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Doug Heilman

Spätzle with Beer Cheese and Langostinos

Updated: Nov 2

As seen on The Great American Recipe, Season 3 Episode 5.


Traditional German Spätzle was introduced to me through German club trips in high school, while langostinos were always featured for my parent’s most celebratory meals. I make my spätzle with a bit of sour cream to keep the dough tender. The drop dumplings meet a sharp beer cheese for käsespätzle, then topped with crispy breadcrumbs and tender Langostinos. A bit of a German riff on lobster mac and cheese! Note: for this recipe, you really should have a Spätzle maker with a scraper.


Serves 6-8


For the Spätzle…

4 cups All purpose Flour

5 Eggs, whisked

1 cup Whole milk

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

4 tablespoons Sour cream


For the Beer Cheese…

3 tablespoons Butter

3 tablespoons Flour

1 1/2 cup Whole milk

1/2 cup Lager beer, such as Sam Adams or Yuengling

8 ounces Sharp White cheddar, grated

4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

4 ounces Swiss or Appenzeller, grated

1 slice Processed American cheese, in the plastic wrapper

1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoons Nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon Granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Pepper


For the toppings…

1 1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbs

1-2 tablespoons Olive oil

18 ounces Frozen Langostinos, thawed (NOTE: usually always precooked and frozen)

2-3 tablespoons Butter

2 Lemons, cut into wedges

1-2 tablespoons Freshly Chopped Parsley, garnish


In a 5 quart stock pot, add 3 quarts water and place over medium high heat to boil. Once boiling, salt the water.


Meanwhile for the spätzle dough... In a large mixing bowl, add the milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, and the beaten eggs. Whisk thoroughly to combine. Add the flour in stages, about a cup at a time, to the wet. Fold with a rubber spatula until no dry flour remains. Add more flour and repeat until a sticky mass is formed. Note: You may not use all of the flour. Cover and let sit for 10 to 20 minutes.


To prepare the beer cheese, add butter to a medium sized sauce pot over medium high heat. Once butter is melted and foaming add flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add milk, then bring mixture to a simmer to thicken, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add beer, cheeses, and spices. Continue whisking constantly to melt and combine mixture. Cover and remove from heat.


Meanwhile, in a medium size skillet set over medium high heat, add Panko crumbs with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until Panko are golden brown. Remove from heat and transfer to a small mixing bowl.


For the langostinos… in a small sauce pot over medium low heat, add thawed langostinos and butter. Gently heat through. Note: the langostinos are pre-cooked. Once heated through, add a squeeze of lemon. Cover and keep warm for final assembly.


To cook the Spätzle, wet a Spätzle maker and scraper with cold water, then place over the pot of boiling salted water. In batches, add some dough to the Spätzle maker. Work dough through the holes with a scraper or rubber spatula, into the salted boiling water.


Use a skimmer to transfer the floating boiled dumplings to a colander, placed over a large mixing bowl. Repeat the process until all dough has been cooked.


Once all spätzle are cooked, drain the cooking water, and transfer the spätzle to the warm pot with a tablespoon of butter mixed through. Cover to keep warm.


For final assembly, pour cheese sauce over the spätzle, mixing well to combine. Portion spätzle to individual serving dishes. Top each dish with 2 tablespoons toasted Panko breadcrumbs, and approximately 3 ounces of the buttery Langostino‘s. Serve with lemon wedges on the side. Garnish with chopped parsley. Enjoy!



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