Spaetzle - German Egg Noodles/Dumplings
Homemade German Spaetzle – Tender egg noodles that double as dumplings, ready in just 25 minutes. A quick and authentic German side dish perfect for pairing with schnitzel, gravy, or hearty stews.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 T. pepper yes, really! That quantity is correct.
- 1/2 cup water cold (important!)
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 T. water cold
Instructions
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Beat the eggs.
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Stir in the pepper.
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Add the 1/2 cup water and then the flour. Beat this mixture until smooth.
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Add the 1 T. water and stir.
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If using a Spaetzle maker or potato ricer, fill it about 3/4 full and press the dough into boiling water.
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It only takes a couple minutes for them to cook - when they float to the top of the water, they are ready.
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Drain and serve!
Recipe Notes
You can find Spaetzle makers online or if you have a local German shop in your town like we do, they almost always carry them. If not, they could certainly order one in for you.
If you don't have one, you can simply press the dough through the holes of a colander into the boiling water instead. It's not a perfect method and you need to have some patience for this method, so if you're going to make them often, I would invest in an actual Spaetzle maker instead.
Another option that I have used in a pinch was a potato ricer. Again, it's not perfect but I found this much easier than the colander method. The holes are a bit smaller than that of an actual Spaetzle maker but it worked for me until I was about to buy the real thing.
Finally, back in the day prior to the invention of the Spaetzle maker, cooks would place the dough on a wooden board, hold it over a pot of boiling water, and slice thin strips of the dough directly into the pot. This required a little bit too much coordination for me, but I'm sure it would work just fine for some people.