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easy spaetzle recipe on a blue plate
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4.58 from 7 votes

Easy Spaetzle Recipe

These Spaetzle are light, pudgy, and perfect pillows of egg pasta. They're the perfect side dish to so many recipes - pass the gravy and dig in!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Resting time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: European
Keyword: baked pasta, easy side dish, german noodles, german pasta, spaetzle, spaetzle recipe
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 328kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Spaetzle maker
  • 1 Wooden spoon

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

  • Make the batter. I find it likes to rest a bit, to let the gluten relax, which makes for a more tender noodle. Working with a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together until frothy. Add the flour and salt, using a hefty wooden spoon to really blend all the flour in.
  • Really work that dough, mixing for 2-3 minutes (sometimes I have to enlist my husband's help.) The dough should be thick, glossy, and elastic and should sort of ooze off the wooden spoon.
  • If it clings to the wooden spoon or you can still see flour in the mixture, add 1/4 of milk and work it into the batter. If it runs off the spoon quickly, work in 1/4 cup of flour. Other than that, the dough is pretty forgiving.
  • Rest the dough on the counter, covered with plastic wrap, for an hour or so.
  • When you're ready to cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Generously salt the water as you would for regular pasta.
  • Grab your spaetzle maker. It looks kind of like a cheese grater with a hopper on it. Position it over the top of the simmering water and fill the hopper with batter. The batter should start to ooze out the bottom of the spaetzle maker.
  • Slowly move the hopper back and forth, cutting the spaetzle and letting them fall into the salted water.
  • I do about a third of the batter at a time. Let the spaetzle come to a simmer for a minute or two or until they float to the top. Scoop them out with the spider or another strainer, and pop them into a bowl with butter. Mix them around in the butter so they don't stick, and repeat.

Notes

Chef Jenn's Tips

  • Have everything at hand and ready to go. The batter can rest while you boil the water, and have about 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a bowl to help the spaetzle not stick once cooked.
  • The batter should ooze through the holes of the spaetzle maker. If it isn't oozing, thin the batter with a few tablespoons of milk and try again.
  • Cook just a few spaetzle at first to make sure they've got enough salt in them. You can add more salt to the batter if you like them saltier.
  • I almost always at least double this recipe - sometimes triple. If I'm going to go to the work of making them, I want to have at least enough for another meal! Plus, they freeze just fine. See my storage tips below.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 677mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 343IU | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 3mg