German Potato Dumplings
German Potato Dumplings
Servings Prep Time
6 20minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
45minutes 15minutes
Servings Prep Time
6 20minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
45minutes 15minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Finely grate half of your peeled potatoes. You’ll want to use the side of a box grater that looks like it was punched through with nails. It’s the side you’ve likely never used, and also the hardest to clean. DON’T use the shredding side, it won’t be fine enough. The trick here is to grate each potato halfway, we’re going to boil the other halves.
  2. While the potatoes are boiling, cover your raw, grated potatoes with a bit of water and a splash of white vinegar (The vinegar will keep your potatoes from turning brown, hopefully).
  3. Over a medium bowl, using cheesecloth or a clean dish towel, squeeze the liquid from the raw potato. Squeeze hard! Remove as much liquid as you can, and set the bowl aside. Keep the water.
  4. In a medium frying pan, add 2 Tbsps of butter and fry your bread. You’re making croutons here, get ’em nice and crispy.
  5. Are the boiled potatoes done yet? Test them with a fork, drain the water and let them cool, then mash them in a large bowl.
  6. Remember that potato water we saved? If you still have it, very gently, tilt the bowl. At the bottom there should be some thick white stuff, see it? That my friends, is potato starch. Carefully drain the water until you have just the starch left. If you accidentally tossed the water or used unstarchy potatoes, you can use corn starch, tapioca starch, or flour instead.
  7. When your mashed potatoes are cool, add the starch, grated potato, egg, breadcrumbs, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until combined. I used my hands, it’s more fun that way. To bring these to the next level, add half a finely grated onion to the dough. Pulse it in a food processor instead of grating to save yourself some tears.
  8. Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil and form the dumplings. With a handful of dough, baseball-sized, roll it into a ball. Using your thumbs, form a hole in the center and stuff it with several cubes of bread. (Add more than I did, I didn’t add enough.) Pushing the bread down, seal up the hole, trying not to leave too much air on the inside.
  9. Boil the dumplings in some salted water. They should float when done; mine floated almost immediately. If yours are stubborn like mine, boil them for about 15-20 minutes. And you’re done!
Recipe Notes

TIP I used Russet Potatoes, which are pretty bland and tasteless to begin with. Try some Yukon Golds or even Red Potatoes if you’re feeling adventurous.

DON’T use rye bread. Rye bread will likely be too dense and not crisp up when you fry it.