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Petersilerdäpfel
Created by
Small waxy potatoes, good butter, a fistful of fresh parsley. The side dish every Wiener Schnitzel has been waiting for since 1857, and the reason Austrian cooks don't complicate what already works.
Side Dishes
Austrian
Weeknight
Quick Meal
10 min
Active Time
20 min cook•30 min total
Yield4 servings
Gretel always said you can tell how good a cook someone is by what they do with potatoes. Not what they do with truffles or saffron or a whole duck. Potatoes. Because a potato has nowhere to hide, and neither do you.
Petersilerdäpfel are the most honest dish in the Austrian kitchen. Small waxy potatoes, boiled in salted water until just tender, drained, and rolled through melted butter with a generous handful of chopped parsley. That's the whole recipe. I could write it on the back of a tram ticket and still have room left over. But getting it right, truly right, is why this dish has survived unchanged for two hundred years while cleverer, fancier potato preparations have come and gone.
The potatoes must be waxy. Austrians call them festkochend, firm-cooking, and they mean it. A floury potato will crumble the moment it meets the butter and you'll have a pan of starchy rubble instead of glossy, intact little Erdäpfel rolling around in a slick of gold. The butter must be good. Not browned, not infused, not competing with anything. Melted gently and allowed to coat each potato like a second skin. The parsley goes in off the heat so it keeps its color and its bite.
Every plate of Wiener Schnitzel I serve at my restaurant in Salzburg arrives with Petersilerdäpfel alongside. No exceptions. They belong together the way coffee belongs with a glass of water. You don't question it. You just trust that the Viennese figured this out a long time ago and got it right.
Erdäpfel is the Austrian word for potato, literally 'earth apple,' distinct from the German Kartoffel. The potato became central to Austrian cuisine in the 18th century after Maria Theresa promoted its cultivation across the empire to combat famine. Petersilerdäpfel emerged as the standard accompaniment to Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna's Gasthäuser during the 19th century, and the pairing has remained so fixed that ordering Schnitzel without them in Austria draws the same quiet disapproval as putting sauce on the Schnitzel itself.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small waxy potatoes (festkochend)
Quantity
800g
unpeeled
salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for cooking water
unsalted butter
Quantity
50g
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 large bunch
finely chopped
flaky sea salt
Quantity
to finish
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small waxy potatoes (festkochend)unpeeled | 800g |
| saltfor cooking water | 1 tablespoon |
| unsalted butter | 50g |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 1 large bunch |
| flaky sea salt | to finish |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium saucepan with lid
- •Colander
- •Wide pan or skillet (28cm)
Instructions
- 1
Choose and wash the potatoes
Pick potatoes roughly the same size, no larger than a golf ball. If yours are bigger, cut them in halves or quarters so everything cooks evenly. Give them a good scrub under cold water. You're cooking them in their skins because the skin holds the potato together and keeps the flesh from going waterlogged. A waxy, festkochend variety is what you want. They hold their shape instead of crumbling into the butter.
Look for waxy varieties like Kipfler, Charlotte, or any fingerling. In Austria we use festkochend (firm-cooking) potatoes. Floury baking potatoes will fall apart in the pan and you'll end up with buttery mash instead of distinct, glossy little Erdäpfel. - 2
Boil until just tender
Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water by a couple of centimeters. Add a tablespoon of salt. Starting in cold water matters: it means the heat reaches the center of each potato at the same rate as the outside, so you don't end up with a soft exterior hiding a chalky core. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook for fifteen to twenty minutes depending on size. Test with a thin knife. It should slide in with no resistance and the potato should slip off the blade without clinging.
- 3
Drain and peel
Drain the potatoes thoroughly and let them sit in the colander for a minute. The residual heat dries the surfaces. If you're leaving the skins on (and plenty of Austrian home cooks do), skip ahead. If you want them peeled, the skins slip off easily while the potatoes are still warm. Hold each one in a tea towel and pinch the skin away. It should come off in sheets.
Peeling is traditional for restaurant service but optional at home. In my grandmother Eva's kitchen, the skins stayed on. At my restaurant in Salzburg, I peel them. Both ways are right. - 4
Toss in butter and parsley
Melt the butter in a wide pan over low heat. You don't want the butter to brown or sizzle. The moment it's liquid and foaming gently, add the warm potatoes. Shake the pan to roll them through the butter until every surface is coated and glistening. Take the pan off the heat, then scatter the chopped parsley over the top and toss again. The parsley goes in off the heat so it stays bright green and fresh instead of turning dark and bitter. Finish with a pinch of flaky salt.
- 5
Serve immediately
Turn them out into a warm serving bowl or pile them straight onto the plate next to your Schnitzel. Each potato should be glossy with butter and flecked with green. That's it. No cream, no garlic, no rosemary, no clever additions. Three ingredients doing exactly what they were born to do. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Buy the smallest waxy potatoes you can find. Whole small potatoes look better on the plate and cook more evenly than large ones cut down to size. At the Grünmarkt in Salzburg I pick through the bins for the little ones, and you should do the same at your market.
- •Chop the parsley at the last possible moment. The second you cut parsley it starts losing its brightness. If it's been sitting chopped on your board for twenty minutes while the potatoes cook, it's already fading. Chop it while the butter melts.
- •Don't skip drying the potatoes in the colander after draining. Wet potatoes in butter means the butter spits and the coating slides off instead of clinging. One minute in the colander. That's all it takes.
- •These are the correct side dish for Wiener Schnitzel, full stop. If someone asks what to serve alongside, Petersilerdäpfel and a simple green salad with a Viennese vinaigrette. The Schnitzel is the event. The potato is the companion. The salad is the contrast.
Advance Preparation
- •The potatoes can be boiled up to two hours ahead and left at room temperature in their skins. Peel and toss in butter and parsley just before serving. They reheat beautifully in the warm butter.
- •Do not chop the parsley in advance. It loses color and flavor quickly. Chop it the moment you're ready to finish the dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
270 calories
Total Fat
10 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
30 mg
Sodium
300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
41 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
4 g
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