Spinach Spaetzle with creamy cheese and bacon sauce is a quick dish perfect for weeknight dinner. Ready on your table in less than 30 minutes this rich and tasty meal will be a huge hit at your dinner table!
Guys, f you love spinach dishes, then I can’t recommend these spinach spaetzle highly enough! If you try them, you will fall in love with them!
You might also have a look at some of these spinach recipes, especially if you are looking for meat-free ideas:
Did you know?
Homemade spaetzle are very popular in many European countries – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Romania or Slovakia where I come from.
In fact, potato dumplings with soft sheep milk cheese & bacon – bryndzové halušky are our national dish (by the way: halušky = spaetzle/dumplings).
Now because I was craving bryndzové halušky but couldn’t get the traditional cheese here in Spain, I decided to make something similar with a twist to it.
Something that most of you can make at home with simple ingredients! That was how this spinach spaetzle recipe was created.
Just so you know there is a special tool – aka the spaetzle maker that makes your life easier when making spinach spaezle. Actually there are a few different types that you can buy on the market. I suggest you check them out – just so you know what they look like but you can totally make this dish without one!
How to make spaetzle without a spaetzle maker
I don’t have the spaezle maker and I am not planning on buying one either.
So what do you do you ask? Well, I simply use a flat cheese grater. I turn it the blunt side up and place it over a pot. This serves now as the spaetzle maker.
Check out my video below to see how easy it is to make spinach spaetzle using a grater.
By the way, my grater has only a small area for grating which means I need more time to make spinach spaetzle. If you own a larger one, consider yourself lucky! You will need less time to make them.
Just so you know, it only takes 4 minutes to make this batch (2 portions) on my small grater. This means that if you have the bigger one, you will be done in no time!
How to make spinach spaetzle batter
This is a matter of a few minutes. Get a mixing bowl and combine all the ingredients. The batter will be on the thicker side.
If you are wondering how to cook spaetzle then let me tell you it is very easy. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and use the simple drop-in method using the flat grater. For an easy understanding, just check out the video I made for you.
Useful tips
- Semolina is a type of coarse wheat flour (to know more about semolina, click on the link) that gives this spaetzle dish the perfect texture. If you choose to omit it, the spaetzle dumplings can turn out soggier. If you don’t mind it, go ahead and make it. Altogether with the sauce and bacon you might not even know the difference.
- Those who don’t like garlic can just omit it completely.
- This recipe can be easily doubled.
- 3 cups (packed) of fresh spinach + ½ cup of water = about a cup of pureed spinach. 1 cup of pureed spinach weights about 7 ounces (200g).
- Make sure to use the coarse part of your grater (larger holes) for making these spinach spaetzle.
Want to see how to make Spinach Spaetzle? Watch the video!
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Spinach Spaetzle
Ingredients
For Spinach Spaetzle:
- 1 cup Pureed Spinach (see note 1)
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour (140g)
- ½ cup Semolina Flour (90g)
- 3 Garlic Cloves , peeled
- 1 Medium Egg
- ½ tsp Salt
For Cheese & Bacon Sauce:
- 1 cup Half and Half (250ml)
- 1 cup Pancetta or Bacon , strips (100g)
- 1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese (80g)
Instructions
Spinach Spaetzle:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Meanwhile: Puree fresh spinach with ½ cup water. Pour this into a mixing bowl. Add all-purpose flour, semolina flour, pressed garlic, egg and salt. Mix until well combined. The mixture should be thicker rather than thinner.
- Use a flat cheese grater or spaetzli maker to make the dumplings/spaetzle. Hold it over a pot of boiling water and with a spatula push the batter through the holes (check note 7). Once done, give them a mix and let them boil for about 2-3 minutes (at this stage they should be floating on the surface) before turning off the heat and draining the water. Keep them in a closed container or pot until ready to serve.
Cheese & bacon sauce:
- Throw the bacon in a skillet/frying pan and fry until crispy. Pour in half and half and simmer until it thickens, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and stir in grated cheese.
- Pour the sauce over spaetzle and mix.
- Best served right away!
Notes
- To get 1 cup pureed spinach, combine 3 cups (packed) of fresh spinach with ½ cup water. This will yield about 7 ounces (200g) of pureed spinach.
- If you feel like the sauce is way too thick to your liking, thin it with milk.
- This recipe can be easily doubled.
- Bacon amount can be adjusted to your liking.
- Half and half (US) = Single cream (UK).
- All-purpose flour (US) = Plain flour (UK).
- Make sure you to use flat grater not box grater! IMPORTANT: Turn the grater the up side down as this way passing the batter through the grater holes is easier! If any doubts, check the video.
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Jeanette says
It really looks delicious :)
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Jeanette!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I’ve never tried spaetzle before, but it looks wonderful. I must try it and I can easily make a veggie sauce. YUM!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
You can make any sauce you like, Jacqueline :) Let me know it turned out for you!
Chichi says
This is totally new to me. Looks delicious and I love the video tutorial it helped a lot. Thanks
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
You are welcome! :)
Jill says
I loved watching the video. I’ve heard of Spaetzle but didn’t actually know what was in it or how it was made. I love the bright green color of this spinach spaetzle dish. I need to try it!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
You definitely do! :) :)
Jagruti says
Spinach spaetzel is a new dish to me, sounds wonderful though. With ham, sauce this must be a great combo.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Jagruti!
Natalie says
Looks so delicious and such a great idea for dinner!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks so much, Natalie!
Karyn says
Without milk, this wouldn’t come together, too much flour, not enough liquid. I had to keep adding milk, even then was too thick to easily go thru spaetzle maker.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Karyn, I am sorry to hear that. However, I make this several times a month and I can assure you the ingredients amounts are correct. The right consistency is the one you can easily see on video. The only thing I can think of that happened was your spinach was rather dry. Everything is explain in detail in the recipe card so there should not be any problem if followed to a T. But if you feel the batter is rather dry, then you easily add little bit of liquid to get the right consistency and you are good to go.