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Maultaschen – plated and served
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Maultaschen

Swabian dumplings with sausage meat and spinach, and the dough needs plenty of egg to hold the filling.

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Preparation
1 hr
Cook/bake time
20 min
Total
1 hr 50 min
Difficulty
Advanced
Calories
936 kcal
Servings
4
Prep
1 hr
Cooking & baking
20 min
Resting
30 min

Only 1 hr 20 min of that is hands-on – the rest takes care of itself.

Swabian dumplings with sausage meat and spinach, and the dough needs plenty of egg to hold the filling. Legend has it that Cistercian monks in Maulbronn hid meat in the dough during Lent, which is why Maultaschen are still called "Herrgottsbscheißerle" (little God-cheaters) today. No one knows if it is true; the dish is good regardless.

Why this works

Maultaschen dough contains significantly more egg than regular pasta dough, and this has a mechanical reason: egg proteins coagulate during cooking and form a second, firm network in addition to the gluten structure. Only then can the paper-thin rolled dough hold a heavy, moist filling without tearing open in the cooking water. The second point concerns the spinach: it must be squeezed out really vigorously after blanching. Blanched spinach still contains an enormous amount of water, and this water escapes as steam when cooking in the closed dumpling and bursts the seam. For the same reason, the filling is used completely cooled. The fact that Maultaschen are cooked in broth and not in salted water is also no coincidence, the dough absorbs flavor, and the broth becomes soup.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Knead the pasta dough

    Knead the flour, eggs, oil, and salt for ten minutes into a firm, smooth dough and add only as much water as necessary. It is significantly firmer than usual pasta dough, that is how it should be. Wrap it up and let it rest for thirty minutes.

  2. Really squeeze out the spinach

    Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds, shock it in cold water, and squeeze it out with your hands as vigorously as you can. An astonishing amount of water comes out, and every milliliter of it would later burst the seam. Then chop finely.

  3. Mix the filling

    Mix the spinach, ground meat, sausage meat, the squeezed soaked bread, the sweated onions, egg, parsley, and nutmeg. Season generously and let cool completely, warm filling creates steam in the closed dumpling.

  4. Roll out and fill

    Roll the dough out to about one millimeter and cut strips ten centimeters wide. Place tablespoon-sized mounds of filling on it at a distance of eight centimeters, brush the spaces in between with water, fold the strip over, and press the edges firmly together. Cut into squares.

  5. Let steep in broth

    Let the Maultaschen steep in **simmering, not boiling** broth for ten to twelve minutes. Bubbling water tears the seams open. Either serve in the broth as a soup or remove and pan-fry with butter and fried onions.

Our best tips

  • Really squeeze out the spinach until nothing more comes out. It is the most common reason for burst Maultaschen.
  • The broth must not bubble. A gentle simmer is enough, visible boiling tears the seams open.
  • Maultaschen freeze excellently, raw and individually pre-frozen on a tray. Frozen directly into the broth, three minutes longer.

Tasty variations

Geschmälzte Maultaschen

Cut into slices and pan-fried with egg and onions. The Swabian secondary use and for many the actual purpose.

Vegetarian

Replace the ground meat and sausage meat with 400 g ricotta and 100 g grated mountain cheese. The spinach carries the dish anyway.

Nutrition facts

Per serving (1 portion)
Calories936 kcal
Protein48 g
Carbohydrates85 g
– of which sugar5 g
Fat43 g
Fiber7 g

Where the 936 kcal come from

per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it

We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:

  • Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
  • Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
  • Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
  • Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.

A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.

How we calculate nutrition →

Frequently asked questions

Why do my Maultaschen burst open?

The spinach was not squeezed out enough or the broth boiled instead of simmered. Both lead to steam forming in the dumpling or movement from the outside reaching the seam.

How many calories do Maultaschen have?

Around 935 kcal per serving for four servings, that is about four to five pieces and a complete main meal. Served in the broth without butter, the value is about 800 kcal.

Where does the name "Herrgottsbscheißerle" come from?

Legend has it that monks in the Maulbronn monastery hid the meat in the dough during Lent to hide it from the Lord. The story is not historically proven, but it is still gladly told.

Can I use ready-made pasta dough?

Only to a limited extent. Maultaschen dough contains significantly more egg than regular pasta dough, and this additional protein holds the heavy filling. With standard pasta dough, they are more likely to tear open.

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