Chef Elsa
Eiersalat (Austrian Egg Salad)
Cool, creamy Austrian egg salad with sour gherkins and tart apple in a mustard-yogurt dressing, the kind of honest Jause food that tastes like an Austrian Easter table and works beautifully all year round.
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Saures Rindfleisch
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Cold boiled beef sliced thin and marinated overnight in sharp vinegar, sweet onion rings, and a slick of good oil. The Austrian grandmother's answer to what to do with yesterday's Tafelspitz.
Salads
Austrian
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
25 min
Active Time
0 min cook•25 min total
Yield4 servings
In my grandmother Eva's kitchen in Kent, nothing was ever wasted. When Gretel came over and they made Tafelspitz together, the broth became Frittatensuppe, the marrow went on toast with coarse salt, and whatever beef was left over went into the fridge under a clean tea towel. The next day, that cold beef became Saures Rindfleisch. Gretel always said this was the dish that proved Austrian cooks understood thrift better than anyone. Not thrift as deprivation. Thrift as intelligence.
You slice the cold boiled beef thin, against the grain, and lay it in a shallow dish. Then you build a Marinade over it: sharp vinegar, thinly sliced onion rings, a good pour of oil, salt, pepper, and a little mustard if you like. The whole thing sits in the fridge for at least a few hours, better overnight. The vinegar softens the beef and the onions lose their bite, and by the time you bring it to the table the flavors have married into something tangy, savoury, and completely satisfying.
This is not a recipe you plan from scratch. It's a recipe that exists because you already made something else. That's what I love about it. Saures Rindfleisch belongs to a way of cooking where every meal sets up the next one, where the pot of Tafelspitz on Sunday becomes Monday's cold salad and nobody feels like they're eating leftovers. They feel like they're eating something that was always meant to happen.
Saures Rindfleisch is part of a broader Austrian tradition of Saure Salate (vinegar-dressed salads) that developed as preservation and thrift techniques in the days before refrigeration. The dish is closely tied to the Viennese Beisl, the casual neighbourhood tavern where cold platters of marinated meats, sausages, and salads have been served alongside beer and wine since the 18th century. In many traditional Beisln, Saures Rindfleisch appears alongside Wurstsalat and Liptauer on the Kalte Platte, the cold appetizer board that defines informal Viennese eating.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cold leftover boiled beef (Tafelspitz)
Quantity
500g
sliced thin against the grain
onions
Quantity
2 medium
sliced into thin rings
Apfelessig (apple cider vinegar) or Hesperidenessig
Quantity
6 tablespoons
neutral oil (sunflower or rapeseed)
Quantity
4 tablespoons
sharp mustard (Kremser Senf or Dijon)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
warm beef broth
Quantity
100ml
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
salt
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
fresh chives
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely cut
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
crusty bread
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cold leftover boiled beef (Tafelspitz)sliced thin against the grain | 500g |
| onionssliced into thin rings | 2 medium |
| Apfelessig (apple cider vinegar) or Hesperidenessig | 6 tablespoons |
| neutral oil (sunflower or rapeseed) | 4 tablespoons |
| sharp mustard (Kremser Senf or Dijon) | 1 teaspoon |
| warm beef broth | 100ml |
| granulated sugar | 1 teaspoon |
| salt | to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| fresh chivesfinely cut | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleychopped | 1 tablespoon |
| crusty bread | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp carving knife
- •Wide shallow dish or ceramic platter for marinating
- •Small whisk or fork
Instructions
- 1
Slice the beef
Take your cold boiled beef straight from the fridge. It slices cleanest when it's properly cold. Cut against the grain into slices about three to four millimeters thick. You want them thin enough to absorb the Marinade but not so thin they fall apart. If the beef was a good Tafelspitz, you'll see the grain running in clear lines. Cut perpendicular to those lines. Arrange the slices in a single layer in a wide, shallow dish. They should overlap slightly, like tiles on a roof.
