Today, I will show you how to make fluffy and mouthwatering Austrian Spinatknödel (Spinach Dumplings) that don’t fall apart while cooking. I fell in love with this dish after numerous trips to the Austrian and German Alps. This particular main course lands on my meal plan at least once a month because it’s very comforting and inexpensive.
Table of Contents
Traditional Spinatknödel - Traditional Austrian Spinach Dumplings
- 500 g spinach frozen
- 20 g butter
- 1 onions very finly chopped
- 4 whaet bread rolls old or fresh, from the bakery (good quality)
- 125 g milk warm
- 1 tsp salt
- nuttmeg
- 2 eggs M or L
- 1 garlic clove chopped, optional
- 50 g shredded parmesan to serve
- 2 tbsp chieves to serve
- 50 g brown butter to serve
- Method 1Take the spinach out of the freezer two hours before you making the dumplings. Method 2If you don't have time, you can fry frozen spinach on non-stick pan for 10 minutes on medium-high heat. The second method ensures that spinach loses some of the water - which is important, so the dumplings won't fall apart while cooking.
- Fry the chopped onions on the medium heat until golden brown. Don't rush it! The slower you fry them the better they will taste!:)
- Cut the bread rolls into small cubes and put them into large bowl. It might take up to 12 minutes.
- Heat up the milk until warm, pour evenly it over them. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Remove the rest of the water from the spinach. The best way to do that is to squeeze it with your hands.
- If spinach has large leaves, you must cut them into smaller pieces.
- Season the mixture with salt and nutmeg. Add the dry spinach, fried onions and eggs and make a dough with your hands until the ingredients combine. At this point you can also add chopped garlic, if you like! I always do!
- Set aside for 20 minutes, before you start forming the dumplings.
- Set a large pot (5,5l) filled with 4l of salty water. Bring it to a boil and lower the heat so the water just simmers.
- Check if the dough is sticky enough for you to be able to form medium (as big as a table tennis ball) dumplings out of the dough. if the dough is very sticky, it is easier to form the bread dumplings with wet hands - just saying;)
- I always make and cook one test dumpling to check if the dumpling doesn't fall apart. For this you need to form a regular size spinach dumpling and put it gently into the pot with simmering water, if the dumoling deosn't fall apart after first 5 minutes then you can form the rest of the dumplings.
- If the dough is too hard: add a little more milk. If the though is too wet and falls apart: add some breadcrumbs or another egg and breadcrumbs.
- Place the dumplings in the water and simmer them without a lid for 15-20 minutes.
- While the dumplings are simmering: grate the parmesan, chop the chieves and brown the butter.
- Serve warm with brown butter and grated parmesan on the top!
Austrian Spinatknödel is one of the most comforting vegetarian dishes. It is my favourite after the Traditional German Cheese Noodles (Käsespätzle). Carbs, a good amount of vegetables, and butter make it a perfectly balanced meal for the whole family.
Austrian spinach dumplings are another delicious leftover dish beloved not only in Austria but also in Germany. They are often found in German restaurants in southern Germany and in German households nationwide. You can search for them in German Supermarkets and weekly food markets. I make my Spinach Dumplings from scratch. They are pretty time-consuming, because of all the cutting, but the reward is big (and worth the effort).
I still remember the first Austrian Spinatknödel (Spinach Dumplings) I ate in the Austrian Alps.
After a long hike, that was what I was craving – a good portion of carbs and butter. I still think that the Austrian Spinach Dumplings taste best when eaten after a long hike in an alpine pasture.
Austrian Spinach Dumplings - Main Ingredients
Before we start cooking, let’s review the ingredients list so you know what to look for when grocery shopping for traditional Austrian Spinatknödel (Spinach Dumplings).
Bread rolls – the most essential ingredient of spinach dumplings. It would be best to get German Bread Rolls from the bakery to make the Austrian Spinach Dumplings. The bread rolls from the bakery usually don’t swell up as much water, so they stay intact while cooking.
If you don’t have access to high-quality German Bread Rolls, you must cook sample dumplings and check if they don’t fall apart while cooking.
Spinach — I usually use frozen spinach, which I thaw in a large pan before making the dumpling dough. This step also evaporates the excess water from the spinach leaves—and the less water, the better—as we don’t want our dumplings to fall apart. If your spinach leaves are too long, I like cutting them into smaller pieces.
Eggs – ensure that the dumplings don’t fall apart while simmering.
Onion & garlic – add a ton of flavour to your dumplings.
Salty water – simmering dumplings in salty water enhances the flavour.
Brown Butter – don’t even try to serve your Austrian Spinatknödel without the butter:) Like onion and garlic – butter always adds flavour and richness to anything it touches.
Why Bread Dumplings Fall Apart?
Since 2013, I have cooked many spinach, and some fell apart while cooking. That was very frustrating, so I had to get to the bottom of it. I found out that bread dumplings fall apart for several reasons:
- Quality of bread rolls.
- The ingredients were prepared wrongly: spinach contains too much water.
- There is not enough egg—the egg is a binding agent. If the recipe proportions aren’t right, the dumplings will fall apart.
What do I do if the Bread Dumplings Fall Apart?
If you made a sample dumpling, you can easily adjust the dough by adding another egg and a table spoon of bread crumbs.
Storage & Reheating
Austrian Spinatknödel is very easy to freeze and reheat.
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Austrian Spinatknödel can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 months and up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
The best way to reheat the Austrian Spinach Dumplings is to simmer them in salty water for at least 25 minutes.
I have never met a person who didn’t like spinach dumplings. With cheese and butter, they are one of the most satisfying Austrian dishes. What have surprised me though, people don’t like to make them themselves because there is always a probability that they will fall apart.
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