Chef Klaus
Bayerisches Griebenschmalz
Bavarian Brotzeit in a crock: slow-rendered pork fat, browned cracklings, onion, and apple, set firm for dark bread because the cheapest part of the pig still deserves proper work.
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Bayerischer Wurstsalat
Created by
The Bavarian beer-garden salad that lives by the cut: thin sausage strips, raw onion, vinegar and oil, no cheese, rested long enough to taste like supper.
Appetizers & Snacks
German
Picnic
Game Day
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings
Bayerischer Wurstsalat belongs to the Biergarten and the Brotzeit table, the cold meal of sausage, bread, mustard, and something sharp enough to make another bite useful. In Bavaria I make it with Regensburger or a good Lyoner-style sausage, cut into fine strips, dressed with vinegar, oil, onion, and a little pickle. No cheese. That is the Bavarian line.
The argument starts as soon as you cross regions. In Swabia and Baden you see Schweizer Wurstsalat with Emmentaler, in Alsace and the southwest there are cousins with cheese and different sausage. Fine. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. Here the sausage stands on its own, and the vinegar does the lifting.
The cut decides the dish. Slice the sausage too thick and the dressing sits outside like rain on a coat. Cut it into narrow strips and give it an hour, and the vinegar, onion, and pickle brine work into every edge without turning it sour. Das braucht seine Zeit, even when the cooking is no cooking at all.
Taste before you salt. The sausage is already seasoned, the pickles bring brine, and the onion sharpens as it sits. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss. Serve it cold with rye or a Laugenbreze, mustard at the side, and don't bury it under garnish. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Wurstsalat grew from the southern German Brotzeit and Biergarten tradition of the nineteenth century, when cooked sausages, bread, onion, vinegar, and beer made a practical cold meal away from the stove. The Bavarian version is usually kept without cheese, while Swiss and southwestern German versions add Emmentaler and sometimes use different cooked sausages, a regional split still visible on Gasthof menus. Regensburger sausage itself is tied to Regensburg, where small scalded pork sausages became a local specialty, especially around the historic sausage kitchen by the Danube.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Regensburger sausage or good Lyoner-style cooked sausage
Quantity
500g
peeled and cut into thin strips
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
sliced into very thin half-moons
dill pickles
Quantity
3 small
cut into thin strips
white wine vinegar
Quantity
3 tablespoons
pickle brine
Quantity
2 tablespoons
neutral oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed
Quantity
4 tablespoons
mild German mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
sugar
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
salt (optional)
Quantity
only if needed
chives
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely snipped
rye bread or Laugenbrezen
Quantity
to serve
German mustard
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Regensburger sausage or good Lyoner-style cooked sausagepeeled and cut into thin strips | 500g |
| white onionsliced into very thin half-moons | 1 medium |
| dill picklescut into thin strips | 3 small |
| white wine vinegar | 3 tablespoons |
| pickle brine | 2 tablespoons |
| neutral oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed | 4 tablespoons |
| mild German mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| sugar | 1/2 teaspoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| salt (optional) | only if needed |
| chivesfinely snipped | 2 tablespoons |
| rye bread or Laugenbrezen | to serve |
| German mustard | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp chef's knife
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Small whisk
Instructions
- 1
Cut the sausage
Peel the Regensburger if the casing is tough, then cut the sausage into thin strips, about the width of a matchstick. This is the whole discipline. Thin strips give the dressing edges to grip; thick coins stay bland in the middle and taste like cold sausage with vinegar nearby.
- 2
Tame the onion
Slice the onion into very thin half-moons and put it in a bowl with the vinegar and pickle brine for 10 minutes. The acid takes the raw bite off the onion but keeps the crunch, so it sharpens the sausage instead of bullying it.
- 3
Make the dressing
Whisk the mustard and sugar into the onion vinegar until the sugar dissolves, then whisk in the oil and a hard grind of black pepper. Do not salt yet. The sausage and pickles already carry salt, and adding more now is how a clean salad turns brackish.
Use a mild white wine vinegar, not a harsh cleaning-vinegar sort of bottle. Wurstsalat should taste bright and sharp, not punished. - 4
Dress and rest
Add the sausage strips and pickles to the dressing and turn everything through with your hands or two spoons until every strip is slick. Cover and rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Das braucht seine Zeit: the sausage drinks in the vinegar at the cut edges, and the onion settles into the dressing.
- 5
Finish cold
Stir again, taste the dressing at the bottom of the bowl, and add salt only if it truly needs it. Scatter over the chives just before serving so they stay green and fresh. Serve cold with rye bread or Laugenbrezen and mustard on the side. Nicht aus dem Glas, except the mustard. Even I allow mustard to be mustard.
Chef Tips
- •Buy a sausage with a clean pork flavour and a firm slice. Regensburger is the Bavarian choice; good Lyoner works when Regensburger isn't available. A smoky or heavily spiced sausage drags the salad away from the Biergarten table.
- •Cut by hand if you can. A machine makes tidy slices, but hand-cut strips have slight rough edges, and those edges hold the dressing better.
- •Do not add cheese and still call it Bayerischer Wurstsalat. Cheese takes you toward Schweizer Wurstsalat, a good dish from another line. This one is sausage, onion, vinegar, oil, and enough patience.
- •Keep the pickle brine. Weggeworfen wird nichts. A spoon or two in the dressing gives sourness, salt, and the cucumber note without making the salad watery.
- •Serve it cold, not ice-cold. Ten minutes out of the refrigerator lets the oil loosen and the sausage taste like itself again.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the salad 1 to 4 hours ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator; the rest is what makes the dressing move into the sausage.
- •For a next-day salad, hold back the chives until serving and stir in one extra teaspoon of vinegar if the sausage has swallowed the dressing overnight.
- •Do not assemble it two days ahead. The onion goes dull, the sausage softens, and the clean snap is gone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 280g)
Calories
710 calories
Total Fat
51 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
37 g
Cholesterol
75 mg
Sodium
2400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
42 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
21 g
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