How to Make Authentic Homemade German Spätzle (Spaetzle) Noodles from Scratch

There are numerous ways to make Spaetzle, and several different kinds of Spaetzle makers available, but the one I love by far for best results is the flat spaetzle maker that you can put right on top of a pot of boiling water. If you don't have one, you can also use a wooden board and a knife and manually cut the dough and let it drop directly in the water. Another option is to fill a pastry bag or a ziplock bag with the dough, then squeeze the dough out and cut the dough with scissors above the boiling water and let the dough pieces fall right in to cook.

In a large pot, boil water (eg 8 cups of water).

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, then combine the milk, salt, nutmeg and flour and stir until the dough is mixed. Note that Spaetzle dough is very sticky. I just use a fork - no need for a whisk - it the dough sticks to it.

Add a pinch of salt to the water. Place the Spaetzle maker on top of the pot with the boiling water. In batches, add the dough on top and using the scraper, push the dough through the holes. Let boil for about 3-5 minutes until they float to the top. Drain the Spaetzle noodles. If You don't have a spaetzle maker, you can use a pastry bag and scissors - push the dough out and cut the dough, letting droplets of the dough land in the boiling water. Yo ucan also use a small wooden cutting board and a sharp knife - put some dough o the board and chop off dough pieces in the boiling water.

If serving the spaetzle as s side dish, we typically drain them well, and then brown them in butter so they have crispy edges.

If you are using the Spaetzle noodles in soup, you can do as above, but have the dough land directly in the soup and let it cook 3 minutes in the soup. I love making spaetlze noodles for chicken noodle soup, as seen here in the picture.

After draining the Spaetzle noodles, it is traditional to quickly pan fry them with a little butter until they are light golden brown and crispy.

I often make a quick cream sauce to accompany Spaetzle noodles. I reserve 1/2 cup of the Spaetzle water and reheat it on the stove, add Beef stock, Worcestershire sauce (about 2 Tbsp), heavy cream. salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley. I always serve Spaetzle with cream sauce to accompany Schnitzel.

Serve your Spaetzle noodles with Schnitzel! The Perfect Pairing: Authentic German Schnitzel – Breaded Pan-Fried Pork, or Crispy Oven-Baked Pork Schnitzel.