Easy German Spaetzle Recipe - delicious easy German dumplings for an authentic biergarten comfort food side dish!

This spaetzle is one of our favorite easy side dishes - my kids love it and ask for it all the time.

Spaetzle has two steps - parboiling and pan frying, but is incredibly easy to make - anyone can do it!

There are only a few basic ingredients, it comes together quickly, and has a rich, buttery flavor - like little tiny dumplings pan fried in butter. Perfect alongside our easy chicken schnitzel recipe!

This dish always makes me think of our travels through Germany.

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One of our favorite dishes to grab when traveling in Germany (before this we'd try to go once or twice a year to visit my brother and sister in law and my niece who live near Heidelberg) is always schnitzel and spaetzle!

There is a biergarten right down the street from my brother in law's apartment that makes the best schnitzel and has a really fun outdoor dining area - it's always our first stop when we land in Germany.

We make this recipe a lot at home, it brings back so many amazing memories of traveling through Germany!

For more of our posts about traveling through Germany, please visit some of our favorites below:

There are two stages to making spaetzle - making the dough and boiling it - and then pan frying in butter.

To form your dough for spaetzle, you'll mix together flour, pepper, and spices in a large mixing bowl.

Form a little well in the flour and add egg and milk into the middle, gently mixing to incorporate.

If your dough is very thick, add more milk a tablespoon at a time.

Dough should be loose like thick pancake batter, but not so thin it's runny - somewhere like pumpkin bread texture.

After making this dish again and again, you'll be able to eyeball the amount of flour, milk, and seasonings you'd like to use.

I had to actually measure when I made this - I'm used to just making it from memory!

Once your dumpling batter is ready, spoon into spaetzle maker (or use cheese grater or slotted spoon with holes) and "push" batter across to let it drop through the holes into the boiling water below.

Boil for about 5 minutes, until dumplings float.

When cooked, remove from water with a strainer, and set aside in a large bowl.

To buy a spaetzle maker, click here.

After parboiling dumplings, pan fry in butter in a nonstick pan, tossing occasionally, until lightly browned and crunchy.

The amount of time will vary based on how much spaetzle you put in the pan and how big your pan is - it pan fries faster if using a large pan and cook in smaller batches so it can crisp and brown a bit.

Drizzle a little lemon juice and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper or sliced green onions to serve!

We often make schnitzel when making spaetzle, but spaetzle goes with all sorts of delicious main dishes.

Spaetzle goes perfectly with pork dishes- pork is insanely popular in Germany - pork chops, pork tenderloin, and even pork steaks are fantastic alongside spaetzle.

Chicken main dishes are also great alongside spaetzle - chicken tenders, chicken drumsticks, whole roasted chicken, and chicken thighs are all delicious alongside these tasty German dumplings!

To see the rest of our pork recipes, click here. For our chicken dishes, click here!

You can also find our complete main dish recipe archive here.

If you want to check out more recipes inspired by our travels, please find our newest below, or visit our Travel Recipe Index!

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