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Hungarian nokedli noodles – Spaetzle
These amazing homemade noodles called nokedli are a true favorite of ours. They goes well with any of our iconic dishes, such as Chicken Paprika, Potato Paprika or Beef Stew.
The German egg noodles are very similar, where they are known as „spaetzle” or „spätzle”.
How to make Hungarian nokedli noodles?
Making nokedli noodles is very easy to prepare, made from a simple batter of eggs mixed with all purpose flour and water. It is done in 10 minutes, could not be quicker and faster.
The short noodles are traditionally made by hand, this way the noodles do not have perfect uniform size, takes a bit longer to mage them and they are bit larger as well. This is how my father loves them.
Put some of the dough on a cutting board and using the back of a knife, cut off a 1- by-1/4-inch piece of dough and slide it into the boiling water.
Of course, you can use a nokedli grater or spaetzle maker, which is a handy tool and makes it so easy to create these beautiful perfectly shaped noodles.
All kinds of spaetzle makers are available, here are a couple examples, each of them would create perfect noodles.
Hungarian Nokedli Noodles (Spaetzle)
Equipment
- Medium bowl
- Medium pot
- Spoon
- Measuring cups
- Spaetzle maker or cutting borad & knife
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Beat the eggs and 1/2 cup of water together with the salt. Slowly mix in the flour to make a soft, sticky dough. You may not need all the flour, or you may need more. Stop adding flour when you get an elastic moist dough.
- Place the nokedli grater (spaetzle maker) over the pot of boiling water. Lay a portion of the batter on the grater and move it back and forth over the grater using a spatula or wooden spoon to push through small egg noodle bits that drop into the boiling water. When the noodles float to the top, slowly boil for about 1 minute and drain them. Make sure that you make it over medium heat, otherwise the water runs out. Serve immediately as they cool quickly.
Wonderful noodles! I remember my Grandmother making these and they were mt favorite thing she made. Thanks
They look good.
yum , memories of all good things past
My parents both made these always and i sometimes make them. Never thought of the cheese grater trick! We always used a bowl and spoon trick!
Hello Maria,
My father always uses a spoon to make them, he does not like the grater because it creates too small noodles, he prefers the bigger ones. :)
Being Hungarian this is a staple in our home- I make it the old fashioned way- using the bowl I made the dough in & using a spoon to cut the dough right into the boiling water
Hello Zsuzsa,
Yes, just like my father, he prefers the spoon instead of the greater. :)
Agnes
My mother-in-law made these all the time with a flat plate and a knife I make them make them with a spaetzle maker and serve it with chicken paprikash just like she did
I make with a spoon have to try your way home way I’m Irish but married to Hungarian make all the good stuff Elaine
I made these for our foreign exchange student from Hungary and served them with pörkölt. She said these nokedli were just like her mom’s and she loved them. She liked the pörkölt, but she said it isn’t as good as her grandma’s. I’ll get it down eventually, but I can’t find the same ingredients always. :)
Hi David,
So glad that your student found this recipe authentic! Thanks for your feedback! :)
Agnes
Thank you for sharing. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE HUNGARIAN NOKEDLI NOODLES. It looks so tempting. Keep sharing amazing content mate!