A traditional Swabian dish is taking the world by storm and it’s called spaetzle. Hard to pronounce, right? But it’s utterly delicious, especially when you throw in some ooey-gooey cheese. If you’re salivating at this point, we’ve got good news for you: You don’t have to go to Germany or even find a German restaurant to experience this culinary delight. We’re going to show you how easy it is to make homemade spaetzle in your very own kitchen, and we’ll even give you 3 delicious recipes so you can experience everything the dish has to offer!
German Spaetzle Base Recipe:
- 1¾ cups flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- nutmeg to taste
- 2 quarts salted water
- hand grater
- dough scraper
1. Combine the flour, eggs, salt, and nutmeg until it forms a tough, stretchy dough.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and use a dough scraper to press the dough through a hand grater into the boiling water.
3. The noodles are done when they float to the top. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water and let them drain for a second.
1. Cheese Spaetzle
You’ll Need:
- spaetzle
- ¼ stick butter
- ½ onion, diced
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp crispy fried onions
- 2 tbsp chives
Here’s How:
Melt the butter in a pan and sweat the diced onions in it. Add the spaetzle and the cream and then season with salt and pepper. Stir until all the ingredients are well combined and the cheese is completely melted. Serve the cheese spaetzle in the skillet and garnish with some crispy fried onions and chives.
2. Spaetzle Pancakes
You’ll Need:
- spaetzle
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- pepper to taste
- 1 fried egg
- oil for frying
- chives to garnish
Here’s How:
2.1 Add the cooled spaetzle to a bowl together with the eggs, parmesan, and a little bit of pepper and mix well. To help with the structure, adding a heaping tablespoonful of flour.
2.2 Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat and fry some of the spaetzle mixture as if it were a potato pancake. Repeat until you have used up all the mixture.
2.3 Stack the spaetzle pancakes on top of each other and serve them with a fried egg and chives.
3. Spaetzle Muffins
You’ll Need:
- spaetzle
- 6 cheddar cheese cubes
- 6 eggs
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- ⅓ cup flour
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 tbsp diced bacon
- 2 tbsp chives
Here’s How:
3.1 Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease the muffin pan molds with oil. Put 2 tablespoons of spaetzle in each mold, place a cheddar cheese cube on top, and then fill up the mold with the rest of the spaetzle.
3.2 Mix the eggs, heavy cream, flour, salt, and pepper and pour the mixture over the spaetzle muffins.
3.3 Sprinkle the spaetzle muffins with shredded cheddar cheese and diced bacon and bake them in the oven for 20 minutes. Garnish the muffins with chives before serving.
Either of these 3 ways of serving up spaetzle is super tasty. If you’re ready to introduce spaetzle into your life, give one of these recipes a try – you won’t regret it, we promise!