up more easily. We served it with Chicken Parprikas. Have never finished it off in a skillet.
Alicia on 6.1.2011
I’ve never fried it a little in a pan but that is a great twist. I have a spatzel maker and it is SO much easier than the colander method (I use to use). I also recently bought a potato ricer on amazon that had two discs and you can use that for spatzel as well. I think that was like $15 at the most. Another thing I do is add spices (similar to how you did w/the mustard powder) before cooking, like a little pepper or even some Italian bread crumbs.
Jessi W on 6.1.2011
We make these all the time in our family…but we call them “knuckles”
We fight over the last one! We put them with a creamy mushroom sauce and chicken breasts…mmmm…
Sarah B. on 6.1.2011
Ohhh I love spaetzle. One of my kids’ favorite meals is kasewurst with homemade spaetzle and red cabbage (not homemade). Then again, I have a German flag tag on the front of my car.
socalmom on 6.1.2011
I’ve only had spaetzle once and would have never thought of trying to make it, but this looks so easy! I’m going to have to try this soon! Thank you!
Wenderly on 6.1.2011
Those are darling! I’m German and I’ve never had a spaetzle. I shall remedy this soon!
Lindsay (Young Married Mom) on 6.1.2011
I love spaetzle! I had it every chance I could get while I was studying abroad, to the point that once a waitress encouraged me not to substitute it as a side dish. But I didn’t care about any culinary wisdom she may have had–I just wanted as much spaetzle as possible! This looks easier to shape than the way I learned in Berlin, and I will be trying it soon! Danke schoen!
cardine on 6.1.2011
Thank you for this! I have a spaetzle recipe I’ve been wanting to try but don’t have a spaetzle maker. That is a great idea to use the colander!
MichelleW on 6.1.2011
Mustard flour is new to me. Is it the same as ground mustard such as Coleman’s? Or is it something new I have yet to discover?
Any info would be welcome.
Heather on 6.1.2011
I am absolutely drooling! I love spaetzle, and this looks like some of the best I’ve seen!
Emily on 6.1.2011
WOW! This looks delicious! I have never had it before, let alone cooked so I am excited to try!
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ashpags on 6.1.2011
Ooh, what a good idea to squish it through the colander like that! I just always use a spoon to scoop up little pieces and drop ‘em in the water. The colander method looks faster!
carolyn on 6.1.2011
We love spaetzle. It’s especially good with homemade chicken soup.
Spudwoman on 6.1.2011
We always dropped the dough right into a pot of potato soup and cooked it up in there. But it’s great in any kind of soup or broth–a really German noodle soup.
Dianne on 6.1.2011
That looks good. You might want to try a polish dish I made recently called “kugel” or “noodle pudding”. I almost didn’t make it since “noodle pudding” doesn’t sound too appealing, but this SAVORY dish was delicious! Here’s the link: http://www.mysouthernheart.com/?p=4167