Deutsche Küche Cheese Spaetzle and Garlic Sage Spaetzle

It’s German week again at Aldi. This is a special time of year that ranks up there in excitement with the release of the annual Advent calendars or even the arrival of a new batch of Aldi fan gear. Aldi has origins in Germany, so it’s natural that they occasionally stock some German and European foods, and many Aldi shoppers look forward to picking up these treats.

German week typically happens twice a year at Aldi, once in the spring and once again in the fall. There might be random times during the rest of the year when a couple of German products will show up. However, you’ll find the biggest selection of German products during those twice-yearly official German weeks. This is when you’re likely to find products including the following:

My family loves noodles and dumplings of any kind. I have long been a fan of the shelf-stable packets of cheese egg spaetzle that Aldi sells during German week. I also like the plain spaetzle sold in shelf-stable bags at Aldi.

A few Aldi Reviewer readers have recommended keeping an eye out for the frozen packages of spaetzle at Aldi for a more authentic experience, mostly in terms of the spaetzle shape, as traditionally made spaetzle is a bit of a cross between dumplings and noodles and doesn’t always have a clean-cut noodle shape. So when I spotted some frozen spaetzle during the most recent German week at Aldi, I picked up a bag in each flavor: cheese, and garlic sage. These sometimes also come in a mushroom flavor, but I didn’t see that flavor this time.

Spaetzle are a variety of egg noodle or dumpling that originated in Europe, and the word literally means “little sparrows.” The noodles have a texture that is a little chewy and similar to dumplings. Spaetzle are often associated with Swabia in southwestern Germany. You can serve them with butter, fried onions, and some cheese, or serve them alongside schnitzel. (As in “schnitzel with noodles,” from the popular song in The Sound of Music.)

Deutsche Küche Cheese Spaetzle and Deutsche Küche Garlic Sage Spaetzle are Aldi Finds, which means they’re only in stores for a short time. Each store receives one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re gone until the next German week at Aldi. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that are not currently in stock at your local store.

This spaetzle cost $4.99 for a 20-ounce package at the time of publication. With about five 1-cup servings per package, that comes out to about $1 per serving, or about 25 cents per ounce.

These are a product of France. (Yes, not everything under the Deutsche Küche house brand is actually from Germany. Some things are only “German-inspired” or generally European.)

If you’re looking out for allergens, both the cheese and garlic sage spaetzle contain wheat, egg, and milk.

The packages have directions for cooking this from frozen in the microwave (the preferred method) or in a skillet.

To microwave, open the bag and pour the frozen contents into a microwave-safe bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave oven and cook on high (900 watts) for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let stand for 1-2 minutes before serving.

To cook in a skillet, open the bag and pour the contents into a warm skillet. Cook uncovered on medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let stand for 1-2 minutes before serving.

I heated this spaetzle in my microwave oven, and it was plenty hot and ready to serve after 8 minutes. I served it alongside some beef schnitzel and vegetables for a complete dinner.

Keep reading for more information about each flavor.

Deutsche Küche Cheese Spaetzle:

Cheese spaetzle ready to serve after microwaving. There are a lot of onions.

The package states this cheese spaetzle features “spaetzle pasta with mozzarella cheese and raclette cheese.”

This has a lot of diced onions in it and, in fact, the onion flavor seems stronger than the cheese flavor. This has more sauce to it than the garlic sage flavor, which is a plus. My family had mixed opinions about this cheese spaetzle. I liked this flavor the best because it has more sauce, but other people thought it had too much onion flavor and not enough cheese flavor.

As far as the noodles/dumplings themselves go, they’re good. They’re soft, a little chewy, and are a nice cross between a noodle and a dumpling.

Deutsche Küche Cheese Spaetzle nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The ingredients list includes spaetzle pasta, water, onion, cream, mozzarella cheese, raclette cheese, balsamic vinegar, rice flour, sugar, salt, caramel color, white pepper, and nutmeg.

This does contain a bit of fat, some sodium, and carbs. A 1-cup serving of this cheese spaetzle has 160 calories, 4 grams of total fat (5% DV), 2.5 grams of saturated fat (12% DV), 35 mg of cholesterol (12% DV), 500 mg of sodium (22% DV), 24 grams of total carbohydrates (9% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (7% DV), 3 grams of total sugars, no added sugars (at least not enough to count on the nutrition panel), and 7 grams of protein.

Deutsche Küche Garlic Sage Spaetzle:

Garlic sage spaetzle ready to serve after microwaving.

The package states this garlic sage spaetzle features “spaetzle pasta with mozzarella cheese in a sage and garlic sauce.”

My family liked the flavor of this garlic sage spaetzle better than the cheese spaetzle. It has fewer onions. However, the garlic sage spaetzle is on the drier side. It doesn’t have the amount of sauce that its cheese spaetzle sibling has. That might be improved by adding a bit of cream or extra mozzarella.

Again, the noodle dumplings themselves are fine in this dish. It could just use a little sauce.

Deutsche Küche Garlic Sage Spaetzle nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

Ingredients include spaetzle pasta, water, mozzarella cheese, butter, onion, sunflower oil, rice flour, sage, garlic puree, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg.

This also has some fat, sodium, and carbs. A 1-cup serving has 190 calories, 6 grams of total fat (8% DV), 2.5 grams of saturated fat (13% DV), 30 mg of cholesterol (10% DV), 500 mg of sodium (22% DV), 27 grams of total carbohydrates (10% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (7% DV), 1 gram of total sugars, no added sugars, and 7 grams of protein.

The Verdict:

Deutsche Küche Cheese Spaetzle and Deutsche Küche Garlic Sage Spaetzle are sold frozen, and all you have to do is dump them in a bowl and microwave them, or heat them on the stovetop. These feature soft, chewy dumpling-like noodles.

The cheese spaetzle has a strong onion flavor and could use more cheese flavor, while the garlic sage spaetzle has good flavor but is a bit dry and could use some more sauce. The spaetzle shape may be more authentic with these frozen options, but we prefer the flavor and sauce of some of the shelf-stable spaetzle options at Aldi. Personal opinions may vary, though, so we recommend trying all the spaetzle options when you find them at Aldi.