Overview

Spaetzle, also called Nokedli in Hungary, are egg/flour noodles originating in the German region of Schwaben. They are a classic German side dish that go along with many different German and Hungarian dishes. However, they are also a classic main dish in Schwaben when prepared as KaseSpaetzle, which means, literally, Cheese Noodles. I lived in Germany for several years and every time I make these, it’s a taste of Germany for me! I validated what I’m doing by memory with a recipe on The Daring Gourmet that is pretty similar to mine.

Overview

There are really three key elements to preparing Spaetzle: 1. Getting the egg/cream/flour proportions correct; 2. Getting the structure of the dough correct; and 3. Cutting the noodles properly.
Be aware that you will have to stir the Spaetzle dough vigorously for 15-20 minutes and that using a mixer is not a good substitute for hand stirring. Also, understand that if you don’t have a Hobel (a cutter for Spaetzle), you will have to cut the noodles by hand. Without experience, this won’t work out well. I highly recommend you buy a Hobel, easily available on Amazon for a reasonable price.

One thing that is very important to note, you may find many different ways to do Spaetzle on the internet. Almost all of them assume you have special equipment or knowledge of some sort. I do not assume any special knowledge and I do base this on many years of experience and being taught by a Schwaebisch lady. Except the Hobel mentioned below. The key to my recipe is getting the dough consistency correct and using a Hobel over boiling water. Other than that, there is nothing special to this.

Another very important note. Please don’t substitute ingredients or leave out ingredients. This is a dough, not a batter. It is like making bread. You must have the right ingredients. In this case, you need the right amounts of fat, protein (the eggs and half & half), starches, and glutens (the flour), to create the proper structure. The salt helps you develop that structure. The things you could leave out are the nutmeg and cloves, but why would you? They add interesting depth and flavor to a bland recipe. Bottom line, until you understand how to get this dough right, don’t change my ingredients

Authenticity

Over all, this recipe is the same as the one I learned to make from someone who grew up in Schwaben, in Germany. The only difference from the way that a German would prepare Spaetzle is the use of half and half, milk, or cream. They would only use water in the dough. Over the years of working on, and tuning, this recipe, I decided I liked the impact on the structure and richness of the dough that was created by the half and half.

How Long Does It Take?

• Food prep – 5 minutes
• Preparing the dough – 25 minutes
• Cooking time – 3 minutes per batch, 10 minutes total for this recipe

What Should I Serve With Spaetzle

Excellent side for most German, Austrian, and Hungarian foods. Classically served with Csirke Paprikás (Hungarian Chicken), but also many other Central European dishes. Also, classically, served in Schwaben as KaseSpaetzle.

Special tools

A Hobel – You can get one on Amazon easily. Look up Spaetzle Hobel on Amazon. 
If you don’t have a Hobel, you will have to cut the spaetzle on a board with a very sharp knife. If you aren’t someone with many years of experience, I don’t recommend this. 

A Taste Of Germany: Spaetzle

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by Eric Course: Germany, Side Dishes

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Dough Prep time

25

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 4 large eggs

• 1/4 cup Half and Half

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 tsp sea salt (or 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt)

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp cloves

Method

• In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, water, salt, nutmeg, cloves until frothy
• In that same bowl, slowly whisk in flour until too thick to continue whisking, about 1 1/2 cups of the flour. You will need a strong wire whisk for this and need to go slowly, about 5 minutes of work here. 
• Once too thick to continue whisking, start slowly adding flour and using a wooden spoon to work the flour into the batter. Be gentle and work with the flour until you have all the remaining flour in. 
• Now you need to briskly work the dough with your wooden spoon. You are going to stir/beat for about 15 minutes to reach the right consistency. The right consistency is when the dough forms bubbles that take 1-2 seconds to collapse. See picture below. This takes experience to get right. At this point your dough has “structure”. It will be similar to a sourdough. 
• Now, bring a large pot of water, with some salt, to a rolling boil. 
• Place your Hobel on the pot using it’s hooks, fill the dough container about halfway (use 1-2 spoons to fill and scrape). Then rapidly move the Hobel over the grater until all the dough is in the boiling water. Remove Hobel/Grater from pot.
• Cook Spaetzle at a boil for about 3 minutes. You will have to judge by eye when they are done. Roughly, they are floating and easily moving in the water. Test one to check done. 
• Strain Spaetzle from boiling water using a slotted spoon or spider strainer into a non-reactive bowl. Dump onto paper towels, pat dry, and back into your bowl to hold them.
• Repeat this process until all your dough is cooked, approximately 3 batches. 

Tips & Tricks

• To make KaeseSpaetzle, as you cook each batch of noodles, put a healthy layer of grated Emmentaler cheese over each batch of noodles, then layer the next batch of noodles in. When you have finished that, the final layer is cartelized onions.
• Serve with Rouladen, Sauerbraten, Csirke Paprikas, Stroganoff, etc.
• Save leftovers and sauté them in a bit of butter the next butter until browned nicely, then serve with your eggs for breakfast.