Spätzle (Spaetzle - German pasta)

This is a wheat flour and egg based homemade pasta, originally from the South-West of Germany (Swabia which used to be a Land of its own but now is part of Baden-Württemberg). Spätzle are usually served with the Sunday roast.

For all of your hunting for a spaetzle press - I now have a link to a UK supplier. You can find it here.

based on 330 reviews

Ingredients for 4

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Ingredients
400	grams	plain flour
4	eggs	egg	(200 grams)
1 1/4	tablespoon	butter	(16 grams)
1/4	teaspoon	salt	(2 grams)
200	mls	water

Salt content: 0.2% (by weight, not counting salt in other ingredients)

Method

Step-by-Step Instructions

	Here are our ingredients (with the Spätzle press left of the salt shaker).
	Add the egg and a pinch of salt to the flour.
	Mix with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth paste.
	Add some lukewarm water and stir again until the consistency is right.
	This is what the dough should look like when you have reached the right consistency. If you have added too much water, you can balance that out by adding a bit more flour. I tend to let the dough set for about half an hour before proceeding.
	Bring lots of water with a pinch of salt added to a boil. Now place the Spätzle press over the saucepan and put one portion at a time into the press.
	Press the handle down. When you are at the end of its course, cut off the hanging Spätzle with a knife or a spatula. Traditionally, bits of dough are put on a wooden board and scraped into the boiling water using the back of a knife ... I've done that before, but it is very time consuming and also requires a fair amount of practice - so best use a Spätzle press as shown here.
	Your hob should be on full power. After about 30 seconds, the Spätzle will start to surface.
	When they have all surfaced, take them out trying to drain off as much of the water as possible. Make sure you have taken them all out, bring the water back to a boil and process the next batch.
	Put them in a dish and add a knob of butter if you like.
	Mix the melted butter into the Spätzle and serve. Alternatively, you can put the buttered Spätzle into the oven at 200 degrees centigrade / 400 Fahrenheit / Gas Mark 6 for 15 to 20 minutes and then serve.

