Salzburger Kaspressknödel
Flattened bread-and-cheese dumplings, pan-fried until golden, served in broth or with a salad.
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total
- 50 min
- serves
- 4
- level
- medium
Kaspressknödel are a flattened, pan-fried cousin of the dumpling family, bread and cheese pressed into patties and fried in butter until the outside turns properly golden and crisp.
They're genuinely flexible about how they're served, floating in hot beef broth as a soup course or plated simply alongside a green salad as a light meal on their own.
Part of our 20 best Austrian recipes list.
method
Place the bread cubes in a bowl, and pour over the warm milk. Let it soak for 10 minutes, until softened.
Mix in the grated cheese, onion, eggs, chives, flour, salt and pepper until well combined.
Shape the mixture into flattened, patty-like dumplings, about 6 to 7cm across and 2cm thick.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, and fry the dumplings for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deeply golden and heated through.
Serve hot, either floating in a bowl of hot beef broth or alongside a simple green salad.
chef's tips
- Flattening these into patties, rather than rolling them into balls, is what gives them a bigger surface area to crisp up in the butter, which is the whole appeal over a plain boiled dumpling.
- Kaspressknödel are genuinely flexible: in broth they're a soup course, with salad they're closer to a light main, and both are entirely normal ways to serve them.
- Use a good melting mountain cheese for the best texture; a sharp, crumbly cheese will not bind the mixture as well.
- These reheat well in a pan with a little extra butter, which actually crisps them up again rather than making them soggy.