Käsknöpfle

Medium·40 min active + 10 min resting

Liechtenstein's national dish — soft irregular dumplings of egg dough scraped into boiling water, then layered with grated Alpine cheese until it melts into a stringy mass and crowned with deeply fried onions, served with applesauce.

Egg

Käsknöpfle is the Alemannic-Alpine cousin of käsespätzle, the consensus national dish of Liechtenstein and equally beloved in St Gallen, Grisons, and Vorarlberg.

Take a forkful of käsknöpfle and the soft dumplings pull strings of melted Alpine cheese, the deeply fried onions adding sweet crunch on top. Bite: tender, eggy knöpfle wrapped in rich, nutty, salty cheese, the onions caramel-sweet, a spoon of tart applesauce on the side cutting through the richness. Hearty Alpine comfort — the whole table eating from one warm dish.

Scraping a wet egg batter into boiling water produces the soft, irregular knöpfle, which have rough surfaces that grip melted cheese. Layering the hot dumplings with cheese (rather than stirring) lets it melt into strings; slow-fried onions add caramelized sweetness, and tart applesauce balances the fat.

Variations

With a mix of cheeses (Emmental + Gruyère + a sharp mountain cheese). With chives. Baked au gratin on top. With a fried egg. Made as flatter spätzle. With more onions stirred through.

On the Palate

Where Käsknöpfle sits in the Liechtensteiner flavor cloud

Cook to learn

Layer the hot knöpfle with the cheese instead of stirring — layering lets it melt into long strings, while stirring just smears it flat.

Techniques

Boiling

Ingredients

Serves 4

applesauce, to serveApple

1 tspSalt

How it's made

8 steps · 40 min active + 10 min waiting

1
12 min
Whisk 400 g flour, 4 eggs, 150 ml milk, and 1 tsp salt into a thick, sticky batter; rest 10 min.
2
14 min
Slice 2 onions thinly and fry slowly in 50 g butter until deep golden; set aside.
Watch out
Fry the onions to a deep, even golden — this caramel sweetness balances all that cheese.
3
6 min
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil.
4
5 min
Press the batter through a spätzle scraper (or colander) into the water in small bits.
5
3 min
Cook 2-3 min until the knöpfle float; lift out with a slotted spoon.
Watch out
Lift the knöpfle the instant they float — that's when they're set and still tender.
6
4 min
Layer the hot knöpfle in a warm dish with 250 g grated Alpine cheese, finishing with cheese.
7
3 min
Cover briefly so the cheese melts into strings; toss gently.
Watch out
Cover just until the cheese turns stringy, then toss once — don't overwork it or it goes oily.
8
3 min
Top with the fried onions and serve with applesauce on the side.