Spätzle — Authentic and Effortless Homemade Egg Noodle Recipe
Späztle is a german staple in every home. It checks all the boxes because it’s easy, filling, and cheap to make. You probably already have all of the ingredients at home right now.
I’ll show you two ways to make Spatzle so you can see just how simple this homemade egg noodle recipe really is.
Seriously, you can’t mess this one up.
How do you pronounce “Späztle”?
In southern Germany, we pronounce it Sh-pet-ts-Leh. This is a Swabbish dish. The Swabbish dialect of German has a unique accent and pronunciation. Just as people who live in the south of the US have a specific way of pronouncing words, Swabbish pronounces the “S” with a sh sound.
But enough about pronunciation.
Let’s get to the good stuff.
What is Spätzle?
Spätzle are egg noodles made from eggs, flour, water, and salt.
I just found out from my Swabbish cookbook, that Spätzle has been around for about 1,000 years! There are drawings of daily life in my cookbook from all the way back in the middle ages. Swabbish women are depicted making Spätzle with their boards. Instead of using a dough scraper, they used a knife.
Different regions have their own way of making Spätzle. For example, in Munich, they make their Spätzle through a strainer. The noodles come out much smaller so they’re called “buttons”.
Cute, huh.
What do you serve with Spätzle?
It can be served with any type of meat, veggies, sauerkraut, or lentils. Any Swabbish wife can probably think of at least 15 things that can go with Spätzle because it’s such a versatile staple.
It’s often served with lentils and wieners but it pairs well with many ingredients. My kids love it served with a creamy mushroom sauce.
Take a look at what you have in your fridge. Most likely you’ve got veggies or meats that will be a delicious complement to your Spätzle.
Any tips for making Spätzle?
Make a well.
After you put your flour into the bowl, use your hands to create a well (a hole) in the middle. You shouldn’t be able to see your bowl through the layer of flour on the bottom. Making a well makes it easier for the ingredients to mix together well.
Use a Spätzle maker.
It’s much easier to make Spätzle with a spätzle maker. You can buy them on Amazon. If you don’t have a Spätzle maker, you can still make your egg noodles with a cutting board.
Rinse in cold water.
After your Spätzle is cooked, rinse it under cold water in the strainer. This shocks the noodles so they stop cooking, preventing your noodles from becoming mushy or soggy.
Add butter.
If your noodles are sticking together, try adding a tablespoon of butter to your bowl of cooked noodles. I find that this makes it harder for a sauce to stick to the noodles. But it does prevent you from ending up with a chunk of noodles that are stuck together.
Spätzle — Authentic and Effortless Homemade Egg Noodle Recipe
Equipment
- Medium bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Spätzle press
- Ladle strainer
- Strainer
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 375 grams flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 200 ml water
Instructions
- Pour the flour into a medium-sized bowl. use a wooden spoon to make a well in teh middle of the flour.
- Sprinkle the salt over the flour. Next, crack the eggs and put them into the well as best as you can. And add the water to the bowl.
- Use your wooden spoon to mix the ingredients. Stir with the spoon in circles, gradually adding more four from the sides of the bowls, with each stir. Continue doing this until there is no more dry flour left. Continue stirring until you see air bubbles start to form.
- Bring half a pot of water to a boil and add a dash of salt.
- Spätzle Board – put about 2 spoonfuls of dough onto your board. Use a dough cutter to scrape bits of dough off of the edge of the board and into your pot of boiling water. Spätzle Press – lift the top of the press and fill the part of the press that has holes on the bottom, with your batter. Hold the press over the pot of boiling water and slowly press down on the dough.
- When your spätzle noodles float on the top of the water for about 1 minute, they’re done. Use a ladle strainer to scoop the cooked noodles out of the pot. Place the spätzle into a strainer and let them cool for 15 seconds, under cold running water. And transfer to a bowls while you cook the batch of spätzle.
- Repeat the last two steps until you run out of batter. Add your favorite sauce, meat, or veggies. Enjoy!