18 Traditional Bavarian Food Picks For Delicious Recipes

Bavarian food frequently uses flour and has meat and Knödel dishes. Only crops like beets and potatoes, which are a staple in the German diet, thrive in Bavaria due to its rural setting and chilly environment. German’s Bavaria is home to the cuisine known as “Bavarian”.

Now, let’s get right to the point: Bavarian food includes roast pork dishes like Schweinebraten, pork knuckles like Schweinshaxe, Weisswurst sausages, and of course dumplings. A liter of beer and a generous helping of Bavarian hospitality are required to finish it all off.

Whether you’re from Potsdam or Portland, Kassel or Kuala Lumpur, most people who didn’t grow up in the Free State of Bavaria think of this when they picture Bavarian food.

18 Traditional Bavarian Food Picks for Delicious Recipes

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1. Bratwurst, Beer and Onions from Foodie Crush

Simmered in beer with onions that become sweet and caramelized, this bratwurst Bavarian recipes is a familiar Bavarian food with a Wisconsin twist for the best reason to cheer at tailgates or clink cheers for Oktoberfest.

So what’s the difference between a regular sausage and bratwurst? Sausage can be made from dried sausage, smoked sausage, and fresh sausage with many countries having their own version. Bratwurst are fresh rather than smoked or dried.

What’s in a bratwurst? Bratwurst is a fresh sausage of pork and veal, flavored with seasonings like caraway, coriander, and or nutmeg. Different regions of Germany have different flavorings with other popular sausages like garlicky knackwurst being one of my dad’s favorites.

Sheboygan-style bratwursts are a popular version of Bavarian food with plenty of onion that hails from Wisconsin, and is one of my favorite ways to make my brats.

2. Fleischpflanzerl (Bavarian Meatballs) from Thomassixt

Today I present my Fleischpflanzerl Bavarian recipes for Meatballs from Bavaria to you. This is a meatballs Bavaria recipe with Koch-Wiki, a detailed article with lots of information and tips and a bit of dialect. Few would immediately admit that meatballs with potato salad are a favorite dish.

Too often the wonderful preparation is banally and lovelessly outside the Bavarian empire for these Bavarian foods. Close relatives are koettbullar which are Swedish meatballs, minced loafs (Austrian) and French boulettes. Please see all this with a smile, with me the Bavarian pride is going through ….

The meatballs on the picture are especially popular and loved by my guests. It is not uncommon that my meatballs are directly “stolen” from the pan.

3. Leberkäse Bavarian Meat Loaf from Angie’s Web

I grew up on Leberkäse and I could eat this Bavarian food as breakfast. The name “Leberkäse” is a misnomer, it does not contain liver or cheese, mainly pork, therefore some people call it Fleischkäse and in English “German meatloaf”

Besides Bratwurst and Weisswurst, the Leberkäse is without a doubt the most popular snack in Bavaria. It is traditionally offered warm in a bread roll, or as a main course with fried egg and home fries or potato salad.

4. Bavarian-style Pork Knuckle from Recipe Tin Eats

This classic Bavarian food of pork knuckle and potato dumplings is easy enough to replicate at home. Enjoy it as you would at a Bavarian beer garden: with a cold glass of your favourite ale. A hunk of impossibly tender, juicy pork meat on the bone, all wrapped in crispy crackling skin, you say?

Be still my beating heart! Called Schweinshaxe, this slow-roasted German Pork Knuckle comes with a richly-flavored beer gravy. Of the many things Germans have perfected, this Bavarian food is right up there. And key to this meaty art is of course amazing crackling, something most Bavarian recipes fall short on with Pork Knuckle … but we cracked the code!

5. Triple Chocolate Bavarian Cream Cake from Cook with Belula

A triple chocolate Bavarian cream cake Bavaria recipe made with a chocolate cake base, a white, a milk and a dark chocolate Bavarian cream filling, topped with chocolate ganache.

This triple chocolate Bavarian cream cake Bavaria recipe is made with a thin chocolate cake base, followed by one layer of dark chocolate Bavarian cream filling, one layer of milk chocolate Bavarian cream filling and one layer of white chocolate Bavarian cream filling. As far as Bavarian food choices for dessert this is my favorite.

