Chef Elsa
Almjause (Alpine Hut Snack Board)
A wooden board loaded with mountain cheese, juniper-smoked Speck, air-dried Hauswürstel, handmade Liptauer, fresh Kren, and thick-cut Bauernbrot, the way Austrian Almhütten have fed hikers for generations.
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Gebackene Blunznradln
Created by
Blood sausage rounds breaded and pan-fried until the crust shatters and the inside goes creamy and dark, served on a wooden Brettl with sharp mustard and fresh Kren the way every Heuriger in the Wachau has done it for generations.
Appetizers & Snacks
Austrian
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
20 min
Active Time
15 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 servings
The first time I ate Gebackene Blunznradln I was maybe ten years old, sitting at a wooden table in a Heuriger garden somewhere outside Vienna. Gretel had ordered a Brettljause for the table, one of those big wooden boards covered in cold cuts, spreads, pickles, dark bread, and in the middle, a pile of golden fried rounds that I didn't recognize. She told me to try one with mustard. I bit through the crisp breadcrumb crust into something soft, rich, and deeply savory. I had no idea what it was, and I didn't care. It was the best thing on the board.
Blunzn is what Austrians call blood sausage. I know, that stops some people in their tracks. But if you've ever enjoyed a good black pudding with breakfast or tasted morcilla at a Spanish table, you already understand the appeal. Austrian Blunzn is a cooked sausage made with blood, pork, spices, and usually some grain or onion. It's rich, mineral, earthy, and surprisingly delicate in flavor. Sliced into thick rounds, breaded the same way you'd bread a Schnitzel, and fried in hot fat until the outside is golden and cracking and the inside has gone soft and almost creamy, it becomes one of the most satisfying bites in the Austrian kitchen.
This is Heuriger food. Wine tavern food. The kind of thing you eat outside under grape leaves with a glass of Grüner Veltliner, wiping mustard off your chin and reaching for one more. It's not complicated. Good Blunzn, a proper three-stage breading, enough fat in the pan, and sharp condiments to cut the richness. That's all it takes. The technique is the same one that makes Wiener Schnitzel great: the coating puffs away from the filling, creating that wavy, golden shell that shatters when you cut into it.
Blunzn has been a staple of Austrian peasant cooking and butchering traditions for centuries, born from the practical necessity of using every part of the animal during the autumn Hausschlachtung (home slaughter). The tradition of breading and frying it likely developed alongside the Viennese passion for breaded foods that arrived via northern Italian cooking in the 18th and 19th centuries. Gebackene Blunznradln became a signature dish of the Heuriger and Buschenschank wine taverns in Lower Austria, the Wachau, and the Burgenland, where they're still served on wooden boards alongside the Brettljause as part of a culture that Austrian wine law has protected since a decree by Emperor Josef II in 1784, granting farmers the right to sell their own wine and food directly to the public.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Blunzn (blood sausage)
Quantity
500g
well chilled
plain flour
Quantity
80g
for dredging
eggs
Quantity
2 large
beaten
fine dry breadcrumbs (Semmelbrösel)
Quantity
120g
salt
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
clarified butter or lard
Quantity
about 150ml
for frying
sharp Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or Estragonsenf)
Quantity
for serving
fresh Kren (horseradish)
Quantity
for serving
finely grated
lemon wedges (optional)
Quantity
for serving
dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Blunzn (blood sausage)well chilled | 500g |
| plain flourfor dredging | 80g |
| eggsbeaten | 2 large |
| fine dry breadcrumbs (Semmelbrösel) | 120g |
| salt | to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| clarified butter or lardfor frying | about 150ml |
| sharp Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or Estragonsenf) | for serving |
| fresh Kren (horseradish)finely grated | for serving |
| lemon wedges (optional) | for serving |
| dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy-bottomed frying pan (28cm)
- •Three shallow dishes for breading station
- •Slotted spoon or fish slice
- •Wooden Brettl or serving board
Instructions
- 1
Slice the Blunzn
Take the Blunzn straight from the fridge. It needs to be cold and firm. Cut it into rounds about one and a half centimeters thick. If the sausage is soft and warm, it will smear under the knife and fall apart during breading. Cold Blunzn slices cleanly. If your sausage has a casing, leave it on for now. It helps hold the rounds together. You'll peel it off at the table or it crisps up and becomes part of the bite.
