In this article you will find a simple basic recipe for classic Austrian & German spaetzle ("Spätzle) with flour, milk and egg. There are also instructions with pictures and a video on how you can easily make spaetzle yourself, even if you don't have a spaetzle sifter or a spaetzle slicer. - To do this, scrape the spaetzle off a wooden board with the back of a a knife. You can see how this works in the pictures and video below.
In addition to the instructions for making spaetzle yourself, I also share my experience of the easiest ways to freeze and defrost spaetzle.
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Spätzle are a classic of Alpine cuisine, especially as cheese spaetzle, a typical dish you will have in a mountain hut after a day of skiing. But spaetzle are also a traditional side dish to many other classics of Austrian & German cuisine such as goulash, paprika chicken, beef roulades or beef roast with onions (Zwiebelrostbraten).
Spätzle can also be served with vegetarian and vegan sauces, such as mushroom sauce or chanterelle goulash.
Making spaetzle yourself is a lot easier than you might think, especially as the dough is quickly mixed together! If you don't have the right equipment such as a spaetzle slicer or a spaetzle strainer, I show you in the video and pictures below how to scrape spaetzle off the board with a knife - which is really easy and fun 😉 !
Ingredients
Serves 4:
- 500 g all purpose flour - there is also a special, more coarse-grained flour called "Spätzle flour" or "dumpling flour", which leads to softer Spätzle, but all purpose flour works just fine 😉 You can also add approx. 30-50% wholemeal (wheat, spelt) to the white flour.
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 4 eggs
- 300 ml of your preferred milk (~ 1 + ¼ cup) - the milk can also be replaced with the same amount of oat milk, pureed spinach, chard, wild herbs or other pureed vegetables.
Instructions
Weigh out the flour and pour into a large bowl. Measure/weigh the milk into a separate container. Crack the eggs into the flour, add the milk and salt and mix quickly with a spoon or spatula.
In the meantime, bring a large pot about ⅔ full of water to the boil. Add a little salt.
Using a special spaetzle slicer or spaetzle sieve, sieve the dough into the simmering water and stir.
WITHOUT A SPAETZLE SLICER/SIEVE:
Spread the dough in portions on a wooden board and use the back of a knife or a metal pastry card to scrape thin spaetzle directly into the pot. You can see this method shown in the video below at 00:15.
Stir while cooking to prevent the spaetzle from sticking together.
After approx. 5 minutes of cooking, strain the spaetzle and rinse with cold water. Optionally, mix with a little butter to prevent them from sticking together.
Video
In this video from my YouTube channel, you can see how to make Spätzle by scraping the dough off a wooden board with the help of a knife. (At 00:15 in the video.)
How to freeze Spätzle
You also often find the advice on the internet to dry the spaetzle on a kitchen towel before freezing: I tried this tip but couldn't see any difference to freezing them directly. It was also quite a lot of mess and work to clean the kitchen towel afterwards.
Optionally, you can pre-freeze the cooked and drained spaetzle on a plate/tray and transfer them to a larger container after approx. 1-2 hours. You can then portion them more flexibly when you want to defrost them.
My conclusion: The easiest way is to freeze the spaetzle directly in suitable portions (without pre-freezing them on a plate or drying them on a cloth).
How to thaw Spätzle
To defrost, unpack the spaetzle or remove the lid from the container. After approx. 30-60 minutes, the spaetzle will no longer form a solid block and can be reheated. The best way to do this is to toss them in a pan with a little butter. This way, the defrosted spaetzle will taste just like fresh.
When I defrosted them in the microwave, the spaetzle were a little more mushy than when I defrosted them in a pan, but this didn't bother me too much.
When defrosting in hot, slightly boiling water, the result for me was similar to that in the microwave, a little more mushy, but perfectly fine to use.
My conclusion on defrosting spaetzle: the best results are achieved if you leave the spaetzle to defrost at room temperature for approx. 30-60 minutes and then toss in a little butter in the pan.
Side dishes to Spätzle
Spätzle are a classic of Alpine cuisine, especially as cheese spaetzle, a typical mountain hut dish, but also a traditional side dish to many classics of Austrian cuisine such as goulash, paprika chicken, beef roulades or Zwiebelrostbraten (roast beef with onion sauce).
Spätzle can also be served with vegetarian and vegan sauces, such as mushroom sauce or chanterelle goulash.
How to make Austrian & German Spätzle without a Spätzle maker
Zutaten
- 500 g all purpose flour - for soft spaetzle it's best to use coarse-grained flour like special spätzle flour, for something more substantial, use smooth flour. You can also use all-purpose flour or approx. 30-50% wholemeal (wheat, spelt).
- 1 level teaspoon of salt
- 4 eggs
- 300 ml milk or e.g. oat milk - the milk can also be replaced with the same amount of pureed spinach chard, wild herbs or other pureed vegetables.
Anleitung
- Weigh out the flour and empty into a large bowl. Measure/weigh the milk into a separate container. Crack the eggs into the flour, add the milk and salt and mix quickly with a wooden spoon.
- In the meantime, bring a large pan about ⅔ full of water to the boil. Add a little salt.
- Using a spaetzle slicer or sieve, sieve the dough into the simmering water and stir.
- WITHOUT A SPAETZLE SLICER/SIEVE:
- Spread the dough in portions on a wooden board and use the back of a knife or a metal pastry card to scrape thin spaetzle directly into the pot (see also video directly below the pictures from 00:15).
- Stir while cooking to prevent the spaetzle from sticking together.
- After approx. 5 minutes of cooking, strain the spaetzle and rins
(c) by Angelika Kreitner-Beretits / Vienna Sunday Kitchen
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