These delicious German potato dumplings (Kartoffelkloesse) are amazing when served alongside rich gravy and in place of mashed potato with tons of dishes. This recipe uses just 4 ingredients and five steps to delicious dumplings every time. Plus, this recipe is gluten-free and vegan!
You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.Cook potatoes with the peel in a large pot with boiling water until fork-tender, then drain the water.
Let cool, then peel the potatoes (the weight of the cooked and peeled potatoes was 750 g or 26.45 oz). Mash them with a potato masher.
Add potato starch, salt, and nutmeg. Use your hands to knead the mixture into a smooth dough. Meanwhile, bring water and enough salt in a large pot to a simmer.
Wet your hands, take a handful of dough, and shape it into a ball. The recipe makes 6-8 potato dumplings, depending on how large you make them. You can fill some of them or leave them all plain (check the notes below for my mushroom stuffing recipe).
Reduce the heat of the pot. The water should be hot (about 80-85 degrees C resp. 176-185 degrees F) but it shouldn't boil or simmer. Carefully add the potato balls into the pot and let them cook in the water for 15 minutes, they will rise to the surface.
Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Potatoes: It's best to use all-purpose potatoes like Yukon Gold or starchy potatoes like Russet. If you use waxy potatoes, you'll need to use more potato starch. If the mixture turns out too dry, simply add a little water.
Starch: I tested the recipe twice with potato starch, twice with tapioca flour (tapioca starch is the same thing, just a different name), and also twice with cornstarch. The recipe works very well with potato starch and also great with tapioca flour. The first time I made them with cornstarch, they turned out quite mushy (that time I peeled the potatoes before I cooked them) but the second time they turned out fine (I didn't peel the potatoes before cooking).
The potato dumplings are a little sticky/gooey at first (especially the ones made with tapioca flour), but once they cool, they firm up nicely.
It's VERY important that the water doesn't boil, otherwise, the dumplings might fall apart and get mushy, no matter which starch you use!