With just two ingredients and a bit of effort, you can create delicious homemade soup noodles! These noodles taste best when paired with chicken or beef soup.
This noodle recipe comes from the Czech Republic, where it has a long tradition. Bohemian grannies mostly used to prepare noodles in summer when the hens laid enough eggs. They cut the thinly rolled egg dough into fine flat strips, and these were dried for use in winter.
To make egg noodles from scratch, you only need eggs and flour. No salt, any fat, or spices. More on this further in the recipe.
MY TIP: Instead of egg noodles, use celestýnské noodles in the soup (another Czech specialty!)
➜ Ingredients
To make flour noodles with egg for soup, you will need:
- Fresh egg
- All-purpose flour
Easy, that's enough!
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with photos
STEP 1: Pour the flour into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack an egg into it (photo 1). Gradually beat the egg and flour with a fork until a dough forms. Dump this and the remaining flour onto a floured surface and work it into a semi-stiff dough (photo 2).
If the dough sticks, dust it with a tablespoon of flour and work it into the dough.
STEP 2: Wrap the dough in cling film (photo 3) and leave it to rest for 15 minutes. Using a rolling pin, roll it out into a sheet of thin dough, aiming for a rectangle or square with as regular edges as possible. Expect this part to require a bit of physical work.
The dough should be half-transparent; I purposely put it on a tea towel so you can see the stripes shining through.
I measured the rolled-out dough, and the rectangle was about 18x14 inches (45x35 cm).
STEP 3: Now, let the dough sheet dry for about 30 minutes. If you let it dry longer, the over-dried dough would break when you cut the noodles. A well-dried dough is relatively elastic when folded, and it does not crack.
STEP 4: Cut the dough into strips about 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Cut off any irregular edges. Stack two strips on top of each other and cut into thin noodles. Noodles should be about as wide as a straw.
I use an 8-inch chef's knife for smooth work.
There you have it; fresh egg noodles are ready!
➜ How to cook egg noodles
If you're going to use fresh noodles right away, always cook them before adding to the soup. Boil them separately in a pot of salted water for two minutes (photo 1).
Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water (photo 2). That way, you stop the cooking process, and the noodles stay al dente. Then put them in a bowl with hot soup when serving.
In case you cooked the noodles directly in the soup, the remaining flour on the noodle surface could muddle the soup. The noodles also become soggy more easily when cooked directly in the soup.
➜ How to dry egg noodles
Dry the noodles for later use. Leave them in a warm, dry place. It takes about two days until thoroughly dried. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container to prevent moisture from getting to them. Well stored, they last six months or more.
Cooking dry noodles takes more time than fresh ones. Boil them alone in salted water for five minutes. Then rinse them with cold water and add them to the soup.
➜ Useful tips
- The exact amount of flour always depends on the size of the egg. I spoon and - spread two tablespoons of flour on my work surface, and if the dough is sticky, I work it in until the dough is semi-solid.
- Softer dough (with less flour) is simpler to roll out but sticks more. It would help if you sprinkled it with flour to prevent the dough strips from sticking together irrevocably when cutting the pasta.
- No salt is added to homemade pasta. Noodles gain saltiness when cooked in salted water. If you salted the noodle dough and then stored the dried pasta out of it, know that salt attracts water. The noodles could become wet and then moldy.
- If you add fat to the noodles, it will spoil with storage and ruin the pasta.
More soup recipes:
- Liver dumplings for soup
- Sauerkraut soup – Czech zelňačka
- Clear garlic soup – Czech česnečka
Tried this recipe?
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How to Make Homemade Egg Noodles for Soup
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour plus more for flouring
Instructions
- Pour ¾ cup all-purpose flour into a bowl and create a well in the center. Crack an egg into the well. Gradually beat 1 egg and flour together with a fork until a dough begins to form. Transfer the dough and any remaining flour onto a floured surface, then knead it into a semi-stiff dough. If the dough is sticky, sprinkle it with a tablespoon of flour and continue kneading until it is well incorporated.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes. Then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a thin sheet, aiming for a rectangle or square with as even edges as possible. Be prepared for this part to require some physical effort.
- Allow the dough sheet to dry for about 30 minutes. Avoid letting it dry too long, as overly dry dough will break when you cut the noodles. Properly dried dough should be relatively elastic when folded and should not crack.
- Cut the dough into strips about 2 inches (5 cm) wide, trimming any irregular edges. Stack two strips on top of each other and cut them into thin noodles, aiming for a width similar to that of a straw.
Notes
- The exact amount of flour needed depends on the size of the egg. I start by spreading two tablespoons of flour on my work surface. If the dough is sticky, I gradually work in more flour until the dough becomes semi-solid.
- Softer dough (with less flour) is simpler to roll out but sticks more. It would help if you sprinkled it with flour to prevent the dough strips from sticking together irrevocably when cutting the pasta.
- No salt is added to homemade soup noodles. Noodles gain saltiness when cooked in salted water. If you salted the noodle dough and then stored the dried pasta out of it, know that salt attracts water. The noodles could become wet and then moldy.
- How to cook fresh noodles: If you're going to use fresh noodles right away, always cook them before adding to the soup. Boil them separately in a pot of salted water for two minutes. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water (photo 2). That way, you stop the cooking process, and the noodles stay al dente. Then put them in a bowl with hot soup when serving.
- How to dry egg noodles: Dry the noodles for later use. Leave them in a warm, dry place. It takes about two days until thoroughly dried. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container to prevent moisture from getting to them. Well stored, they last six months or more. Cooking dry noodles takes more time than fresh ones. Boil them alone in salted water for five minutes. Then rinse them with cold water and add them to the soup.
T says
Your step by step explanations were just what I needed to be confident in the process. The rolling out of the noodles does indeed require some strength? Do not give up! Well worth the effort. You will never buy noodles in the store again👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Petra Kupská says
Thank you very much for your nice words!
Diana says
Your recipe, notes and all the tips are EXACTLY the same as the way my grandmother taught my mother, and how my mother taught me. My grandma made these noodles every single day and served beef noodle soup with it - the smell of saffron is wafting through my house right now as I wait to cut my noodles. I wouldn't change a thing about your recipe! However, we do cut them slightly different because we like a longer noodle. When the dough is dry enough, I roll it into a tube (like a roll of paper towels) and then I slice the noodles very thinly on the short side, I unroll then and let them dry on a tea towel. the imperfections of the noodles are perfection! Then I gently transfer the delicate noodles to a really big canaster (from the 70s) and take what I need, when I need it. I usually do 3 eggs at a time and it makes enough noodles for a big pot of soup.