Home » Side Dish Recipes » 5 Ingredient Spaetzle Recipe
ByKimberly
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A homemade spaetzle recipe based on a Grandmother’s recipe that was handed down through two generations of children. It’s perfect for Chicken Paprikash!
John grew up eating Hungarian and German dishes. His Grandma Betty often cooked large family meals consisting of bean soup, chicken paprikash, stuffed cabbage, and of course, her own spaetzle recipe.
As an adult, he tried to recreate some of his favorites but never could make them the same.After I had become more skilled in the kitchen, I decided to try my luck at some of John’s favorites.
I remember looking through several recipes on the internet and comparing them with Grandma Betty’s notes and recipes. All in all, things were similar, but it seemed John was not following the directions properly.
He’s an efficient cook, but that can lead to mistakes. Over the last few years, he’s learned to slow down and all of recipes have improved as result.
Enough about all that, how about we get to the reason you’re here; the easy spaetzle recipe!
How to Make Spaetzle:
First, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. I like to add a tablespoon of salt to mine for flavor.
Next, while youwait for the water to boil, make the batter. In a medium bowl, combine flour, eggs, milk, salt, and nutmeg. The mixture will be very sticky.
How to Cook Spaetzle:
After that, place the spaetzle maker over the pot of boiling water. Carefully fill the open compartment on the top with a few spoons of batter, but don’t overfill the pot.
Then, slowly push the chamber back and forth across the grate to press the mixture into the holes.As the mixture falls into the boiling water, it will sink.
Once the batter floats to the top of the water, it is cooked. It will appear puffy and larger in size. This process takes less than 30 seconds.
Afterward, remove the spaetzle maker from the pot and using a slotted spoon, scoop the cooked spaetzle out of the water.
Last, place cooked spaetzle in a large bowl. Repeat the process until batter is gone. After all the spaetzle is cooked, toss with butter.
That’s it! You have a simple, easy to make, comfort food. It can be eaten alone, with chicken, beef, or even as a side for a hearty beer and brats dinner.
Chicken paprikash was the first recipe of Grandma Betty’s that I attempted to make.
To my amazement, John and Kale both loved it. It’s one of their favorite recipes using spaetzle noodles.
If you don’t have a spaetzle maker, you can use the back side of a cheese grater and push the batter through with a wooden spoon. This method tends to take a little longer and is a bit messier but is still effective. That’s how John’s Grandmother made it for him.
I’ve since purchased a Danesco Stainless Steel Spaetzle Maker. Now I can make an entire batch of these awesome little dumplings in less than 15 minutes and with minimal mess.
You can toss the spaetzle with margarine or another butter replacement for that extra kick of flavor.
If you like this spaetzle recipe, please leave us a comment and rate the recipe card. You can also find us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram searching for Berly’s Kitchen!
Spaetzle Recipe
4.9 from 8 votes
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Author: Kimberly
Prep Time: 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 15 minutesminutes
Total Time: 20 minutesminutes
Servings: 6Servings
Ingredients
2cupsall-purpose flour
4large eggs
⅓cupmilk
1 ½teaspoonskosher salt
¼teaspoonground nutmeg
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined. The batter will be very sticky.
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
⅓ cup milk
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Using a spaetzle maker, slowly drop batter into a pot of boiling water.
The mixture will initially sink to the bottom, but when it floats it is thoroughly cooked.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked spaetzle from the pot.
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. 405 indicates that approximately 405 milligrams of minerals are contained in 100 grams of flour.
If you plan on making German spaetzle often, you might want to invest in a spaetzle maker to help with the process. But if you have never made spaetzle before and don't have one, you can absolutely make this recipe just using a colander or steamer with large holes on the bottom.
Put your Spaetzle maker on top of the pot and add about 1/2 a cup of dough at a time to it and scrape it through the holes so it can fall into the water. Let the Spaetzle cook for about 30 seconds. They are ready when they start floating to the top.
Yield: This Spaetzle recipe makes six hearty side dish servings of about 1 cup each. Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Make ahead: Complete steps 1 through 7 up to 3 days ahead.
a food, originally from Germany, that is similar to pasta, made with eggs, flour, and milk, and formed into small round or long shapes before being boiled and sometimes fried: Spaetzle may be browned in a little butter before serving.
You can serve Spätzle or spaetzle either as a side or as a main dish. If you're serving them on their own, the classic way is to add grated cheese right into the hot spaetzle and top them with caramelized onions. Or you can serve them with a mushroom sauce. With a green salad on the side, this is a complete meal.
The difference lies in their shape. Whereas spaetzle noodles are usually longer and thinner, knoepfle means 'little knot/ button.' It refers to a shorter, rounder variety of the noodle, often made using a sliding spaetzle maker, which transfers 'droplets' of dough rather than long noodles into the boiling water.
Usually when you make pasta, you form a dense dough from flour and eggs, which you knead, rest, roll, and cut until your arms feel like they're on the verge of falling off. To make spaetzle, you just mix flour, egg, and a bit of milk into a pancake batter-like consistency.
Spätzle is the Swabian and Alsacian diminutive of Spatz, thus literally 'little sparrow'. They are also known as Knöpfle (diminutive of button). In Switzerland they are called Spätzli or Chnöpfli, in Hungarian Nokedli or Csipetke, in Slovenian Vaseršpacli or vodni žličniki and in Ladin Fierfuli.
Whilst there are regional variations in food culture, most German recipes focus heavily on bread, potatoes, and meat, especially pork, as well as plenty of greens such as types of cabbage and kale. Cake, coffee, and beer are all highly popular elements of German cuisine too - which will be good news to most!
As the spaetzle gradually rise to the surface of the boiling water, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a serving dish. Serve immediately, while still warm.
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).
To Make Ahead: Cooked German Spaetzle reheats very well and will keep for several days, stored in a container in the refrigerator. To Freeze: Homemade spaetzle freezes well for 3 or 4 months.
Germany's Dinkel Mehl 630 is equivalent to white spelt flour. It is a flour made from finely milled spelt grain. In Germany, it is often used instead of Flour Type 405. It is excellent for bread baking, but is usually combined with other flours because of its high gluten content.
Semolina's coarse texture makes chewy, hearty pasta that rolls easily through a pasta machine; it also gives the noodles a slightly coarser texture on the exterior so sauce clings better. Pasta Flour Blend means you only have to keep one pasta flour bag in your pantry.
One of the most popular flours for making pasta is semolina flour, which is a coarsely ground flour made from a particularly hard variety of wheat called durum.
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