A key ingredient to Chicken and Veal Paprikas is the Hungarian Spaetzle or little dumplings!
My grandma Julia Nagy was quite the cook, preparing traditional Hungarian recipes which became the comfort food that we celebrate today. I can remember watching grandma prepare the batter for her little dumplings aka Hungarian Spaetzle. It was the key ingredient in her Chicken and Veal Paprikas. The recipe for Hungarian Spaetzle, little dumplings, is easy to make.
Photo Credit: Spaetzle taken by Kobako.
Contents at a Glance
- Do you dig little dumplings? Are you a Hungarian Spaetzle Lover?
- First of all, Hungarian Spaetzle is Little Dumplings
- Hungarian Spaetzle -- The Little Dumplings FAQs
Do you dig little dumplings? Are you a Hungarian Spaetzle Lover?
After all, size DOES matter!

First of all, Hungarian Spaetzle is Little Dumplings
Little would be the operative word!
Hungarian Spaetzle -- The Little Dumplings FAQs
An extracted resource of the Central European cuisine
Germany, Hungary Austria, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia boast a large variety of dumplings, both sweet and savoury. A dumpling is called Kloesse in Northern Germany, Spaetzle, Knoepfle or Knoedel in Southern Germany and Austria. These are flour dumplings, the most common dumplings, thin or thick, made with eggs and semolina flour, boiled in water. Meat dumplings (called Klopse or Kloepse in North-Eastern Germany, Knoepfe and Nocken are in Southern Germany) contain meat or liver. Liver dumplings are frequent additions to soup. Thueringer Kloesse are made from raw or boiled potatoes, or a mixture of both, and are often filled with croutons. Bread dumplings are made with white bread and are sometimes shaped like a loaf of bread, and boiled in a napkin, in which case they are known as napkin dumplings (Serviettenknoedel).
In Hungary dumplings are called galuska or nokedli - small lumps cut from a thick flour and egg batter and dropped into boiling water, similar to the German Spaetzle, Knoepfle, or Knoedel. Sweet dumplings are made with flour and potato dough, which is wrapped around whole plums or apricots, and then boiled and rolled in hot buttered bread crumbs. Shlishkes or "Krumplinudli" are small boiled potato dumplings made from the same potato dough as the sweet plum dumplings, also rolled in hot buttered bread crumbs.
In Czech cuisine dumplings are called knedlik and in Slovakia they are called knedlicky. They are enjoyed along with a related stuffed version called pirohy, usually filled with bryndza (bryndzove pirohy), quark cheese, potatoes, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, or meat. Bryndzove halusky, the Slovak national dish, are small potato dumplings without a filling, served with salty sheep's cheese on top.
Hungarian Spaetzle should NOT look like these -- for these are BIG Dumplings!
Pay attention please, as this is VERY important.

See this picture? Hungarian Spaetzle, as little dumplings go, should never look like this! You see this is a picture of my dinner plate when we vacationed in The Czech Republic, in Prague. It was our first dinner in the Eastern European city. We had opted to eat at the restaurant that advertised Hungarian Goulash with Dumplings. When this plate arrived, I looked at my hubby and exclaimed, "What the heck is this? Those aren't DUMPLINGS!"
You see size does matter. This was not the last time that I ordered DUMPLINGS while we toured The Czech Republic. Yep, ordering DUMPLINGS off the menu produced the same results as what you see on this plate. Well, at least they were consistent. For a third time, I asked if I could get Hungarian DUMPLINGS for dinner at the hostel we stayed at in the countryside. We did a lot of 'charades' back and forth to communicate what I had in mind. The chef told me it took her a day to prepare them. Well, although I thought that seemed odd as they are easy and simple to make, I nodded my head and said we'd see her the next night.
As hubby and I took our seat, that next night, my tastebuds were already in overdrive. It wasn't too long before dinner was served. OMG, "Those aren't dumplings!" Yep, you guessed it! For the third time, I got the type of BREAD "dumplings" as shown on this plate.
When we got home from our vacation, I relayed the story to mom. Ah, she laughed, "Next time, ask for SPAETZLE!"
Hungarian Spaetzle should look like these -- for these are LITTLE dumplings!