This heavenly dessert needs to be refrigerated overnight before you cover it with a thin layer of luscious chocolate ganache and some chocolate pearls. A great dessert that will impress your family and friends! Can’t wait for you to make it!

6. Vegan Bavarian Lentil Soup from The Wanderlust Kitchen

Vegan Bavarian Lentil Soup is the ultimate comfort Bavarian food for cold weather and rainy days. Scoop it up with buttered crusty bread for a hearty meal! You know those days in early fall where the mornings are crisp, the afternoons are hot, and the breeze scatters leaves around all day long?

On one hand, I’m thrilled to have an excuse to make Easy Tuscan Bean Soup, Caramel Apple Sangria, and this Bavarian recipes dish. On the other, I just cannot handle that summer is nearly over.

It’s a Vegan Bavarian Lentil Soup and it’s every bit as tasty as my original version, even without all that bacon. Serving it with toasted sourdough bread is mandatory. If you try to skip it, I’ll know.

7. Schweinshaxe (German Pork Hock) from Craft Beering

Schweinshaxe Bavarian recipes for the quintessential Bavarian foods of the Bavarian beer halls. Learn to make a fork tender and juicy roasted pork hock (knuckle) with crispy skin.

Schweinshaxe – roasted, skin-on pork hock (knuckle) is a veritable symbol of Bavarian food and beer culture. You will find a crispy and tender German pork knuckle on the menus of beer halls, beer gardens, restaurants big and small and even street food stalls all over Bavaria and other parts of the country.

The traditional way to roast pork hock is on a spit. The knuckles are skewered on long metal rotisserie rods and and set up in front of a heating element.

8. Bayerischer Süßer Senf (Bavarian Sweet Mustard) from Daring Gourmet

A thoroughly authentic German mustard Bavarian recipes condiment, this Bavarian sweet mustard is the kind served at the Munich Oktoberfest! Delicious and easy to make!

My mom is from Bavaria from a small town south of Munich on the Austrian border, and though I grew up in Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart, I equally consider Bavaria my home. I could spend multiple posts praising the beauty of this stunning region of southern Germany, but today we’re focusing on just one aspect: Bavarian food!

What comes to your mind when you think of the word Oktoberfest? And along with these traditional dishes is a quintessential Bavarian condiment that is simply inseparable from any Oktoberfest celebration: Bayerischer Süßer Senf. The traditional Bavarian food, famous Bavarian sweet mustard also know as Weisswurst mustard.

9. Bavarian Sauerkraut from All Recipes

This sauerkraut Bavarian recipes dish has to be the best-tasting sauerkraut I’ve ever had. Traditionally, my family serves pork and sauerkraut every New Year’s Day for luck in the coming year. I love cabbage in general and like most sauerkraut Bavarian recipes, but they can be pretty sour depending on how they’re prepared.

Sadly I don’t remember who gave me this Bavarian recipe and who deserves the credit since it was pulled from a collection of handwritten Bavarian recipes I’ve kept for years. I made it as a Bavarian food choice for New Year’s Day dinner, and it was a complete hit! This is certainly not your typical sour sauerkraut recipe.

Want more ideas to round-out your Recipe Box?
A lot of great options are in these posts!

10. German Potato Salad from Plated Cravings

My German Potato Salad is made with vinegar, bacon, and onion and can be served warm or cold. A perfect hearty side dish for any occasion, from holiday dinners to BBQs! I’m German and I love Bavarian food!

I took my Grandmother’s Bavaria recipe and tweaked it a little bit to make it easier for you to make an authentic German potato salad that tastes like the Bavarian food you get in a Bavarian restaurant or at the Oktoberfest. It’s tangy and loaded with bacon and onions.

A Bavarian potato salad should be moist but not wet, the dressing will have an almost creamy consistency that coats the potatoes. It should definitely not be dry!

The hot potatoes soak up the flavor of the delicious dressing and the added bacon makes this simple Bavaria recipe so finger-licking-good. Sprinkle the salad with chopped chives or parsley and voila: German potato salad perfection!