If your Blunzn is very soft, put it in the freezer for twenty minutes before slicing. You don't want it frozen, just firm enough to cut clean rounds that hold their shape. - 2
Set up the breading station
Line up three shallow dishes. Flour seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper in the first. Beaten eggs in the second. Fine breadcrumbs in the third. This is the same Wiener Panierung, the three-stage breading, that you use for Schnitzel. It works the same way here: the flour gives the egg something to grip, the egg seals the surface and acts as glue, and the breadcrumbs create the shell that puffs and crisps in hot fat.
Use Semmelbrösel, breadcrumbs made from dried Semmeln (Austrian bread rolls). They're finer and more even than panko, which gives you that characteristically smooth, golden Austrian coating. If you can't find them, blitz stale white bread rolls in a food processor until fine and dry them in a low oven. - 3
Bread the rounds
Take each Blunzn round and press it gently into the flour, coating both sides. Shake off the excess. Dip it through the beaten egg, letting any extra drip off. Then lay it in the breadcrumbs and press them on gently with your fingers. Turn it over and do the same on the other side. Don't pack the crumbs tight. You want a light, even coating, not armor. The breading needs room to puff away from the sausage in the pan.
Use one hand for the dry stages (flour and breadcrumbs) and the other for the wet stage (egg). Gretel always called this the 'dry hand, wet hand' rule. It keeps you from ending up with breaded fingers instead of breaded food. - 4
Fry until golden
Heat the clarified butter or lard in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. You need enough fat that the rounds are sitting in about a centimeter of it. When the fat shimmers and a breadcrumb dropped in sizzles immediately and floats to the surface, it's ready. Slide the breaded rounds in carefully, leaving space between them. Don't crowd the pan or the temperature drops and you'll get soggy, greasy coating instead of crisp, golden crust. Fry for about two to three minutes per side until deep gold. Spoon hot fat over the tops as they cook, the same technique you'd use for Schnitzel. This is what makes the breading puff up and go wavy.
Lard is the traditional fat here and gives the best flavor. Clarified butter works beautifully too. Don't use regular butter, it will burn. And don't use olive oil. This is Austria. - 5
Drain and serve
Lift the fried rounds out with a slotted spoon and let them drain briefly on kitchen paper. Arrange them on a wooden Brettl or a warm plate. Set out a ramekin of sharp mustard and a small mound of freshly grated Kren alongside. Add lemon wedges and thick slices of dark rye bread. Serve immediately while the crust is still crackling. Inside, the Blunzn will have gone soft and creamy from the heat, a beautiful contrast against that shattering golden shell. The mustard and Kren are not optional. They cut straight through the richness and make you reach for the next one. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Buy your Blunzn from a good butcher, not a supermarket shelf. Ask for one that's coarsely textured with visible pieces of pork and good spicing. A quality Blunzn smells of marjoram and pepper. A cheap one smells of nothing and tastes like it.
- •Freshly grated Kren is a completely different ingredient from the jarred stuff. If you can find a fresh horseradish root, grate it just before serving. It will hit your nose before it hits your tongue, sharp and alive. That's what you want next to the richness of the fried Blunzn.
- •Kremser Senf is the classic Austrian mustard, sharp and grainy, made in the town of Krems in the Wachau. Estragonsenf, tarragon mustard, is the other Austrian tradition. Either works here. What doesn't work is sweet American mustard. You need something that pushes back against the sausage.
- •Don't flip the rounds more than once. One flip, that's it. Every time you turn them you risk the breading pulling away from the soft filling. Let the crust set fully before you touch it.
Advance Preparation
- •The Blunzn rounds can be breaded up to two hours ahead and stored on a parchment-lined tray in the fridge. The coating actually sets better when chilled, giving you an even crisper result.
- •Grate the Kren no more than thirty minutes before serving. It loses its bite quickly once exposed to air.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 275g)
Calories
895 calories
Total Fat
62 g
Saturated Fat
26 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
33 g
Cholesterol
215 mg
Sodium
1540 mg
Total Carbohydrates
52 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
28 g
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