If you don't have leftover Tafelspitz, you can boil a piece of Schulterscherzel (beef chuck) or Wadschinken (beef round) in salted water with a carrot, an onion, and a few peppercorns for about two hours. Let it cool completely in the broth. The broth becomes soup, the beef becomes this salad. - 2
Prepare the onion rings
Peel the onions and slice them into thin rings, about two millimeters thick. Separate the rings with your fingers and scatter them evenly over the beef slices. Use plenty. The onions are not a garnish. They are half the salad. Raw now, they'll soften and mellow in the vinegar over the next few hours until they're sweet, silky, and completely different from what you put in.
- 3
Build the Marinade
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, mustard, warm beef broth, sugar, a generous pinch of salt, and several grinds of black pepper. The Marinade should taste sharp and assertive on its own. It needs to be vinegar-forward, not oily. If it tastes balanced in the bowl, it will taste flat on the beef. The warm broth is important here: it helps the vinegar and oil come together into a proper emulsion and carries flavor into the meat more quickly than a cold dressing would.
Hesperidenessig is a Viennese vinegar made from bitter oranges, and it's the traditional choice for Saures Rindfleisch if you can find it. Apfelessig (apple cider vinegar) is the best widely available substitute. White wine vinegar works in a pinch. Avoid balsamic or red wine vinegar. They belong to a different kitchen. - 4
Dress and marinate
Pour the Marinade evenly over the beef and onions. It should pool around the edges and coat every slice. Gently press the onion rings down into the liquid so they're submerged. Cover the dish tightly with cling film or a plate and refrigerate for at least four hours. Overnight is better. Much better. The beef needs time to drink in the vinegar, and the onions need time to give up their harshness. Patience is the only technique this dish asks of you.
Give the dish a gentle turn once or twice during marinating if you think of it. The slices on top benefit from being rotated to the bottom where the Marinade pools. - 5
Finish and serve
Take the dish out of the fridge about fifteen minutes before serving. You want it cool, not ice-cold. Taste a slice of the beef and a piece of onion. If the Marinade has gone flat overnight, add a splash more vinegar and a pinch of salt. It should still taste bright and tangy. Arrange the beef and onions on plates or in a shallow bowl, spooning the Marinade over the top. Scatter the fresh chives and parsley across the surface. Serve with thick slices of crusty bread for soaking up the juices. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •The quality of the beef matters more than anything else in this dish. A well-made Tafelspitz from good beef, simmered slowly in proper broth, will have a flavour and tenderness that no shortcut can replicate. If you're starting from scratch, simmer your beef gently. If the surface of the broth is rolling, your heat is too high and the meat will go stringy.
- •This Marinade is meant to be vinegar-forward. If you dress it like a French vinaigrette with mostly oil and a little vinegar, you'll end up with a greasy, flat salad that has none of the tang that makes Saures Rindfleisch what it is. The ratio here leans toward the acid on purpose.
- •Saures Rindfleisch keeps beautifully in the fridge for two to three days. It actually improves on the second day as the Marinade penetrates deeper. Make it on Sunday night from your Tafelspitz leftovers and eat it for lunch on Monday and Tuesday.
- •In a Viennese Beisl, you'd see this on a Kalte Platte alongside Wurstsalat, Liptauer, pickled gherkins, and bread. If you're serving it as a light supper, add a bowl of Erdäpfelsalat (warm potato salad dressed with beef broth and vinegar, never mayonnaise) and you have a complete meal.
Advance Preparation
- •The beef must be cooked and cooled completely before slicing. If you're making Tafelspitz specifically for this salad, cook it the day before and refrigerate it overnight in its broth.
- •The dressed salad should marinate for a minimum of four hours, ideally overnight. This is the kind of dish that rewards you for thinking a day ahead.
- •Keeps well in the fridge for up to three days, covered. The flavour deepens with time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 265g)
Calories
410 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
100 mg
Sodium
490 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
35 g
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