Basic Spaetzle Dough Recipe

Spaetzle are the little German egg dumplings that turn any stew into a feast, and the dough could not be more honest: eggs, flour, milk, salt, and a touch of baking powder stirred into a thick, sticky batter.

You don’t need a fancy spaetzle press, either. A colander does the job. Hold it over simmering water, pour in a portion of batter, and press it through the holes with a spatula so it rains down into the pot in ragged little strands.

Watch for them to bob up to the surface, then cover the pan and let them puff. That bit of baking powder is what gives them their light, pillowy bite.

Fish them out and toss with browned butter, or pile them under a saucy pasta-style braise or a rich goulash.

Kitchen Tips

• Keep the water at a gentle simmer, never a rolling boil. Hard boiling tears the delicate dumplings apart.
• The batter should ribbon thickly off the spatula. Too thin and it dissolves, too thick and it won’t press through.
• Don’t crowd the pot. Cook in batches so every dumpling cooks evenly.
• Toss the drained spaetzle in butter right away to keep them from clumping together.

Variations

• Brown the cooked spaetzle in butter until the edges crisp for classic pan-fried German Spätzle.
• Stir grated Emmental or Gruyère through the hot dumplings for Käsespätzle, the cheesy version.
• Fold chopped chives, parsley, or a little grated nutmeg into the batter.