Käsespätzle (German cheesy dumplings)
Soft little homemade dumplings layered with melted cheese and buttery golden onions, Germany’s answer to mac and cheese, from flour, eggs and milk.
- 50 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $1.71 a serving
- 680 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 4 tbsp butter, divided
- 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp chives, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 680 calories, 28 g protein, 59 g carbs and 37 g fat, and costs about $1.71 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No cheddar cheese? Shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese or mexican blend cheese works.
- No chives? Green onions work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs and milk and beat with a wooden spoon 2 to 3 minutes, until the batter is thick, smooth and bubbly.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Dolly’s tip: It should be thicker than pancake batter and drip slowly off the spoon. Add a spoonful of milk if it won’t budge.Let the batter 10 minutes while you start the onions.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 10 min
2 tablespoons butter in a large over medium heat. Add the onions and of salt and cook, stirring every few minutes, 20 minutes, until soft and deep .
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 20 min
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water with 1 tablespoon salt, then turn it down to a steady .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
Hold a colander with large holes over the pot and push a third of the batter through the holes with a spatula, letting the drops fall into the water.
Dolly’s tip: Hold the colander a few inches above the water, so the steam doesn’t cook the batter in the holes.Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the dumplings float and are firm when you bite one. Lift them out with a slotted spoon into a bowl.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Repeat with the rest of the batter, each batch with a little of the remaining butter so they don’t stick.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Move half the onions to a plate. Add the spätzle to the skillet, scatter the cheddar and pepper over, and stir over low heat until the cheese .
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Low heat
Serve topped with the saved onions and the chives.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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