Air Fryer Cheese Spaetzle aka. German Cheese Noodles

Air Fryers can be found in many households these days. These little gadgets have spread rapidly through German kitchens over the last few years. We love using our Air Fryer to prepare French fries and similar stuff with less fat, but you can actually do so much more with these devices. For instance, they are also excellent for whipping up some delicious Air Fryer Cheese Spaetzle aka. German Cheese Noodles. Yes, you read that right… Käsespätzle!

Cheese spaetzle is a classic dish from Southern Germany and the Alpine region. If you want to prepare the dish entirely from scratch, you’ve got your work cut out for you, tbh. First, you have to make the noodles – that step alone can take quite a while if you choose to make them from scratch. Then, the onions need to be sautéed, and eventually, the cheese has to come into play as well. All in all, quite some work and time you need to invest.

Fortunately, there is a much simpler and faster way to do it. You just need some ready-made Spätzle (German egg noodles) from the refrigerated section of the supermarket, a big piece of oven cheese and the obligatory onions (plus a few other ingredients). You simply toss everything into the Air Fryer, and in no time at all, you can be shoveling a hearty portion of Käsespätzle onto your plate… Doesn’t sound too bad, right?!

thesis Air Fryer cheese spaetzle are slightly different from the original, of course. The basic ingredients might be similar, but the result is different. Not bad, not worse, just different. You’ll notice this most notably with the onions. In the traditional version, the onions are typically sautéed for quite some time until they are beautifully caramelized and browned. This makes them sweeter and extra delicious. That’s not going to happen here in the air fryer. Sorry.

Personally, this doesn’t really bother us, although die-hard Käsespätzle enthusiasts and alike might take issue with it. In an Air Fryer, the onions will get a little crispy at the most, provided you don’t bury them underneath the cheese… but classic caramelized onions? Not gonna happen.

Of course, you could sauté the onions separately in a frying pan while the noodles and cheese are getting to know each other in the Air Fryer. So, if you absolutely insist on having them that way, it’s certainly something you can do. That said, you’d probably need to start on the onions a bit earlier, as they take quite a while to cook. But still, it’s acceptable. However, at that point, the dish isn’t quite as simple as it could be…

As for the ingredients – everything should be fairly easy to find in German supermarkets. Nowadays, you can pick up refrigerated Spätzle at just about any supermarket, at any price point. Store-bought or homemade Knöpfle (the smaller version of the egg noodles) would work here as well. As for the oven cheese – you can find it almost anywhere as well. Discounter supermarkets, for instance, often carry cheaper versions…. I know that cheese can be quite pricey in regular supermarkets/shops. Whether cheap or expensive, I definitely recommend opting for a milder variety of oven cheese. An extremely sharp or pungent cheese might just be a bit too much for some palates.

We also have the “original” version of this dish here on the blog, of course. Classic Swabian Käsespätzle (German Mac ‘n’ Cheese) topped with “g Schmelzte” (sautéed) onions. It’s an absolutely delicious dish. Though, as mentioned earlier, it’s a bit more labor-intensive than the Air Fryer version. If you have the time, however, it’s certainly worth giving a try!

We also have another dish that is similar to Käsespätzle but with a little twist, for example. We call it Swabian Knöpfle with Gorgonzola & Spinach. It’s an incredibly tasty dish and full of flavors. If you use refrigerated noodles from the supermarket, this dish is also quite simple to prepare and will be on the table in no time.

INGREDIENTS / INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS / PREPARATION

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