Perfect Homemade Spaetzle Recipe
Published February 1, 2022. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This delicious homemade German Spaetzle recipe is incredibly easy to make and is a fantastic side dish to serve up at any meal. You will love how customizable these are with all the different ingredients you can add-in.
It’s all about the sides dishes and having options when preparing a meal for friends and family. If you love accompaniments and delicious side dishes then definitely check out my Lyonnaise Potatoes or Creamy Coleslaw.
Spaetzle is a traditional German dish consisting of egg-noodle-like dough that is boiled in water and then lightly browned in butter. It very much resembles the flavor and texture of small dumplings. There are many things you can add to the spaetzle to add flavor to it, so feel free to have fun making it your own.
When making spaetzle you will need a perforated pan, a large hole colander, or a spaetzle maker. If you do not have access to any of those you can spread the dough out on a breadboard and add in small little pieces at a time off the board into the boiling water using a metal spatula.
Spaetzle Ingredients
- Flour – All-purpose flour will work. If you only have bread flour, you will need to add 5% more water.
- Water – Tap water works fine with this.
- Salt – I like to use sea salt, but any salt will do.
- Eggs – Large cold eggs are what should be used.
How to Make Spaetzle from Scratch
Use these easy-to-follow instructions for making homemade spaetzle from scratch:
Add the flour, eggs, salt, and water to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes or until well combined and air bubbles have formed.
Place a perforated pan, spaetzle maker, or colander with large holes over a pot of boiling salted water and place about a ½ cup of the dough batter onto the pan or maker and press through the holes into the water.
The dough will break off once pushed through into small oblong-shaped dough pieces.
Once the spaetzle rises to the top, it is done cooking.
Remove the spaetzle using a slotted spoon and toss in with butter, salt, and pepper, or immediately cool in water until ready to use.
If you cooled them, add the butter to a large frying pan over medium heat until melted, and then add in the drained spaetzle and heat until hot. Season with salt and pepper.
Variations
You can absolutely add extra ingredients to the spaetzle to help customize the flavor. Here are a few things to put in:
- Spinach – Finely minced spinach is good in this and adds a pop of color.
- Herbs – I like to add in things like thyme, parsley, or chives to this
- Cheese – Parmesan, mozzarella, and asiago are some of the cheeses I like, but feel free to add in your favorites.
- Spices – Bold spices like nutmeg or chili powder are good in this.
- Garlic – Finely minced garlic really adds a flavor punch to this.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: If you cool this right after boiling, you can make these up to 2 days ahead of time. Reheat in butter and serve.
How to Store: Coat with a small amount of oil, cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Once cool, coat in a small amount of oil, cover, and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Heat a large frying pan with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter until melted. Add the strained and cooled spaetzle to the pan and cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until hot. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
chef notes + tips
- If you do not have a stand mixer, feel free to use a food processor, blender, or electric hand mixer.
- Do not leave the spaetzle to cool in the water for too long or else it will become waterlogged. Drain, and coat the spaetzle in a little bit of oil if you do not wish to serve them relatively soon.
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Perfect Homemade Spaetzle Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 large eggs
- ¾ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
Instructions
- Add the flour, eggs, water, and salt to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and vigorously whisk on high speed until it becomes almost like a thicker pan-cake batter. You may see a few bubbles in there which is a good thing. Set aside.
- Next, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Place a perforated pan, spaetzle maker, or colander with large holes over the pot of boiling salted water and place about a ½ cup of the dough batter onto the pan or maker and press through the holes into the water using a rubber spatula or dough scraper.
- The dough will break off once pushed through into small oblong shaped dough pieces.
- Once the spaetzle rises to the top, it is done cooking.
- Remove the spaetzle using a slotted spoon and toss in with butter, salt, and pepper, and cook over medium heat until lightly browned or immediately cool in ice water until ready to use.
- If you cooled them, add the butter to a large frying pan over medium heat until melted and then add in the drained spaetzle and heat until hot and lightly browned. Season with salt, and pepper, and optional chopped parsley.
Made this tonight for the first time. Easy to make and delicious! Served with sauteed mushrooms and onions.
Excellent!
I make this to go with my German Pork roast. It’s the perfect side with the sauerkraut and pork.
Thank you for trying this!
And a small pinch of nutmeg! 😋
Feel free 🙂
Fantastic
so good!!
Such an easy and delicious recipe. Thank you for sharing such goodness!
My pleasure!
My family loved this! Added two cloves of minced garlic to the batter, slathered in 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter, garnished with fresh chopped parsley, and shaved Parmesan cheese. Not to waste, I served the little that was left over to my chickens. They devoured it, lol.
Perfect!
I used to use my grandmother’s recipe for spaetzle then tried this recipe. This is now my go to! They come out perfect every time.
Awesome!
Can you use this in soups or stews in place of pasta or potatoes?
Sure, why not?
I made this spaetzle to accompany the perfect beef rouladen recipe, and it was excellent. Simple instructions that gave a perfect result. Thank you!
I use mine in my chicken noodle soup. Instead of boiling water I just drop directly into my broth. I always have to make a double or triple batch because everyone just loves them!!