Bread Dumplings – Czech Houskové knedlíky

What is the real pride of Czech cuisine? That’s right – bread dumplings, houskové knedlíky! Since I’m from the Czech Republic, it would be inexcusable if I didn’t post a recipe for traditional Bohemian dumplings made from yeast dough.

What Are Czech Bread Dumplings

Knedlíky (plural) or knedle are one of the most common side dishes in Czech cuisine. The best-known type is called houskové knedlíky (bread dumplings).

Czech bread dumplings are kneaded out of flour, egg, yeast (fresh or instant), salt, and bread cubes, shaped in a cylinder roll, then boiled or steamed. Cooked dumpling rolls are sliced and served warm, typically with iconic Czech sauces like Svíčková or Rajská.

NOTE: There is another version of bread dumplings known in the Czech Republic; made by using baking powder instead of yeast. However, that baking powder recipe calls for little different ingredients.

Let’s be clear:

Today I’m talking about dumplings WITHOUT baking powder. This recipe is for yeast bread dumplings.

My tip: If you want to try another classic type of Czech dumplings, my honest pick is these potato dumplings called "Chlupaté knedlíky".

But hey, do you prefer sweets? I have Ovocné knedlíky (Czech fruit dumplings) for you, and they are definitely worth trying!

Pronunciation

I recorded a short audio clip on how to pronounce the Czech word knedlíky. The first word in the audio is "knedlíky", the last is "houskové knedlíky", which means bread dumplings.

Ingredients

You’ll need only a few ingredients to make homemade bread dumplings from scratch. Let’s have a look at them:

• Flour, the best flour for making dumplings, is coarse flour. We call it „hrubá mouka“ here in the Czech Republic. I know there it’s a problem to get coarse flour abroad. I’ve researched the topic a bit and will take a closer look at the bread dumplings flours further in the article.
• Milk, lukewarm, to activate the yeast. It can be substituted with warm water if you don’t have milk on hand.
• Egg, enhances the taste and the color.
• Salt
• Yeast, Czechs use fresh yeast, and so did I in this recipe. The dumplings will rise even if you use instant yeast, though. The dough doesn’t contain any fat, and that’s why it needs only a little yeast to rise.
• Pinch of sugar, to feed yeast.
• Bread cubes, made from stale rolls.

Instructions

Step 1: Dice stale white bread

Start with cutting bread. Cut the stale white bread into ⅓-inch cubes. The bread should be 2-3 days old, not fresh.

Step 2: Make dumpling dough

Combine the flour with 2 pinches of salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Put yeast in the center, sprinkle with a pinch of sugar (photo 1). Pour in ⅓ of lukewarm milk and stir with a little flour using a fork (photo 2). Let it sit for 5 minutes until yeast dissolve.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining milk with an egg (photo 3). Add to flour with yeast (photo 4).

Step 3: Knead the dough

Knead the dumpling dough until smooth. Use your hands (my choice) or a kitchen mixer with a proper attachment. Sprinkle with a bit of flour if the dough is too sticky.

Only now add cubed bread and combine.

Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 45 minutes in a warm place until double (photos 5+6).

Step 4: Make dumpling loaves

Meantime, prepare a pot with low boiling salted water to boil the dumpling or a steamer in case you intend to steam the dumpling.

Divide the proofed dough into two pieces, form a cylinder shape out of each piece. One loaf should be about 10-inch (25 cm) long and 4-inch (10 cm) thick.

Step 5: Cook dumplings

There are two tried methods to cook dumplings: boiling and steaming. Choose one of these.

Boiled dumplings: Boil the dumplings in simmering salted water for 18 minutes, flipping the roll halfway through (after 9 minutes). Cover the pot with a lid while boiling.

Steamed dumplings: Steam the dumplings for 25 minutes in a pot with a suitable steamer insert or in a steamer covered with a lid. Do not flip the dumpling while steaming.

Step 6: Finish cooked dumplings

Take out the cooked dumplings carefully. A large dumpling spatula might be useful.

If you boiled the dumplings, prick them immediately a few times with a fork. Pricking the rolls when taken out of the water is necessary. Otherwise, the steam would remain inside, and the dumplings wouldn’t be as fluffy as they should be.

Do not prick steamed dumplings since they don’t absorb as much water as their boiled siblings.

If you don’t serve the dumplings right after cooking, brush their surface with a little melted lard or butter. This way, the dumpling rolls remain soft, and the surface won’t dry out.

Step 7: Slice the dumplings

The old-fashioned technique of how Czechs slice knedlíky is using a cotton thread. You can cut a still warm dumpling roll with a very sharp knife. Or use a dumpling cutter and slice the whole roll in one go.

How to Cook Dumplings

An important note on the dumpling cooking dilemma:

✅ There are two tried and tested ways; either to boil knedlíky in simmering water or to steam them.

Steamed dumplings will always offer the most visually appealing result. They will be inside soft and pretty smooth, with a regular shape, not mushy on the surface. You need to steam dumplings for 25 minutes without flipping them.

If you boil the dumplings, the boiling water will be erosive to the dumplings. Their surface won’t be perfectly symetrical, and they will be a little bit less fluffy inside. Knedlíky are boiled in simmering water for 18 minutes and need to be flipped in the middle of the cooking time.

Get a direct visual: There is a steamed dumpling on the left side, right a boiled variant. Both made with the same recipe, just the way I cooked them was different:

My tip: Would you love to try steaming dumplings instead of boiling? You don't need to have a fancy steamer; there are really cheap steam rack inserts you can use in your own pots. Be aware: Once you try steaming, you’ll never want to go back to boiling 😊

How do sliced knedlíky look like? On the left, there are a few slices of steamed dumplings. On the right the boiled dumpling’s slices. (Good news: Both boiled and steamed dumplings taste great!):

What Flour to Use

Czechs use coarse flour (Hrubá mouka) as the basic ingredient for dumpling dough. I know there is a problem to find this kind of flour abroad.

I researched a few internet forums, and there were some useful tips to substitute the Czech coarse flour, especially if you are based in the US:

• Use Wondra flour, or mix it with all-purpose flour.
• You can also substitute some all-purpose flour with farina (krupička).
• Some people refer that a cup of bread flour can help with the texture of dumplings.
• If you have only all-purpose flour, always steam dumplings instead of boil that knedlíky are not too dense. It's a must to steam dumplings if less coarse flour is used.

TIP: These old country Czech dumplings are also ideal for goulash!

Bread for Dumplings

The bread dumplings are called the “bread” ones for a reason. It’s because they contain diced white bread. The best bread for dumplings is white bread with a golden crust. Czechs typically use rohlík or housky.

The white bread must be 2-3 days old and stale, or it falls apart in the dough and will not be recognizable in the finished product.

Soft and delicate pastry like toast bread will make the finished dumpling soak up the sauce and basically disintegrate before you're done eating.

A nifty trick: If you only have fresh bread, put it in the oven to dry out for a while.

Knedlíky should contain about 10-30 % of bread cubes. Less bread will not be recognizable in the dough and more will make the dough practically uncookable by normal means.

If you like dumplings with a lot of pastry, try making karlovarský knedlík.

😉 Any dumpling leftovers in your fridge? Try this easy Czech recipe: Knedlíky s vajíčkem

FAQs

The recipe for these dumplings is inspired by a famous Czech cookbook „The Great Cookbook of Bohemia and Moravia“ by Roman Vaněk.

Try out another popular Czech side dish: Šťouchané brambory