German Bread and Bacon Dumplings – Knödel

‘Knödel‘ are German bread and bacon dumplings. They are tender, savory, incredibly delicious, and make a perfect and filling side dish.

Dumplings are one of my personal German food favorites. To me Knödel are forever associated with ‘having Sunday dinner at Oma Herta’s house’. She was the queen of making these rich, delicious dumplings.

You can serve Knodel as a perfect side dish with Sauerbraten, Schnitzel, or Goulasch (Hungarian style goulash). And if you want to make the meal even more special, add plenty of gravy and a side of red cabbage (Rotkohl).

Most of the time Oma would end the meal with a side of Kirschstreusel (Cherry Crumb Cake) or Käsekuchen (German Cheesecake). We quickly learned to skip breakfast whenever we knew she’d make her homemade dumplings.

What You’ll Need

The ingredients for this recipe are things you’ll probably already have in your fridge and pantry.

• 6 stale BREAD ROLLS 2-3 day old, diced into ½-inch cubes (I used Kaiser rolls)
• 6 strips BACON
• 1 large ONION – diced
• ½ cup MILK – hot, but not boiling
• 4 large EGGS – lightly beaten
• 4 tablespoons BUTTER – unsalted, melted
• ½ cup PARSLEY – chopped
• 1 teaspoon SALT
• ½ teaspoon PEPPER
• 1-2 cups BREAD CRUMBS – optional, add if the dough is too wet

Beef Broth

• 4 cups BEEF BROTH
• 4 cups WATER

How To Make Knödel

Making bread dumplings is easy.

Preparing the Dumplings

1. BREAD: Cut stale bread rolls into cubes and put them into a large mixing bowl.
2. ONIONS + BACON: Sauté bacon and onions in a large skillet.
3. MILK: Use a medium saucepan to heat the milk. Don’t bring it to a boil.
4. MELTED BUTTER: Melt butter in a small saucepan and add parsley, salt, and pepper.

Making The Knödel Dough

1. In a large bowl combine bread cubes, bacon and onions, seasoned melted butter, warm milk, and eggs. Use a wooden spoon and combine into a dough.
2. The consistency of the dough should be sticky. If the dough is too liquidy add bread crumbs (or flour).
3. Allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes.
4. Wet your hands to make sure the dumplings don’t stick when you shape them. Shape the dumplings into a ball that’s a little smaller than a baseball. The dumplings will get a bit bigger as they absorb the broth they are cooked in.

Boiling The Dumplings

1. In a large, wide pot bring beef broth and water to a simmer. (Not a boil.)
2. Use a slotted spoon to place the dumplings into the simmering beef water. Cook over medium heat until the dumplings rise to the top. About 15-20 minutes.

About This Recipe

• Make sure to keep your hands wet while you shape the dumplings.
• Make sure the water doesn’t come to boil while you’re cooking the dumplings. The dumplings will fall apart in boiling water.
• If your dough is too dry add more warm milk. If it is too wet add more bread crumbs. The consistency should be sticky but easy to mold.
• You can add 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg to the dough. Nutmeg is an incredibly popular German spice. And you’ll find it in anything from cookies to other side dishes like Spätzle. My Oma didn’t use it in her recipe, but it’s often used in other German dumpling recipes.

Unofficial German Dumpling Dictionary

German recipes can vary a lot from region to region. And so can terminology.

KNÖDEL (plural Knödeln) is one of the German words that’s a bit more challenging to pronounce for English-speakers (my husband acts as an independent tester ;-). ‘Kn-oee-dell’. It refers to a bread-based German dumpling.

SEMMELKNÖDEL – German is the language of compound words! Semmelknödel is another term that’s used to describe a bread dumpling. Semmel is a German term for the bread roll. And Knödel we already know means dumpling. So put the two words together and get a ‘Semmelknödel’. However, you would generally think of this as a dumpling without bacon.

SPECKKNÖDEL – Another compound word is the word that describes a knödel with bacon. Speck is German for Bacon.

KLOSS – The words Kloss (plural Klösse) and Knödel are often used interchangeably. And it’ll vary from region to region and family to family. However, to my thinking, the word Kloss refers to a potato dumpling and Knödel to a bread dumpling.

Knödel are a very popular side dish in southern Germany, but also in Austria. My Mom and part of her family came from Vienna, Austria. And so growing up I was lucky to also enjoy Austrian dishes such as my Oma’s Apple Pancake or her famous ‘Kaiserschmarrn‘.

Store and Keep

Knödel will last about 3-4 days in the fridge. Store in an airtight container like this one.

Freezing Knödel works well, too. Follow the recipe. Once cooked, place the cooked dumplings onto a baking sheet and allow to cool completely.

Transfer the baking sheet into the freezer. Freeze for 1-2 hours. Once frozen, put the frozen dumplings into a ziplock freezer bag.

More Easy Side Dishes

• Classic Pea Salad
• Chopped German Tomato Salad – Easy side salad.
• Bacon Rolls – Stuffing rolled in bacon!
• Spätzle – Delicious German Egg Noodles
• Creamy German Cucumber Salad

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