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German Potato Dumplings

A boiled dumpling made from grated potatoes, bread crumbs, onion, bacon, nutmeg, salt, bread bits, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

German Potato Dumplings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the potatoes

  1. Boil the potatoes.

  2. Grate the boiled potatoes.

Make the dough

  1. Combine the grated potatoes, bread crumbs, onion, bacon, nutmeg, salt, and bread bits in a bowl.

  2. Fry the bacon in a pan until light brown.

  3. Remove the bacon and fry the bread bits in the same grease.

  4. Add the fried bacon to the potato mixture.

  5. Mix in the eggs until well combined.

Shape and cook

  1. On a floured surface, form the mixture into medium-sized balls.

  2. Boil the dumplings in slightly salted water until cooked through.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,997 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Bread + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,676 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the starchy bulk of the dumplings, giving them body after grating.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the dumplings hold their shape while boiling.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture from the grated potato, helping the dough hold together.
Bacon
Adds fat and savory flavor to the dumplings.
Bread
Fried bread bits add crunchy texture and a toasted, fatty flavor.

The step that matters

Mixing in the eggs and forming the balls. Grated potato releases water and starch, so the dough can turn loose or sticky. Well-combined eggs and a floured surface help the balls keep their shape instead of breaking apart in the boiling water.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, bread, nutmeg, egg):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, bread, nutmeg, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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