These Schupfnudeln Are Easy To Make And Super Filling!
Want to make delicious German potato noodles? We’ve got a great Schupfnudeln recipe!
These hearty potato noodles – sometimes called German gnocchi – are a perfect mix of potato and flour and can be enjoyed both savory and sweet!
We like to boil them and then pan fry them in butter and sprinkle on a bit of freshly chopped parsley.
These potato noodles are often confused for dumplings. And we can see why some might think they are dumplings due to their ingredients and cooking method (boiling).
Schupfnudeln are mainly enjoyed in the south of Germany and in parts of Austria, too. Lisa grew up eating them occasionally but it has been a while since she’s made them.
The first time Eric had them was when we made this recipe. Being a fan of gnocchi, he was a fan after just one Schupfnudel!
Interested in other delicious German recipes? Have a look at our German potato dumplings, Semmelknoedel, Dampfnudeln, and other German potato dishes!
In case you’re wondering, Schupfnudeln also go by a few other regional names like Bubenspitzle.
How to Make Schupfnudeln – Step by Step
If you want to make delicious Schupfnudeln, you can find the recipe card with the exact ingredients and amounts at the bottom of this post.
For those of you who want to follow along with the recipe with photos, you can check out the Schupfnudeln recipe process photos below.
First boil your potatoes in a pot with hot water on the stove. It’s important that you use a starchy potato for this recipe.
We usually make Schupfnudeln with russet potatoes, but yukon gold potatoes would also work.
Boil the potatoes until you can easily pierce them with a fork or butter knife.
Don’t pierce the potatoes with a sharp knife. When doing that, sometimes it can appear as if they are done because you can pierce the potato easily – but it’s really just because the knife is so sharp.
When the potatoes are done boiling, remove them from the pot and let them sit for a few minutes to cool. The peel them.
We usually pierce a potato with a fork and then hold it like that while peeling it with a sharp knife.
Add the peeled potatoes to a medium-sized mixing bowl and mash them with a potato masher.
Alternatively you can also press them through a potato press if you have one available.
Whichever way you choose, just make sure that there are no lumps left.
Add the flour, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg (optional) to the mashed potatoes.
Lisa grew up eating lots of potato dishes with nutmeg but if you’re not used to the taste you can just add a little bit or skip it completely. It’s completely up to you.
Use your clean hands to mix everything together until it is well combined and you can easily form a ball of dough.
Now separate the dough into two equal parts. That will make it easier to work it.
Sprinkle some flour onto your countertop and roll out half of the dough into a long sausage. The diameter should be approximately 1.5 inches.
Cut the “dough-sausage” into pieces that are approximately 3/4 inches long.
Now roll out the small dough pieces into rolls until they are approximately as thick as a finger. Then roll the ends of the noodles a bit thinner so that they have a tapered shape.
Fun side note: Schupfnudeln are sometimes also called “finger noodles” because of their look.
Use more flour as needed if the dough sticks to your fingers or the countertop.
Your Schupfnudeln don’t have to look perfect and you’ll figure out a way to do them that works best for you.
Lisa likes rolling them on the countertop and then just kind of pinching the ends with her fingers. Eric on the other hand prefers rolling the dough in the palms of his hands.
When you have used up the first half of the dough, repeat the steps with the other half.
Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Depending on how long it takes to heat water on your stove, you can already do this while you are still forming the noodles.
Add some salt and turn down the heat to medium-low when the water is boiling. The water should just boil very lightly.
Add around 1/4 to 1/3 of the noodles to the hot water. You’ll have to use your judgement here – basically give all the noodles the space to rise to the top when they are done.
Let the Schupfnudeln sit in the lightly boiling water for around 5 minutes until they rise to the top.
Remove them with a straining spoon and then boil the next batch. Repeat until you have boiled all of the noodles.
Optional: You can now fry your boiled Schupfnudeln in oil or butter and add other ingredients (see a few suggestions in the section below).
We like to keep it simple and fry our noodles in butter on medium heat until they are golden brown on the sides.
Later we like to add some parsley for a pop of color and fresh taste. Sometimes we also eat them with a simple tomato sauce.
And if you’re wondering about why our Schupfnudeln have these dark spots in the photo above – it’s because we used pretty coarse pepper.
How To Eat Schupfnudeln
As we mentioned, you can prepare Schupfnudeln to be savory or sweet – but the basic noodle recipe is the same.
If you want to enjoy them sweet, you can for example fry them in butter and breadcrumbs and then sprinkle sugar over them.
You can also fry them in butter, then halfway through add sugar (and maybe some cinnamon). Or serve them with lightly boiled berries or apple sauce on the side.
If you want to enjoy them savory, you can use them in a variety of dishes similar to how you would use normal potatoes or even pasta.
They taste great fried with Sauerkraut or fried vegetables of your choice. You can even add some meat such as cut-up sausages or chicken if you want to have a meat component.
Storage Tips
Schupfnudeln taste best when they are fresh. But you can also store them in the fridge for around two days afterwards.
Alternatively, you can freeze them after boiling (but before frying) and then just drop the frozen noodles into boiling water when you want to eat them.
Schupfnudeln (German Potato Noodles)
Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes, starchy (e.g. russet potatoes)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 medium-sized egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
- a pinch of nutmeg, optional
- butter for frying, optional
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes in boiling water with the peel on for around 20-25 minutes until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Remove them from the pot.
- Let the potatoes cool for a few minutes, then peel them.
- Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or press them through a potato press. Make sure that there are no lumps.
- Place the mashed potatoes in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the flour, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg (optional). Mix everything together using your hands and form a ball of dough.
- Separate the dough into two equal parts. Sprinkle some flour onto your countertop and roll out half of the dough into a long "sausage" with a diameter of approximately 1.5 inches.
- Cut the dough into pieces approximately 3/4 inch long. Then roll out each small piece on the countertop or between the palm of your hands. Use more flour if the dough sticks to the countertop. Roll the dough until it has the approximate thickness of a finger, then gently roll the ends of the noodle thinner so that they have a tapered shape to them. Once you have used up all of the dough, repeat the steps with the second half of the dough.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add some salt, then turn down the heat to medium-low so the water is just very lightly boiling.
- Add around 1/4 or 1/3 of the Schupfnudeln (depending on the size of your pot) to the hot water and let them sit for around 5 minutes until they rise to the top. Remove them with a straining spoon, then boil the next batch. We don’t like boiling too many Schupfnudeln at once so they all have the space to rise to the top when done. You can now use the Schupfnudeln in various sweet or savory dishes.
- Optional: Fry the Schupfnudeln in butter. For that, melt two tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan and drop the boiled Schupfnudeln into the pan after you take them out of the pot. Fry them on medium heat until the sides are golden brown. Turn regularly. Fried Schupfnudeln taste great with some Sauerkraut.
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.