Ah, so the Hungarian dumplings that I remember and love from my childhood while sitting in my grandma Julia Nagy's kitchen in Cleveland, Ohio -- those are LITTLE DUMPLINGS more easily referred to as Hungarian Spaetzle. Spaetzle you see definitely indicates that you want "little" dumplings. This is a very good picture of what a plate of Hungarian "little dumplings" or Spaetzle should look like.
These Hungarian Spaetzle are incredibly easy to make. And, the little dumplings taste fabulous in Chicken and Veal Paprikas. Oh, and you can serve them in your Hungarian Goulash too. In fact, there are plenty of applications er dishes that would taste delicious with Hungarian Spaetzle.
You know, I'm even thinking that my recipe for beef stroganoff would benefit from using Hungarian Spaetzle instead of plain butter noodles! Why don't you try it some time. Oh, and I've included a simple and easy to prepare recipe for Hungarian Spaetzle below!
Hungarian Spaetzle -- An Easy Recipe
The Hungarian Spaetzle is a must for Chicken and Veal Paprikas!
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups of flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
Preparation:
Add flour, salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl.
Next, add water, eggs, and melted butter.
Mix ingredients together until lumps are gone and it is like a batter.
Prepare a pot of water with salt to bring to a boil.
Spoon a portion of the batter onto a flat plate.
With a spoon, beginning cutting about a spoonful of batter at a time from the edge of the plate into the boiling water.
Because of the small size of the spaetzle, they will rise fairly quickly to the surface.
Spaetzle will only need a few minutes to cook in the boiling water once they have risen.
Remove the cooked spaetzle to a colander to drain.
You need a good cast-iron pot for making your Hungarian Spaetzle -- Little Dumplings!
The Mario Batali 6-Quart Italian Enamel-on-Cast-Iron Essentials Pot in Persimmon is just the ticket.
Mario Batali 6-Quart Italian Enamel-on-Cast-Iron Essentials Pot, Persimmon
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How to make Hungarian Spaetzle
Hungarian Spaetzle -- Little Dumplings aka
galuska or nokedli
Dumplings Cook-off -- BIG vs little

Size Matters T-Shirt by jaguarjulie
Tshirts from zazzle.com
So, does size matter to you?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byGive me BIG dumplings! I have a hearty appetite.
ElizabethJeanAllen says:
I prefer the big ones. I love to put them in home made chicken noodle soup.
Posted November 10, 2009
24websurf says:
I really prefer my dumpling to be the BIG ones ;) However if they are firm and kind to the tongue, the smaller ones can work well too.
Posted August 31, 2009
Susan52 says:
Amazingly, I've never had little dumplings like spaetzle! Dumplings in with my chicken are big.
Posted August 31, 2009
I prefer little dumplings er spaetzle please!
JaguarJulie says:
You know it is funny that growing up in Cleveland with grandma cooking chicken paprikas with dumplings that I always assumed that getting a Hungarian food dish that dumplings were dumplings. But, after experiencing the big dumplings in Eastern Europe on vacation, I know that if I want the right dumplings, little dumplings, I will ask for Spaetzle!
Posted August 31, 2009
It's a Spaetzle Little Dumplings Cook-Off!
Courtesy of Chef WordRidden on Flickr
This is an interesting series of pictures by Chef WordRidden demonstrating what his Spaetzle recipe looks like when compared to his challenger's. Funny, but the batter looks exactly the same!
I recommend a good Hungarian Cookbook!
Are you a Spaetzle Lover? Hungarian or Otherwise?
My grandmother made the best "Hungarian" Spaetzle; however, she called it dumplings. The word dumplings can mean a lot of different things. I'm glad I figured out that I want little dumplings or Spaetzle. How about you? Do you love it? Can you make it?
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Reply
- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Nov 10, 2009 @ 3:25 pm
- Awesome lens!
Thanks for sharing
Lizzy
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Reply
- Michey Michey Sep 4, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
- Hi! Julie,
I remember the paprika I use to eat when I was a kid and I was visiting some relatives in Cluj, now Cluj-Napoca.
The dumplings were great and the sauce (gravy) was delicious. Actually the combination of both made a special meal. I was kind of finical as a kid, but in the house of my Aunt Berta, I used to eat everything she made%u2026 including, staffed cabbage and so on%u2026 My mother made staffed cabbage on Christmas but never paprika. I also made staffed cabbage and I am very tempting now to try the dumplings as you remand me of Aunt Berta. She was a terrific cook.
Thanks
Michey
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Reply
- rayban rayban Sep 2, 2009 @ 5:11 am
- I've got a taste for chicken paprikas with Hungarian spaetzle. When can I have some?
- Load More
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- Pork Medallions With Herbed Spaetzle Recipe @ CDKitchen.com ...
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You may opt to try a Spaetzle Mix!
Listen, I've given you a really simple and easy to make recipe for Spaetzle, but each to his own! Perhaps you might want to try a mix the first time you make the Spaetzle and then try my recipe the next time.
You may opt to use a Spaetzle Maker!
You may opt for a Spaetzle Cookbook
OR, You may opt for a Dumplings Cookbook
Dumplings are different worldwide -- you should know that by now!
You'll want to check out more Eastern European cuisine!
Ah, Polish Pierogi is actually big dumplings!!!
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Polish Pierogi -- Ethnic Comfort Food
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Growing up in Northeastern Ohio, I can tell you that we ate lots and lots of pierogi! The varieties I remember having most often included stuffings of mashed potato, kraut, dry cottage cheese [my favorite], and PRUNE! OMG, I did not like...
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Stuffed Cabbage *
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A Case Study of Hungarian Spaetzle
Hungarian Spaetzle -- This lens was published at 9am EST on 8/31/09
Ranked #2,073 in Food, #46,019 overall

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Lensroll: Hungarian Spaetzle -- Little Dumplings
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About Hungarian Little Dumplings Maker and Lover JaguarJulie
Lensmaster JaguarJulie has been a member since March 21 2006, has rated 6,425 lenses, favorited 520, and has created 617 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Stuffed Cabbage *". See all my lenses
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