Special Spaetzle
- SERVES
- 4
- COOK TIME
- 20 Min
The tiny, delicate German noodle known as spaetzle is more popular than ever! Our easy recipe for Special Spaetzle will make your gang feel special, because you made it from scratch.
What You'll Need
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
What to Do
-
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and the pepper; mix well. Add the eggs and water; mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.
- Bring a large pot of water to a hard, rolling boil over high heat; add remaining salt. In batches, drizzle the batter from a wide slotted spoon into the boiling water. When the spaetzle (noodles) float to the top of the water, remove them with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander. Place in a bowl, add butter and parsley, and stir gently just until mixed.
Notes
Click here to check out all the crazy good Oktoberfest recipes that the Test Kitchen is cookin' up!
Read NextMelting Sweet Potatoes
Your Recently Viewed Recipes
Thanks for your comment. Don't forget to share!
cindywilsey 827766 5
Sep 28, 2017
Spaettzle are always welcome. I can not get satisfactory results using a spoon, so I just follow my Grandma's directions and place the dough on a wet dinner plate over the boiling pot. As some of the spaetzle comes over the edge, I slace it off into the boiling liquid. I also replace 3/4 cup of water with chicken broth cook them in boiling broth when serving with a chicken dish. The cooking broth can be reduced to make wonderful gravy. Not much roux is needed because the broth already had some flour in it from cooking the spaetzle. Chicken Spaetzle (as I call them) really elevates a roast chicken dinner to special occassion status.
kmcartoonity 62072 74
Mar 30, 2017
This recipe brings back many fond memories of my German grandmother. Whenever company would come over to visit, she would make a huge batch of these to serve with her slow braised German goulash. I have seen this made on TV before, but they had some sort of a special metal spaetzle press that you fill up with the batter and a sliding mechanism that pushes many of these into the water at the same time. The slotted spoon is a great tip, just make sure your slot are wide enough so you can get good sized dumplings.
Craftaddict
Jan 23, 2014
My mom used to serve them with browned bread cubes mixed in that were fried in bacon drippings. If there were any left over, we'd have them fried. What a wonderful memory you have brought back.
Cat Lover 16
Jan 23, 2014
I used to work with 2 guys who were full-blooded GERMANS (learn to spell it correctly DevilAngel and Reluctantexan, especially since the husband and grandmother are of GERMAN decent! Funny!) When our company would have a special occasion party, these two guys would spend hours the night before, making this the old fashioned GERMAN way, and they were delicious! I can't wait to make these with this recipe, and compare the flavors.
iamshepoet 8507522
Jan 23, 2014
It looked like a simple typo to me that the word German was misspelled.
cdominguez5 508671 6
Jan 24, 2014
Haven't you ever hit the wrong keys while typing I know I have
DevilAngel39 67573 10
Oct 20, 2013
My family loves these, my husband is greman and his mother taught me how to make them. I use my cookie press to make them.
walkerlinda56 2458 293
Oct 12, 2013
This is very interesting and am going to try and make them. Linda
reluctantexan 5542 828
Oct 07, 2013
My Greman-Polish grandmother would cook these in beef broth then thicken the broth to gravy. With a pot roast and carrots. Nothing better! Seeing I am the oldest now I make it for special occasions like Sunday Monday Tuesday etc. Mostly when I reminisce or get homesick.
Marlysjhummel 3543 338
Oct 04, 2013
Don't know what went wrong, but my spsetzle just cooked apart and was more like porridge or gloppy or something. Any solution? Not enough flur or what?
drummy
Oct 04, 2013
My mother always made spaetzle using a chine platter and scraping the dough off the side. I have the dish and everytime I make spaetzle I think of her. Makes it very special.
cj123 8574303
Oct 04, 2013
My family is of Hungarian Heritage .. my Grandmother made these all the time... but.. once she made the dough.. she would place some on a saucer/plate and with a teaspoon or tablespoon would first dip the spoon into the boiling water to warm it up and then would just scrape the dough into the pot.. this way you got a little bigger dumpling ... we always had these served with chicken paprikas (creamed chicken)
CLRZs Recipes
Oct 04, 2013
having you say Spaeltle. I know as having made these for years from my husband's German's families recipes . It is pronounced "schpl-ay-eh-lehs. It is not splelahs.. Sorry
mommabear3502
Oct 04, 2013
I'm not exactly sure what you're going for here. My mother is German, and it's pronounced SPETS-luh or SHPETS-luh (which is kinda how Mom says it). In German, it's A with an umlaut over it which is not pronounced as a long A sound. Since Americans don't use the umlaut, it's often written AE instead. This recipe uses a lot of water. I'd mix the other ingredients together first then add only enough water as needed. Mom always makes them using a spaetzle press which looks a lot like a potato ricer.
bvilla04 0854187
Oct 03, 2013
This is how I learned to make the dumplings. Take a wooden cutting board and soak one side with water. Scrap the batter onto the wet board and it will slide off the board into the water. Dip the knife in the boiling water for a few seconds to get hot, then with a slice of the back of a butter knife slice thin pieces of batter at a time--about 1/4 of an inch thick. Keep the knife hot by dipping it into the boiling water ever couple whacks and the batter will not stick to it.
mdewe1 4644575
Oct 03, 2013
We make them all the time as well. We do use milk instead of water. In addition we usually dice and saut onions (in butter) until they are caramelized. Once the spaetzle are cooked, we put a combo of gruyere and parmesan cheese on them and then pour the caramelized onions on top. Delicious! If you are not into cheese, you can also pan fry them in a little butter. Especially good for the left overs (if there are any). Also good with a red sauce you would use on spaghetti. Another variation is to finely chop thawed frozen spinach and add to the batter before you add all of the milk/water. They are beautiful and even people that do not like spinach, like them. You can also purchase a spaetzle maker on line.
mpitrelli 8175863
Oct 03, 2013
I have been making this since I was old enough to stand over a pot of boiling water. With my recipe I use milk instead of water, but I have also used seltzer water to make it. I just can't bring myself to use anything else to make it but cutting the noodles by hand as that was how I was taught.
dearcat
Oct 04, 2013
I was taught to make them as you were - by hand. My mother and grandmother made them this way. They came from Germany. I also use milk.
hummingbird71261
Jan 10, 2013
What do these noodles look like? Are they more like spaghetti, or an egg noodle? Lost my Grandmother's Homemade Noodle recipe and am looking for one that can be used like an egg noodle for soups or just in broth.
mommabear3502
Oct 04, 2013
They can look like tiny dumplings, but my mother (who is German) owns a spaetzle press which looks like a potato ricer. This makes them into longer and thicker noodles.
JinieRose
Dec 29, 2012
My German born Grandmother's mother brought this original recipe (with slight variation) with her from the 'old country' (when her family escaped from Germany), & made it with Sour Fleish (leftover meat - usually pot roast or soup meat). 'Sour Fleish & Spaetzle.' Superb! It's quite tasty & I Love it.
dearcat
Oct 17, 2012
I make spaetzle all the time. Try them with green beans and crumbled, cooked bacon. Chicken or beef broth is great. I never make saurbraten without them. You can flavor them with a spice such as chives or thyme, but that is not real spaetzle. By the way, I am 76 and my maiden name was Gross. Mein grossenmutter und mein mutter taught me. I think I spelled it right.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Are you sure you would like to report this comment? It will be flagged for our moderators to take action.
Thank you for taking the time to improve the content on our site.
