German Food Recipes: 23 Classic Dishes (2024)

FAQs

What are traditional German meals? ›

Sauerbraten (pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯ɐˌbʁaːtn̩]) is a traditional German roast of heavily marinated meat. It is regarded as a national dish of Germany, and is frequently served in German-style restaurants internationally.

The main meal of the day is das Mittagessen, or lunch. The tradition is to have a hot meal during lunch. Sauerbraten, snitzels, Frikadellen (German meatballs), potatoes (such as Kartoffelsalat), green beans, soups, and stews are frequently served for lunch.

Sauerbraten. Germans love their meat dishes, and Sauerbraten (meaning 'sour' or 'pickled' roast) is one of the country's national dishes. You can make a pot roast by using many different types of meat, which you marinate in wine, vinegar, spices, herbs, and then season for up to ten days.

First of all, we'll take a look at Germany's three main meals in the day: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

These German recipes celebrate some of the dishes Germany is most known for: crispy fried schnitzel, robust sausages, chewy pretzels, and all manner of mustard-tinged delights. We've even included a handful of items on the sweeter side, too, like a tangy apricot kuchen and a berry-studded German pancake. Guten appetit!

What do German eat on Christmas? ›

At the centre of a German Christmas evening spread you'll usually find a roasted goose, turkey or duck, traditionally served with lovely plump bread dumplings – the classic round ones, or one great big festive loaf-shaped one, known as a Serviettenknödel (pictured sliced, above), plus braised red cabbage or stewed kale ...

Bratwurst (German: [ˈbʁaːtvʊʁst]) is a type of German sausage made from pork or, less commonly, beef or veal.

The typical German version of a sandwich is called a „Butterbrot“ and is made of darker bread (no toast!), butter and cheese or any kind of sausage/Salami; sometimes people add cucumbers, sliced hardboiled eggs or even salad for beauty and taste.

This is because German families tend to eat their main meal during lunch. A typical Abendessen consists of a selection of whole-grain bread, cheeses, deli meats and sausages, and mustards and pickles (gherkins are very popular). The evening meal is accompanied by a salad and/or soup, depending on the season.

Bread (Brot) is a significant part of German cuisine. In Germany about 600 main types of breads and 1,200 different types of pastries and rolls are produced in about 17,000 dedicated bakeries and another 10,000 in-shop bakeries.

“Dinner for One,” is a short black-and-white sketch about ten minutes long that is played on all the big German television networks on New Year's Eve. It was first broadcast in Germany by Norddeutscher Rundfunk, or NDR, in 1962.

But in Germany, the traditional dinner time is much earlier: you'll find many German households having their evening meal between 5 and 7 pm.

But let's get down to the crux of the matter: Bavarian cuisine: Schweinebraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle), Weisswurst sausages and, of course, dumplings, dumplings and more dumplings. To top it off you need a litre of beer and a good serving of Bavarian hospitality.