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Recipes · Side dishes

Homemade Spätzle

AI-written · not yet kitchen-tested

The batter is right when it tears off the spoon in tough strands and forms bubbles as you beat it. If it is too stiff it needs water, if it is too runny it needs flour. A single test spätzle lets you correct either before you cook the whole batch.

  • Serves 4
  • Prep 15 min
  • Cook 15 min
  • Rest 15 min
  • Total 45 min
  • medium
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This recipe was written with AI assistance and has not yet been kitchen-tested. Check quantities and times as you cook, and follow safe core temperatures for meat, poultry, fish and eggs.

Ingredients

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  • 400 g (3 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt for the batter
  • 1 pinch nutmeg freshly grated
  • 4 eggs large
  • 150 ml (5.1 fl oz) sparkling water cold, start with only about 2/3 cup (150 ml)
  • 1 tbsp salt for the cooking water
  • 30 g (1.1 oz) butter for tossing

Method

  1. Mix the flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and the nutmeg in a large bowl. Add the eggs and stir in roughly with a wooden spoon.
  2. Gradually pour in 150 ml (2/3 cup) of water and beat the batter vigorously for 5 to 8 minutes, until it turns glossy, forms bubbles and tears off the spoon in tough strands. It should be thick but pourable, not firm like bread dough. If needed, work in up to 50 ml (3 1/2 tablespoons) more water, a spoonful at a time.
  3. Cover the batter and let it rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime, bring 3 liters (3 quarts) of water with 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil in a wide pot and adjust the heat so that it boils briskly without boiling over.
  4. As a test, drop one teaspoon of batter into the water. If it falls apart, stir 2 tablespoons of flour into the batter; if the spätzle is hard and rubbery, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.
  5. Put the batter on a wet spätzle board in portions and scrape thin strips into the boiling water with a knife or scraper, or press it through a spätzle press or a spätzle slicer.
  6. As soon as the spätzle float to the surface, after about 1 to 2 minutes, lift them out with a slotted spoon and put them in a warmed bowl. Continue in portions until all the batter is used.
  7. Melt the butter and pour it over the spätzle, toss gently and serve immediately.

Tip: A spätzle press gives more even spätzle than the board. Without one, press the batter in portions through a potato ricer or a colander with large holes.

Tip: Leftovers can be fried in butter in a pan until golden the next day. Cooled, cooked spätzle can also be frozen.