Schinkennudeln Makes A Super Tasty And Filling Pasta Dish!
If you want an easy dish that fills you up, check out Schinkennudeln! This is a classic German dish (pasta with fried ham and egg) that Lisa grew up eating as a kid. In fact, it’s a dish that lots of Germans know from their childhood!
Lisa’s grandma taught her how to cook this recipe when she was a kid. She would go to the monthly farmers’ markets to get a special “Schinkennudeln” spice.
Unfortunately, we don’t remember exactly what was in that spice mix – just that it very tasty and made quite the difference to the dish.
Looking for other classic German recipes? Try our German meatballs, German potato dumplings, Strammer Max, or some classic German salad recipes!
Not to fear, however, as this recipe is also delicious without the “special spice”. The recipe below is pretty much the recipe that Lisa grew up with – and includes the slight modifications made over the years!
Schinkennudeln is definitely a quick dinner recipe. The first time Lisa made it for Eric, he absolutely loved it!
Ideally, you should eat it with a side salad – like a cucumber salad – as it can be quite dry on its own. You can counter this by adding in some grated cheese – but this is definitely optional.
After all, this dish isn’t cheese spaetzle! To top it off, you can also add a garnish like chives or parsley.
As for other modifications to this recipe, you can skip the breadcrumbs as they will make the pasta drier. We use breadcrumbs because it was always in Schinkennudeln when Lisa’s grandma made it for her.
That said, there are actually quite a few different recipe variations for Schinkennudeln: some include egg while others don’t, some include milk/cream while others don’t.
In any case, Schinkennudeln is a delicious (and not really healthy) dish that could be considered a German comfort food. So, we hope you enjoy our version of Schinkennudeln!
Schinkennudeln (German Pasta with Ham and Eggs)
Ingredients
- 4 cups of dry spiral pasta, called fusilli
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup cooked ham, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
- 4 medium-sized eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter for frying
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, optional
- strong cheese, e.g. Emmental optional
- chives or parsley to garnish, optional
Instructions
- Cook your pasta according to package directions until they are al dente. Then drain the noodles and set them aside.
- In a large pan with tall sides, heat the butter. Add the chopped onion once the butter has melted and sauté it for a couple of minutes until translucent.
- Add the thinly sliced ham pieces and them fry for a few minutes. Then add the cooked pasta and mix everything together. Spice with salt and pepper to taste.
- Crack your eggs in a small bowl and whisk them briefly with a fork. Pour them over the pasta and fry everything on medium heat until the eggs have cooked while stirring frequently.
- Once the eggs have cooked and no liquid egg remains, remove the pan from heat, add the breadcrumbs (optional), and more salt and/or pepper to taste. Give everything a good mix once again. Optional: You can mix in some grated Emmental cheese.
- You can garnish the Schinkennudeln with cut up chives or parsley before serving (optional).
Notes
- A fresh salad is a nice addition to this dish,
- If you don’t have fusilli pasta, other short pasta will also work. However, the nice part about the spiral pasta is that the spirals allow lots of the good stuff (ham/onions/egg) to get stuck to it.
- Breadcrumbs are something that Lisa’s grandma always added to Schinkennudeln so it’s something that we always include as well. However, it does make the dish even more dry than it already is so you can certainly leave them out if you wish!
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
The spice was probably (light) carroway seeds if I had to guess
I’m interested in making this dish for a German woman I help care for in her home. Is it best eaten fresh or does it freeze well?
Thanks for your comment, B! I usually eat it fresh but you can also freeze it and then heat it up in a baking dish in the oven. To make it easier, you could portion the Schinkennudeln after cooking and freeze them in some of those freezer-safe aluminum trays, which you can then just place in the oven to reheat. I hope this helps! /Lisa
I too grew up with a version of this dish! My Viennese mother made it but she used egg noodles and it’s called Schinkenfleckerln in our house. We all liked it but some of our spouses had to get used to the dish.
Great recipe. We added peas to ours. When we were in Germany on of the restaurants we visited put peas in the dish. It adds a little extra brightness to the dish.
Thanks for your comment! I agree, peas are a great addition. /Lisa