Käsespätzle (German Cheese Spaetzle) - Recipes From Europe (2024)

Our Käsespätzle Recipe is Easy to Follow and Definitely Cheesy!

Have a craving for some “German macaroni and cheese”? You’re looking to make Käsespätzle then!

Also known as German cheese spaetzle, Käsespätzle – literally cheese spaetzle – is a hearty and filling dish that easily pleases the taste buds!

Made from homemade spaetzle and loaded with Emmental cheese, this spaetzle with cheese recipe is topped with crispy onions and serves well with a leafy green salad!

It’s no secret that we are a big fan of spaetzle. The first time Eric had it it was basically love at first bite.

Normal spaetzle pan-fried with butter is good – but cheesy spaetzle is just so much better! (Truth be told, we also really like spinach spaetzle for a nice change of flavor).

Now, this is an easy kaese spaetzle recipe with just spaetzle and shredded cheese on the stove top.

There are other more complicated Käsespätzle recipes that require the use of other dairy products – like heavy cream – and baking them in the oven.

We love this recipe because it’s easy to whip together on a weeknight when craving something “not so healthy”.

Spaetzle is also generally easy to make if you have a good spaetzle maker.

Looking for more easy and delicious recipes? Try our Schinkennudeln, easy chicken paprikash, potato pancakes, creamy potato soup, and German meatloaf!

How to Make Käsespätzle – German Cheese Spaetzle Step by Step

Making this classic cheese spaetzle recipe is pretty easy. You can follow the Käsespätzle recipe card below if you’d like to get started – or watch our Käsespätzle web story for a little teaser.

We also have process photos from when we made our own Käsespätzle so you can follow along with those if you are more of a visual learner!

To be fair, if you are making spaetzle from scratch at home, you will need to follow our homemade spaetzle recipe before diving into this recipe.

You can always leave and come back to this cheesy recipe when you’re ready with your spaetzle!

To make cheese spaetzle authentic, crispy onions on top are a must. They don’t take long to fry up and they add a bit of crunch and flavor to the otherwise creamy, cheesy dish!

So start by peeling your onion and cutting it into thin rings.

Heat approximately 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium-sized frying pan. Then add the onion rings and sauté them on medium heat until browned.

Make sure to stir regularly.

It’s important that you watch the onions closely towards the end. They can go from nicely browned to burned quite quickly, especially if the temperature is a bit too high.

When in doubt, turn down the heat a little bit. This means it will take a little longer until your onions are nicely fried, but at the same time the risk of burning them is lower.

If you absolutely love onions, you can of course also fry more than one onion. For us, frying one large onion is the perfect for the amount of cheesy spaetzle.

Remove the fried onion from the heat once you are happy with the crispiness.

In a large frying pan, melt two tablespoons of butter and add the spaetzle once melted.

You can do this while you fry the onions or do it after the onions are already done if you don’t feel comfortable multi-tasking.

Once the spaetzle are heated, sprinkle some of the grated cheese on top of the spaetzle and give everything a good stir.

Then add some more cheese, stir again and repeat the steps until you have used up all of the cheese. Keep stirring until the cheese has fully melted.

We like to use Emmental cheese for our Käsespätzle because it’s a classic German cheese with a bit of a sharpness that is not overbearing.

That said, you can use other sharp cheeses of similar consistency like Swiss cheese if you can’t get a hold of Emmental or prefer the taste.

Once the Käsespätzle are hot and the cheese is fully melted, add salt and pepper to taste.

You can garnish the cheesy spaetzle with the fried onions and some freshly chopped parsley for a pop of color.

Since this is quite a heavy, filling dish we would recommend serving the cheese spaetzle with a fresh green salad on the side.

Storage Tips

In our opinion, Käsespaetzle tastes best when made and eaten fresh. However, you can store any leftovers in a container with a lid in the fridge for a couple of days. Then simply reheat them in a pan or in the microwave.

You can also make your spaetzle noodles in advance and store them in the fridge for a couple of days or even freeze them.

When you are ready to make cheese spaetzle, simply heat the cold egg noodles with some butter in a frying pan and follow the rest of the steps in the recipe card below.

If you want to use frozen cooked spaetzle and they formed a lump in the freezer, it might be easier to drop the frozen spaetzle into hot water for a few minutes until thawed. Then use them in this recipe as described in the recipe card below.

Enjoy!