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If you have ever been to Southern Germany, I hope you have tried our “Spätzle”! If you have, I just know that you loved them. If not, let me explain what we’re talking about here: Spaetzle are a kind of pasta where the raw dough is pressed into boiling water. You can either eat them as a side dish to beef or veggies with sauce or as a main dish for example with cheese (“Kässpätzle”) or herbs.

Here in Southern Germany, Spaetzle (which translates as “little sparrows”) are a common traditional dish. Although there are ready-made Spaetzle available in the supermarkets here, it’s so easy and way yummier to make them yourself. With this recipe for traditional Spaetzle I’ll show you how you can make Spaetzle at home and add a new dish to your collection of recipes.

Pro tips for great Spaetzle

Before we start, I’m going to share some pro tips that will help you create great Spaetzle! After all, when you go all the length to try a new recipe, you want it to be a success!

Spaetzle recipe: Dough

The recipe for Spaetzle dough is quite simple, actually as it only consists of flour, eggs, a pinch of salt and water or milk. Use all-purpose wheat flour or spelt flour. You can even take wholemeal wheat or spelt flour but it requires more liquid.

The basic spaetzle recipe per person is

100 g flour

1 egg

1 pinch of salt

50 ml milk or water

That’s it. Easy, right? You’ll probably have all the ingredients at home already.

Many recipes use water for the dough, but in my opinion spaetzle taste a lot better when made with milk. This spaetzle recipe, therefore, uses milk. If you don’t want to or can’t consume milk, feel free to substitute it with water.

Spaetzle dough is best made by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. That way, you can feel how thick the dough is and add some liquid to make it thinner or flour to thicken it. You can, of course, also mix the dough with a hand mixer.

You can tell that the dough is ready when it is thick and falls slowly from the spoon. Now let it rest for about 15 minutes.

Further down in the recipe you’ll find a detailed description on how to make Spaetzle.

Equipment

It’s easy to mix the Spaetzle dough but to press it into the water you have to use either a “Spaetzlehobel” or a kind of ricer with larger holes. If you have neither and just want to try out the recipe, take a sieve with large holes and scrape the dough through with a wooden spoon or a dough scraper. For completeness, let me tell you that you could also flatly spread the dough onto a cutting board and scrape it into the boiling water with the back of a knife. This method, however, requires experience and takes longer. But don’t let me keep you from trying it!

Spaetzle that are pressed through a ricer are long and thin whereas Spaetzle formed with a “Spaetzlehobel” are short and round (sometimes, those are called “Knoepfle” which means “buttons”).

I prefer making our Spaetzle with a Spaetzlehobel. Put the device safely onto the pot, fill in a portion of the dough and move the sledge forward and backwards by which the dough will be scraped through the holes into the water.

How to make Spaetzle

Make sure the water is boiling before you press the dough in portions into it, otherwise the Spaetzle won’t be cooked through and become a slimy mass.

When the Spaetzle are ready they’ll swim on the surface. It’s okay to make all the Spätzle before straining. The first batch can stand that.

When all the dough is used up and all the Spaetzle are ready take them off with a skimmer or strain them through a colander and shortly rinse with hot or cold water.

Drying

Although Spaetzle are usually used immediately, you can also prepare them several hours up to one day in advance. Either way, it is necessary to dry off excess water or the Spätzle will become doughy and stick together.

To dry the Spaetzle, put them onto a kitchen towel after straining them and distribute them evenly.

Let them dry for at least 5 minutes.

If you use them later, scrape them off the towel once they’re cool and dry and put them into a plastic container.

How long does raw Spaetzle dough last?

You can, of course, prepare Spaetzle dough and keep it in the fridge for several hours before using it. As it contains raw eggs, however, the raw dough shouldn’t be kept any longer.

It’s better to store the cooked Spaetzle. Dry and cool them as described above and put them into plastic containers where they will last 2 – 3 days in the fridge.

Spaetzle - A Traditional Recipe from Southern Germany

Angela Braun

Making traditional Spaetzle, a traditional dish from Southern Germany, is easier than you might think and once you've tasted them you'll want to make them time and time again!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 minutes mins

Resting time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 33 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine German

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

• 400 g flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 220 ml water or milk

Instructions

 

• Put the flour, eggs and salt into a bowl. Slowly add the water and mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. The dough should be thick and fall slowly from the spoon. You may even observe small bubbles under the surface.
• Once the dough is ready, let it rest for about 15 minutes. This time is necessary for the dough to hold together and become more stable.
• Heat water in a pot. When it comes to a boil either press the Spaetzle in portions through a Spaetzle ricer or a Spätzlehobel. Make sure that the device is about 2 – 3 cm (1 inch) above the water surface which should only be simmering now. Make all the Spätzle until you’ve used up the whole dough.
• Cook the Spaetzle in the open pot until they well up several times and swim on the surface. Depending on the size and amount of Spaetzle this takes 2 – 3 minutes.
• When the Spaetzle are cooked, take them out of the pot with a skimmer or strain them through a colander and shortly rinse with hot or cold water.
• Place a kitchen towel on your kitchen surface and dump the Spaetzle on it. Distribute them evenly on the towel to let them dry and cool off.
• Melt butter in a large pot until it sizzles and brown the Spaetzle gently in the hot butter. Serve immediately.

Spaetzle dough variations

Once you’ve developed your taste for Spaetzle (that is: after the first bite 😉) you can try many different variations of the dough.

Mix finely ground hard cheese, like parmesan for example or season the dough with spices like paprika or chilli powder. You can also add finely chopped herbs like bear’s garlic or parsley to alter the taste. Or take a mix of curd or sour cream and milk to serve as liquid for the dough.

There are almost no limits to the variations a Spaetzle dough provides.

Left-over Spaetzle

What do to with left-over Spaetzle? As you know, you can keep them in the fridge for a few days and then you can re-heat them in a pan with hot butter and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Basically, Spaetzle can be treated like pasta or rice as a side dish to beef dishes with sauce like these beef rolls.

Or you layer them with cheese into a pan, fill in some milk and bake it in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes which makes for a yummy main dish, called “Kässpätzle” (cheese Spaetzle). Served with fried onions and a salad that’s a wonderful meal.

Hungry for more recipes? Look here:

Savoury rouladen (German beef rolls)

Carrot pizza

Apple strudel with vanilla sauce