Cheese Bread Dumplings, better known as Kaspressknödel, is an Austrian regional Knödel dumpling variety.
Those are great comfort foods and help you to use up stale bread.
Global Food Recipes
with Spices and Herbs
Free E-Book available for a limited time. Grab yours now and get instantly inspired!
You missed out!
Jump to:
What are Pressknödel?
Pressknödel are flattened cheese bread dumplings.
They are a specialty in the region of Tyrol, Austria, and South Tyrol, Italy.
The word Pressknödel means a pressed-down dumpling (Knödel are dumplings).
These cheese bread “patties” are special because they are my winter comfort food.
Most visitors to Austria usually get to try them out as they are presented as soup dumplings with a clear soup.
Advantages making them
Yep, these dumplings taste so delicious that most of us get addicted to them, but that's not the reason they are so great.
The dumplings were created by peasants to use up leftover stale bread because back then people would not waste food.
The zero-waste, sustainable, and eco-friendly diet (yep, that's a thing!) is an advocate for dinner meals that reuse foods that are not necessarily spoiled but stale.
Your stale bread is cut into cubes or chunks and is turned into a wonderful dish, almost effortlessly.
How to make it?
Step 1
Sautee chopped onion soft in a pan with butter.
Combine the sauteed onion, cubed stale bread, milk, eggs, cheese and seasoning in a bowl.
Step 2
Leave the mass to rest for at least 30 minutes and mix it all up again just before shaping.
Shape into same-sized balls (not too large).
Step 3
Heat up a frying pan with butter or oil and wait for the oil to get hot enough.
Place a few dumplings into the pan and press them gently down. Don't overcrowd the pan.
Cook on both sides until golden brown.
Serve hot.
📖 Recipe
Cheese Bread Dumplings (Pressknödel) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Onion chopped
- 2 Tablespoon Butter
- 7 ounces Stale Bread cubed, *see Notes
- 7 ounces Cheese grated, *see Notes
- 2 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- 1 Teaspoon Oregano Dried or Marjoram
- 6.7 fluid ounces Milk
Instructions
- Heat up a pan with 1 tablespoon butter and sautee your onion soft. Take from heat when done and keep aside.
- Add to a large bowl the sauteed onion, stale bread cut in cubes, cheese, all-purpose flour, eggs, salt, black pepper, oregano or marjoram, and the milk.
- Mix it all with your hands to a semi-dry/wet mass. It should be able to stick together. If it's too wet or dry adjust by adding small quantities of flour, stale bread or milk.
- Leave the mass to rest for 30 minutes at least.
- Mix again the mass before shaping and then take some bread dumpling mass into your hand and shape into a tight sticking ball. Repeat the process with the remaining mass and keep the dumplings on a pan.
- Heat up the same pan from earlier with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Wait for it to get hot but don't get to smoking point.
- Take dumplings and press into the hot pan to create flattened dumplings. Fill up the pan but don't overcrowd. There should be enough space to turn the dumplings.
- Control the heat all the time and turn dumplings to cook on both sides golden crispy.
- Serve still hot. See serving suggestions in the post.
Notes
- You can use stale bread or you can buy prepared cubed stale bread, just like the one you would use for your thanksgiving stuffing.
- Pick a flavorful cheese of your choice. We use mountain cheese but something like a sharp cheddar is a good choice too.
Nutrition
Serving
Traditionally these flat Tyrolean dumplings are served with a clear soup.
I just love them with a green salad at the side.
Normally we serve them up for lunch or dinner, but we always make some extra.
That way they can be enjoyed as a savory afternoon snack too.
FAQs
Traditionally, mountain cheese or beer cheese is used. You can choose any other well-seasoned, salty cheese. The cheese gives all the flavors to these bread patties, making cheese the main ingredient.
Stale white bread, such as bread rolls, is used to make these bread dumplings. You can use stale country-style bread too or the same cubed stale bread that you would use for a Thanksgiving holiday stuffing.
Yes, you can freeze these Knödel dumplings. Just prepare and shape them as per the recipe directions and place them on a sheet pan in the freezer. When hard frozen, take them out and place them frozen into containers and back into the freezer until further use. To thaw, keep in the fridge overnight or use the defrost function on your oven or microwave.
No, these are not German dumplings because these bread dumplings are a regional specialty from Austria. The North Italian region of South Tyrol shares this dumpling 'specialty with the Austrian North Tyrol region. South Tyrol was annexed by Italy after WWI. Hitler then sealed the deal by renouncing South Tyrol in a deal with Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy.
More Knödel Dumpling Recipes
- Semmelknödel (plain round bread dumplings)
- Bratknödel (with beef)
- Canederli North Italian dumplings recipe by disgracesonthemenu.com
- Marillenknödel (sweet apricot dumplings)
Hello, I would like to follow the recipe accurately but what is mountain cheese? Can you give some examples or similar cheese in the US? Sharp cheddar is very strong, but it is most similar to mountain cheese?
Hi Flora,
Thanks for the question. Mountain cheese in also known as Bergkäse and many varieties exist across the European alps. The one used to make this regional specialty, in the Tyrol region, is known simply as Tiroler Bergkäse. Unfortunately, getting this cheese anywhere outside of Austria is almost impossible. Therefore, to make this recipe the best way possible, I recommend using a mountain cheese OR a strong flavored cheese.
Some of the more famous mountain cheese that you may be able to get abroad (US, Asia, etc.) include the Emmental from Switzerland, Raclette from Switzerland or France, Gruyère cheese from Switzerland, Appenzeller from Switzerland, Comte from France, Allgäuer from Germany, and Fontina from Italy. Yet, I know it's hard to get these cheese varieties anywhere outside Europe; therefore, I recommend a sharp or full-bodied cheddar instead. Mountain cheese are flavorful, sharp, well-seasoned, salty, full-bodied cheese. I, personally, use a sharp cheddar when I'm in Asia to make these cheese bread dumplings.
Now, if you only get regular cheddar or pizza cheese in your grocery store, I'd say still make these cheese bread dumplings because it will still taste great. BUT a good quality, flavorful cheese can take these dumplings to a whole new flavor experience.
I hope this helps Flora. 🙂
Clarification: South Tirol, for 550 years, was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and was annexed by the Italians in 1918 at the end of WW I. It had nothing to do with Hitler.
Your recipe sounds great!
Hi Ruth, thank you, the recipe is great, you should try it! That said, I changed the misleading wording about South Tyrol. Yes, South Tyrol was annexed by Italy after WW1 but Hitler fixed it in 1939 with Mussolini. There was no return anymore due to the South Tyrol option agreement which left many as refugees. Their ancestors live in Tyrol Austria now and in most places you will have a corner called South Tyrolean settlement.
I’ve just had these in a beef broth in Innsbruck, came back to my hotel and had to search for anything near what I had. Your post and recipe have convinced me that this is indeed what I had. I. Can. Not. Wait. to get home to try these. I’ll repost to let you know how they turn out. Now…. do you have a recipe for the beef broth?
Hi Catherine. Yeah, sure let us know how you liked them. 🙂 I still have not posted the beef broth, although we made this one countless times in school. I did post a vegetarian version of the broth. So, you can use that clear broth recipe and just add a chunk of beef broth meat to the cooking process. When you sauté the onions, you have to just add the meat at that point to brown it on all sides, then add the vegetables and spices and water. Just follow the clear broth soup recipe for the rest.