This time of year calls for the most comforting food of all comfort foods, and this Sage & Golden Beet Spaetzle definitely falls into that category. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at spaetzle for a while, and then this recipe was born. It’s vegetable-forward but rich and savory, perfect for any cold winter night.
This is a great recipe to make when you want to just enjoy the process. It takes a little bit of time to make the spaetzle from scratch, but that’s the fun part and it’s so worth it. Pull out this recipe for a cozy night in and you’ll have a warming and comforting dish, made completely from scratch.
Table of contents
What is spaetzle?
Spaetzle (or spätzle), is an egg noodle originating from central Europe, most commonly known as coming from Germany. These little noodles are usually served as a side dish to meat like Sauerbraten or Jägerschnitzel.
Made with only egg, water and salt, spaetzle is incredibly easy to make and is usually formed by using a ricer. (If you don’t have a ricer, don’t worry, you can use a slotted spoon.) Like typical noodles or dumplings, spaetzle is dropped right into boiling water from the ricer are only cooked for a few minutes, or until the spaetzle floats to the top of the pot.
For this recipe, we’re making spaetzle the star of the show alongside a beautifully vibrant golden beet and sage sauce. Spaetzle deserves her time in the spotlight because she’s just that girl.
How to make the sage and golden beet sauce
This sauce is so unique and delicious. It pairs perfectly with the spaetzle, but honestly, I can see this sauce going on almost anything. This is a great recipe to have around because the sauce is so versatile and can be used for other pasta dishes or even for risotto. Here’s how to make it:
- Place a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the butter and let it fully melt. Add in the olive oil. Let this heat up until fragrant.
- Add the sage leaves and cook for 1 minute. Then add the onion and stir to combine. Season with salt and cook for 3-4 minutes to let the onion soften.
- Add in the garlic and stir to combine with the onions. Cook for 2 minutes or until you can no longer smell any raw garlic.
- Add in the beets, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and a few cracks of black pepper and stir to combine. Season again with a pinch of salt.
- Cover with the lid cracked open and check and stir every five minutes, for 25-30 minutes or until the beets are soft and nearly mashable.
- When the beets are softened but not mushy, add in two and a half cups of vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Let this simmer for 10-12 minutes, breaking up the chunks of beets, until the beet mixture is thick, chunky, and almost sauce-like.
How to make the spaetzle
Now for the fun part! Making spaetzle is surprisingly easy, and it comes out so good every time. Spaetzle will be making more appearances on my dinner table, and I suspect that it will be on yours too!
- While the beets are cooking, make the spaetzle batter. Whisk together the eggs and half of the water. Then add the flour and salt and whisk again, adding in splashes of water to help everything combine into a thick but smooth batter. Set aside.
- Fill a separate large pot and bring it to a simmer. Working in batches (this usually takes me about four batches), pour about 1/2 cup of spaetzle batter into a ricer or slotted spoon. Use a spatula to encourage the batter to drip out of the ricer and into the simmering pot. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, letting all the dumplings float to the top.
- Skim the dumplings out of the water with a spider and add them directly to the beet pot. Mix to combine, adding any remaining vegetable broth to help everything mix together and get all glossy.
FAQ
Yes! If you’re not a fan of beets, I suggest trying butternut squash for this recipe. Simply peel the skin off the squash, cut it like you normally would and then chop it into cubes (roughly the same size as the beet cubes shown above). Then cook as you would the beets.
If you don’t have either, I suggest spooning some dough onto a wooden cutting board, then scraping little strips of the dough into the boiling water with a bench scraper or knife. This process takes a little longer and will produce long, skinny noodles, but the spaetzle will taste just as great.
Fresh spaetzle will last up to 4 days. Store it in an air-tight container in the fridge, separate from the beet sauce to avoid the spaeztle getting mushy. When you’re ready to eat, warm the spaetzle and beet sauce in the microwave for about 1 minute.
Looking for similar recipes?
I love all things pasta, noodles and dumplings. Here are some of my favorites!
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Watch the recipe here
The video may not fully represent the recipe. For best results, follow the instructions as written.
Sage & Golden Beet Spaetzle
Equipment
- 1 large dutch oven
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 ricer with a 5mm setting, OR a slotted spoon with 5mm holes
Ingredients
For the sage and golden beet sauce
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves
- 1 small yellow onion thinly sliced
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 3 garlic cloves grated
- 2 1/2 pounds golden beets tops removed, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
For the spaetzle
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons cool water
- 140 grams all-purpose flour 1 cup
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Instructions
- Place a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the butter and let it fully melt. Add in the olive oil. Let this heat up until fragrant.
- Add the sage leaves and cook for 1 minute. Then add the onion and stir to combine. Season with salt and cook for 3-4 minutes to let the onion soften.
- Add in the garlic and stir to combine with the onions. Cook for 2 minutes or until you can no longer smell any raw garlic.
- Add in the beets, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and a few cracks of black pepper and stir to combine. Season again with a pinch of salt.
- Cover with the lid cracked open and check and stir every five minutes, for 25-30 minutes or until the beets are soft and nearly mashable.
- While the beets are cooking, make the spaetzle batter. Whisk together the eggs and half of the water. Then add the flour and salt and whisk again, adding in splashes of water to help everything combine into a thick but smooth batter. Set aside.
- When the beets are softened but not mushy, add in two and a half cups of vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Let this simmer for 10-12 minutes, breaking up the chunks of beets, until the beet mixture is thick, chunky, and almost sauce-like.
- Fill a separate large pot and bring it to a simmer. Working in batches (this usually takes me about four batches), pour about 1/2 cup of spaetzle batter into a ricer or slotted spoon. Use a spatula to encourage the batter to drip out of the ricer and into the simmering pot. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, letting all the dumplings float to the top.
- Skim the dumplings out of the water with a spider and add them directly to the beet pot. Mix to combine, adding any remaining vegetable broth to help everything mix together and get all glossy.
- Taste the spaetzle and season with a tablespoon of vinegar and salt and pepper as you prefer. Serve warm!
German here 🙂
This is definitely a spätzle combination I hadn’t tried. But it works really well! The kind of thing you’d find in a hipster restaurant here.
As a swabian (the part of Germany Spätzle are from) I can tell you that the best Spätzle are made without water and just with eggs, flour and salt. About 1,5-2 eggs per 100g of flour according to thickness preference. The water historically always comes into play in times or regions of poverty where people couldn’t afford the eggs.
Some other traditional uses of Spätzle you might enjoy are Spätzle and Lentils, tradionally you cook the lentils, make a roux, add broth and then the lentils and season with vinegar (and the usual stuff). The lentil mix should be pretty wet to serve as a sauce for the spätzle. It is tradionally eaten with string sausage but works perfectly well without and seems like the kind of thing you’d have fun with adding more flavours or Käsespätzle which are basically german mac&cheese (but in my very biased opinion far superior). Spätzle are very versatile and work with all kinds of gravy or cream-based sauces.
And if you want to explore a bit more hungary has something very similar called Nokedli which is great in lots of pepper/paprika heavy dishes.