10	mmm looks yummy
10	Lecker schmecker!
10	I have made this recipe SOOooo many times. It's lovely, quick and easy... you can add parley, chives, cheese or poppy seeds! Or yr own imagination. It's failproof and reminds me so much of Austris and Bayern!!!!!! Try it! Great with been stroganoff or a replacement for ANY type of pasta!
10	Yum
10	it worked! thank you ...I did add an extra egg for serving for two. thank you!!!!
10	well done.
10	This is the only press anyone should use. The other's are cheaper but make things difficult. Buy the German press...F.Y.I.
10	Mine came out great... the step by step with pictures were a great help... Thanks!!!
10	Thanks for clear detailed instructions. Will try it.
10	Thanks v much! Have used this as one of my standar "must have" recipes! I was taught to make it layered with caramelised onions and cheese and baked... BUT I love them with any sauce I would normally use pasta for... carbonara... seafood... bolognaise etc. BUT my FAVOURITE is a savoury mushroom, cream and Worcestershire sauce, similar to what you would use for a steak diane! (you can add a little diced leftover beef or steak... or even roast chicken!) Let your imagination run wild!
10	Very very good and easy! Made them this afternoon in England - remind me of my mum's homer cooking! Thank you!
10	very good site - thank you.
9	Thank you
10	Great effort all the information anybody could want and I will try adding milk as one person has said just to see the difference.
8	Try milk instead of water - I'm from Baden not Schwaben, we don't have to be stingy. Also, try adding a minipinch of nutmeg, just a whiff. The Spaetzleschwob (press) can be used for mashed potatoes and the like.
10	yummy thanks
10	Very good recipe! I couldn't find my old recipe, so I googled and found this one. Very easy to scale up, too--I always make enough for leftovers! The water is however much is needed to get the right consistency--giving a quantity would be a mistake! I have the sliding kind of maker--I'm going to try my new moule! I've also heard you can use a pastry bag with a thick round tip.
10	Super recipe thank you so much. I missed this great food after living in Switzerland for 12 years. ps only a stupid would ask about Pinch & score it @ 2
9	Going to make these for sunday lunch. great pics. good instructions. yummy!
10	Excellent recipe... so simple, cheap and quick... just like someone's Oma taght me in Bavaria!!!! Lovely with a mushroom sauce or layered with fried onions and grated cheese, then baked in the oven and served with a salad!
10	Tried them in Switzerland a month ago, loved them and now cooked them according to your instructions. Absolutely fabulous! Thank you so much!
10	thanks alot for the grat pictures and help
10	really good instructions - thank you
9	Really great! Ate this a lot when I was in Germany. Your recipe really reminds me of home....
10	I grew up eating Spaetzle from my grandmother don't listen to the try hards with their extra advice your recipe is great.
10	Just fabulous. We plated it next to Beef Casserole and peas - yummm! Was just the consistency as shown to us many years ago by German relatives and a much loved Hungarian friend (Hello Abel).
10	thank you for the concise instructions. I shall now go make some
10	these are so easy, even better taste great, with garlic butter
9	i like very much
9	There are long and short spaetzle - this is the long variety. The short variety is made with the same mixture, a spatula full at a time is placed over a special disk with holes in it, and you run a spreader over that, which makes bobbles of the mixture fall into the boiling water, which you then process in the same way. As someone else also mentioned, I have been advised by a trained Swabian cook to rinse them in water to make them less sticky/starchy.
10	I had never made this before and after making the dough was really aprehensive at the consistancy but this helped very much and it turned out great.
9	I've been using this recipe for years, but I never knew what they (the noodles) were called. But a tbl of baking powder makes them lighter.
9	really well thought out & explained - thank you
10	had spaztle in Switzerland 30yrs ago have been looking for a recipe ever since but didn't know what it was called til I saw it on Iron Chef thank you!
10	Got the press but didn't have a recipe, can make for tea this eve now!!! My children love this with cheese a fave when we are in Germany!!
10	Got the press but didn't have a recipe, can make for tea this eve now!!! My children love this with cheese a fave when we are in Germany!!
10	wooo I love this site lol....no idea how I found it though lol....on a web tangent
10	fried onion rings on top of the cooked spaetzle knob of butter and grated emmental cheese on top ! anything else is not spaetzle TRY IT! 10/10
8	clear and consise resipe pics illustrate the texture very well. only an arse dosnt know what a pinch is fud!!!!!
10	A recipe I never heard of before!! And I do like to cook. I will tray it as soon as I get home. Very clear and very good pictures. Thanks
10	This has to be the best recipe I've found on-line for spaetzle. I plan to try it tonight and fry them off after. I last ate spaetzle in Switzerland and have been trying to work out what they are/how to make them ever since. I cannot believe people don't know what a knob of butter (a lump about as much as you'd use to butter a slice of bread) or a pinch of salt (as much as you can pick up between your thumb and first finger - adjust to taste) are!
10	Looking forward to making after having in germany, Lecker!
10	Excellent, no hassle, homemade pasta. I loved these whilst in Munich - so glad I've now found the recipe. Thank you. JD
10	great piccys thanks
9	Very clear and the pictures are great
10	good simple details
10	Nice and easy recipe to follow - great photos! :-)
10	Brilliant. I have used a Spaetzle recipe for some years and my family have loved it. But I got the dough consistency wrong it was like pasta dough. The result was good though when I cooked them. Some time ago I bought a Spaetzle maker but could not work out how to use it with my recipe. Your recipe works brilliant with it. It was to do with the consistency of the dough. Mine was to stiff. It needs to be more tlike a stiff batter like yours. Your pictures have been a great help. Many thanks
9	I rince the Spaetzle in a second bowl of hot water to rid them of any froth that might stick to them from the boiling water they are cooked in.
10	once you've boiled them, stick them in a pan and fry them with a bit of butter. Makes them a bit crispy, and they're amazing. Also, a sprinkle of nutmeg helps too. Mmm, superlecker! Susan, Edinburgh