Top Ten Most Popular Dishes in Austria
Of course, Austria likes to eat a lot. I think every nation does. Not only national dishes but also the cuisine of other cultures have become very popular in Österreich, so I thought why not give an impression of what Austrians have for lunch?I will include all the dishes with the term they are known as in Austria, maybe there are significant local differences to similar foods in your country.
It's not a stereotype, it really can be found on every Austrian menu, whether it's from a small pub or a big classy restaurant. Another popular variety is a Cordon Bleu, a schnitzel filled with ham and cheese (and sometimes additional ingredients such as onions, mushrooms, pineapples or paprika).
Important note: you don't ever eat this with noodles! NEVER! You eat it either with rice or with fries.
Leberkäse is essentially pork and beef that's grinded so finely that it feels like a big chunk, and then baked. It's eaten as it is, or in a bun. Sometimes it's also filled with cheese.
A stand that sells Leberkäse is found on every second corner.
Pork roast, usually eaten with potato dumplings or bread dumplings, sometimes also with kraut. Can be found in most restaurants and is popular at family gatherings.
This Turkish dish has become the most popular fast food in Austria. It consists of chicken meat or beef with salad, onions, tomatoes, garlic yoghurt and sometimes cabbage in a bun.
It's not uncommon to have up to three Döner stands next to each other nearby a train station or in the crowded city. Leberkäse has been around for much longer, that's why I put it higher, but Döner, which became a thing in the last 20 years, has surpassed it in popularity.
Since right now it's Spargelzeit, I just had to put it on here. Spargelzeit is the season where white asparagus grows and every restaurant offers a variety of dishes based around the vegetable. And I mean EVERY restaurant. It's most popular with Sauce Hollandaise and bacon.
Pizza is a yeasted flatbread generally topped with tomato sauce and cheese and baked in an oven. It is commonly topped with a selection of meats, vegetables and condiments. The term was first recorded in the 10th century, in a Latin manuscript from Gaeta in Central Italy. Everyone around the world loves Pizza. We just pronounce it differently ("pits uh"). I don't think this needs further explanation. There's no preferred topping or local variety. As in much on Europe, our Pizza is thinner but has much more topping at once than in the US.
Some of the most common Pizza toppings in Austria:
Salami, ham, bacon, onions, corn, mushrooms, pineapple, tuna, eggs, spinach.
Käsekrainer is a sausage filled with cheese that is among the most popular sausages in Austria. It's eaten with ketchup or mustard.
Zwiebelrostbraten is roast beef with roast onion rings on top and much gravy. It's usually eaten with fried potatoes. It's a standard food in every restaurant menu.
Remember Christoph Waltz eating it in "Inglourious Basterds"? It probably wasn't his first one.
Again, this one, like Pizza, is a hit all around the world. For a few years, fast food restaurants were the only ones who sold it, but in recent years many regular restaurants also offer their own, which usually taste even better, and use much more BBQ sauce. And BBQ sauce is awesome.
It's beef that's been boiled in broth, and eaten with cabbage or apple sauce.
It's an Austrian version of Pasta, which is served with onions, and either cabbage or various different sausages or meats cut to small pieces (most popularly ham). Sometimes it's also sometimes served aungratin with cheese.
Palatschinken are the Austrian version of pancakes and are very much like the French crêpes, being very thin. They are usually coated with apricot jam, rolled up and then sugared.
I think this is popular all around the world, although over here, there's no bone in it as it's seen in US movies. It's often eaten with fries/fried potatoes.
Until the last few decades also known as the Germanized "Eiskrem", nowadays often simply called "Eis" ("ice"). "Eis am Stiel" ("ice on a stick") would be a popsicle, but both are usually simply refered to as "ice".
I think ice cream is popular all around the world as either a dessert or a cold snack on a hot day.
It's a soup with semolina dumblings that's among the most popular soups and appetizers.
Ironically, in Austria the sausage that's known to the world as "Wiener" ("Viennese") is called Frankfurter, named after the German city. Germany also calls it Wiener.
It's eaten with bread rolls and ketchup and/or mustard, or as a hot dog. But our hot dogs have little to do with the American ones, they are usually with a darker loaf of bread, sometimes with curry.
Popular at parties, family gatherings or every occasion where you need to feed several people at ones, breads with all kinds of toppings, such as beef, salami, ham, salad, tomatoes, tuna, eggs, various creams, cranberries, mayonnaise, and much more, can be bought at numerous services and stands, or prepared yourself.
Knödel, which Google translates as dumplings, are extremely popular in various of forms. Semmelknödel ("bread dumplings", also "Serviettenknödel") and Erdäpfelknödel ("potato dumplings") are side dishes eaten with meat, often eaten along cabbage, cranberries and/or drenched in gravy, but there is also several varieties of dumplings, spicy or sweet, that are eaten as main dishes.
Wurstknödel are dumplings filled with grinded meat, and are served as a main dish.
Small cut pieces of pork mixed with rice in a spicy sauce containing paprika, various spices, garlic and onions. Some people also add cheese on top.
Made from yeast dough, Wuchteln (known in Germany as "Buchteln") are a sweet dish usually eaten in vanilla sauce. Sometimes they are filled with apricot jam.
It's a pasta made in a pan with melted butter with scrambled eggs.
Geselchtes ist smoked pork that's typically eaten with mashed potatoes and roast onion rings, sometimes also with fried potatoes.
Probably the most popular cake in Austria. The cake with dark chocolate, cherries and whipped cream is the stardard dessert in Austrian restaurants.