11. Oktoberfest Roast Chicken from Days of Jay

A Wiesn-Hendl, Halbes Hendl or Oktoberfest chicken is half of a rotisserie chicken, basted in a paprika marinade, and often served up completely unadorned. That’s right, just half a chook on a plate. Good old fashioned Bavarian food.

Oktoberfest Roast Chicken is a Bavarian recipes true classic. The secret to tender, fall off the bone meat is to roast the chicken extra low and slow, or poach then roast. I’ve given two fool proof methods below.

For to many Munich locals the focus of the world famous Oktoberfest isn’t the beer at all, but rather the huge number of rides, rollercoasters, ghost trains, and other funfair attractions that line the festival’s many avenues.

Certainly of equal importance to the beer is the Bavarian food, and most beloved of all is the the Bavarian recipes dish I’m sharing with you today: the famous ‘Halbes Hendl’ or Oktoberfest Roast Chicken.

12. Bavarian Apple-Sausage Hash from Taste of Home

Looking for a healthy dish that’s good for your wallet too? This sausage, mustard & apple hash costs less than £1 per serving and is perfect for a family. This Bavarian food is perfect for breakfast or brunch! Served with fried eggs, it’s a hearty, comforting, delicious meal and super simple to make.

This is an ideal breakfast for a weekend when you have extra time in the morning. Although it’s a Bavarian recipes idea for an entire breakfast meal, I would honestly eat this potato hash for lunch or dinner, and I have, trust me. But weekend breakfasts are special and every weekend I try to make something delicious.

13. Bavarian Pretzels from Food and Wine

All it takes is a few additional ingredients to transform ho-hum soft pretzels into something magical. A few pats of butter, barley malt syrup for earthy sweetness, and replacing some of the water with beer all lend depth for a more rustic, nuanced taste.

Forming this Bavarian food can seem tricky at first glance, but once you have the dough ropes in your hands, it flows like clockwork. Follow the instructions about handling the baking soda solution with care; while much safer than lye, it can burn your hands, as well as corrode aluminum pans.

(No need to panic; just wear gloves, turn on your oven vent, and line your pans.) These pretzels are best the day they’re made, preferably hot out of the oven.

14. Bavarian Creme with Raspberries from Bavaria Travel

As the head of Wild-Berghof Buchet, Thomas Gstettenbauer , primarily cooks game: roasts, sausages, tartare or liver dumplings. And after a hearty meat dish, a sweet and fruity dessert is not to be missed. He gives us his Bavarian recipes for the classic Bavarian food “Bavarian Creme” with a raspberry fruit twist – for you to try at home.

15. Bavarian Cream Donuts from Sugar Salt Magic

The Bavarian cream filling is actually crème patissiere, also know as pastry cream. It’s a thick, rich and smooth vanilla custard that melts in your mouth. It’s very easy to make, just take care not to heat it over too high a heat and keep stirring or it may end up lumpy.

If you want a lighter filling, you can make a diplomat cream simply by adding some whipped cream to the crème patissiere and you have the classic Bavarian recipe.

16. Bavarian Pot Roast from Taste of Home

Since all my grandparents were German, it’s no wonder that so many Bavarian recipes have been handed down to me. Because the Midwest has such a large German population, I feel this Bavarian food represents the area well.

17. Bavarian Cabbage from Thomassixt

White cabbage is popular and well-known all over the world. It is served stewed in many countries. The cabbage is also a perennial favorite in Germany. In Bavarian food it is quite a standard in every restaurant.

You may appreciate its nutritional-physiological advantages, simply find it delicious or you are a Bavarian traditionalist. I’ll show you how to prepare it in your kitchen in quick steps. Then let’s get started, “Aufi geht’s”!

18. Bavarian Radish Salad from All Tastes German

This Bavarian food style radish salad is a great companion to almost every dish not matter if you serve fish, meat or a vegetarian entree. I makes also a perfect Bavarian food for barbecues and potlucks.

The light vinaigrette makes it a great choice for health conscious people.

A typical Oktoberfest salad with fresh healthy radishes that goes well with a crunchy pretzel and a hearty beer. This German style radish salad is a great companion to almost every dish not matter if you serve fish, meat or a vegetarian entree. I makes also a perfect side for barbecues and potlucks.