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Spaetzle – German Noodles

November 17, 2016 by Amanda 5 Comments

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This post was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. Thanks for reading & thanks for your support!

Spaetzle or Spätzle. A German noodle that is hearty, delicious & quite simple to make. Absolute comfort food that pairs with so many dishes! I’m sharing my original recipe & a gluten-free recipe. Enjoy!

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Food Nostalgia

We all have foods that bring back memories of yesteryears and the holiday seasons.

Though I enjoy the new holiday memories of fresh baked cookies, cakes, breads & meals I’ve created with my family, there is still something that I yearn for during the colder months.

Spaetzle. I smile just thinking about it. Looking back, it’s easily one of my favorite things my mom would make for us as kids. My mom, half German & half Italian, came to The United States in the late 70’s.  With her she brought her love of European food. I’ve inherited this love as well.

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

How To Serve Spaetzle

Not familiar with spaetzle? It’s the German noodle of choice. It’s almost dumpling texture, with a bit of chew & bite to it, and serves well with hearty and saucy foods.

So what are my favorite ways to eat spaetzle? Oh, let me count the ways. Plain, fried in butter, tossed in brown butter, with a thin sauce, with a thick sauce, with a cream sauce, with a soup or stew, with an Eastern European style goulash, with stewed meat, without meat, with gravy, even with bacon and a sunny-side up egg on top of it. I love spaetzle and the endless ways to serve it!

Here are a few recipes that are wonderful paired with spaetzle! Hungarian Pork & Sauerkraut Goulash , Pork Paprikash & Creamed Hamburger Gravy !

Tools You’re Gonna Need

You’re probably going to want a spaetzle press or board.

Don’t have a spaetzle press or board? No worries, you have options. A ricer works well or you could just press the dough through a wide holed colander with a spatula. The colander method is fussy and time consuming, but it’ll do if it must. I even tried pushing the dough through a handheld potato masher – it worked well! Though I’ve never tried, I’ve been told a pastry bag works too!

About 10 years ago I got serious about spaetzle and bought a press, the same one I remember my mom using. There are different versions, but this one is tried and true for me. (Product link) I have a spaetzle plane / board and find it works wonderfully as well. (Product Link)

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Spaetzle is considered a specialty or gourmet food in The United States. Funny thing is, it’s one of the easiest noodles to make. Mix flour and a few ingredients, push through a press into boiling water and cook until it floats.

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Ingredients

Which brings me to the topic of flour.  One (of many) things I’ve learned over the years is that if you want consistent results with your cooking & baking you need to use quality ingredients. Skimping on the main ingredient, flour, just doesn’t make sense. This is why I absolutely recommend Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour. This is the same high protein flour used by professional bakers and produces high, well-textured loaves of bread equally as well as it produces light, airy baked goods and perfect pastas. This kitchen staple is incredibly versatile and perfect for all of your baking needs.

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Oh, but don’t think I’m leaving my gluten-free foodie friends hanging!  I’m also using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour!  It is perfectly formulated for baked goods with terrific taste and texture – no additional specialty ingredients required.  Every recipe you got – made gluten-free – it’s that easy.

Gluten-free Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

The gluten-free version did involve a little extra attention – I used almost the whole bag of flour to get the spaetzle just right. I’m pretty sure my family have had their fill of spaetzle for quite some time. Anyhow, I have some extra notes in the gluten-free recipe – check them out before you get started.

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Hope you enjoy!

Amanda ♥

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com
Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Spaetzle | Original Recipe

Amanda
Spaetzle or Spätzle. A German noodle that is hearty, delicious & quite simple to make. Absolute comfort food that pairs with so many dishes!
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Course Pasta
Cuisine German
Servings 6

Equipment

  • spaetzle press

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup milk

Instructions
 

  • In a large mixing bowl – whisk together flour, salt & nutmeg.
  • Add in eggs and milk.
  • Stir. Stir well. Keep stirring. Stir for a few minutes, get a little workout 🙂
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
  • Press in spaetzle. Do not overcrowd pot – you will have to cook a few batches.
  • Stir a few times and cook until it floats. Let it simmer for another minute or two.
  • Remove spaetzle with a slotted spoon and continue with remaining batter.
  • I like to add a tablespoon or two of butter to bowl of cooked spaetzle to keep it from sticking while cooking remainder.
  • Spaetzle can be panfried with a little butter, tossed with brown butter or served with any sauce or stew you desire. Enjoy 🙂
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Gluten-Free Spaetzle Recipe

Amanda
Spaetzle / Spätzle. A German noodle that is hearty, delicious & quite simple to make. Today I’m sharing my original version & a gluten-free version.
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
Course Pasta
Cuisine German
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 milk

Instructions
 

  • In a large mixing bowl – whisk together flour, salt & nutmeg.
  • Add in eggs and milk.
  • Stir. Stir well. Keep stirring. Stir for a few minutes, get a little workout 🙂
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  • Press in spaetzle. Do not over crowd pot – you will have to cook it in a few batches.
  • Stir a few times, cook until it floats & let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes.
  • Remove spaetzle with a slotted spoon and continue with remaining batter.
  • I like to add a tablespoon of butter to bowl of cooked spaetzle to keep it from sticking while cooking remainder. I found the gluten-free spaetzle to hold much more water, so tossing it in a colander in the sink helped get rid of some of the extra liquid. Serve immediately. If not serving immediately, I suggest rinsing the spaetzle with cold water. It seems to stay plump, keep a nicer texture and not get so sticky this way.
  • Gluten-free spaetzle can be tossed/drizzled with butter or brown butter or served with any sauce or stew you desire. I don’t recommend pan frying it with butter – it got a little globby when I tried. I fussed a lot with this recipe – but each time I served it with a sauce or meal, no one noticed it was different / gluten-free.
  • Enjoy 🙂
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Spaetzle / Spatzle - A simple & delicious German noodle or dumpling | www.craftycookingmama.com

Filed Under: Dinner, Pasta, Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Øystein Johan Løwer

    July 22, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    Try it with Hungarian goulash!!!

    Reply
  2. Lou Szitar

    September 24, 2018 at 6:24 pm

    5 stars
    Amanda , I love Spaetzle and my daughter is Gluten free it’s been a problem for the family.

    Tried your recipe on BOB’s Red site. I added 3/4 cup of his BROWN RICE FARINA and a little more milk. cooked a little longer and they turned out perfect. Also fried up well the next day. only problem was there were not enough left overs so there was a family fight. Thanks for sharing your recipe

    Reply
  3. Colleen - Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck

    November 28, 2018 at 7:53 pm

    This is still one of my favorite things to eat! It always tastes so stinkin’ good!!!

    Reply
  4. Amy (Savory Moments)

    November 30, 2018 at 2:12 pm

    Super! We love Spatzle here and these meals look delicious!

    Reply
  5. Christine

    September 9, 2019 at 8:47 am

    5 stars
    My daughter requested pork roast, boiled potatoes, spaetzle and red cabbage for her birthday dinner. Since she and I were diagnosed with Celiac two years ago, we gave up on spaetzle. This recipe for GF spaetzle is a winner. I’m not even going to look for any other recipes. The batter was easy to put through my spaetzle maker and the clean up was easier than with regular flour. They were tender and we did fry them in butter in a non-stick pan and they came out beautifully. I think the frying, while I wasn’t browning the spaetzle, gave them a little more substance and they didn’t have the noodle shape as shown in the picture. We did serve this with gravy. As another reviewer said, there were no left overs. 🙂

    Reply

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