Germans love their sausages. That is pretty much a fact. They come in all different shapes and sizes – from standard Bratwurst to curiosities like Leberwurst; from sliced sausage for traditional Abendbrot to street food specialties like Currywurst. What is probably less known, however, is that Germany is also a country of salads. Germans love mixing up all kinds of foods to top them off with delicious dressings – and they get very creative with that! Quite frankly, there is no proper German barbecue without at least five different salads.

Among these are classics like green, pasta or potato salad – and then there is a more unusual one: Wurstsalat. The name literally translates to “sausage salad”, because that’s pretty much what it is. And if you really think about it, the existence of such a dish in Germany isn’t that surprising, after all.

There are different kinds of German sausages that can be used for the salad. Most typical are Schinkenwurst, Lyoner, Stadtwurst or Regensburger. Although, the traditional dish is often just a snack between lunch and dinner, it can also b a complete meal. In that case, you will most often find sides of bread, roast potatoes or French fries on the menu, depending on the region. While Wurstsalat is mainly common in the south of Germany, it can also be found in different variations in the bordering regions of France, Switzerland and Austria.

Wurstsalat Is Certainly No Vegetarian’s Dream

Preparing Wurstsalat is super simple. Just cut sausage slices into fine stripes, marinate it with onions, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar – and voilà, there you have the most basic version. To refine the meat salad, recipes mainly call for eggs and pickled cucumbers. But also other ingredients like small radishes, parsley or leeks are popular additions. A special variation with Greyerzer, Appenzeller or Emmental cheese is known as Schweizer Wurstsalat or Elsässer Wurstsalat. And for the more brave of you, there is Schwäbischer Wurstsalad with an extra share of German Blutwurst.

If you want to step up your salad game, try this German specialty with our authentic family recipe below. Quick and easy to make and so delicious! Once you got the base right, you can easily get creative and add all kinds of vegetables and other ingredients according to your liking.

Wurstsalat

by SunnySideCircus

Category Food & Drinks // Germany

Persons

Ingredients

300 g Schinkenwurst (ham sausage or ring bologna)
2 eggs
5 pickled cucumbers
1/2 white onion
1/4 cup cream
salt
paprika powder
pepper
curry
oil
vinegar

Instructions

Cut the Schinkenwurst into fine strings and put them into a big bowl
Cut the hard-boiled eggs, pickles and onion into small cubes and add them to the sausage
For the dressing, pour in the cream, a bit of oil and vinegar according to taste
Season everything with salt, pepper, paprika powder and a pinch of curry