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Wurstsalat, or German Sausage Salad, is a perfect summer dish! Made with sliced sausage, cheese, and pickles, this popular beer garden dish is sure to be a crowd-pleaser!
Wurstsalat is a very popular dish you can get at most Bavarian restaurants or beer gardens. It’s a refreshing dish made from sliced sausage, cheese, and pickles tossed in a vinaigrette and served with bread to enjoy with the salad and mop up the dressing in the end. This Bavarian sausage salad is a perfect summer dish!
We love making it for a quick dinner or lunch because it only takes about 15 minutes to prepare. It’s also a great addition for your Oktoberfest celebration.
For other German Summer salads, try our German Cucumber Salad Recipe or German Potato Salad.
Why our recipe
- Secret family recipe from my husband’s aunt’s restaurant in Germany
- Our recipe is very easy to make and can be made in less than 20 minutes
- Adding onions just before serving means the salad keeps longer and tastes better
Ingredient Notes
- Sausage: Lyoner sausage (Fleischwurst) or bologna work best in this recipe. In Switzerland, Cervelat is usually used.
- Cheese: Emmentaler cheese is what you want to use.
- Pickles: Use German pickles! The pickles are very important for the flavor of the salad because we also use the brine in the dressing. German Pickles can be found in any bigger grocery store in the US and Canada. Look for Kuehne or Hengstenberg Dill Pickles (affiliate link).
- Vinegar: I prefer to use a German seasoned vinegar (affiliate link) in this recipe. You can also use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Oil: For the most authentic taste, use Sunflower oil. If you don’t have any on hand, use a flavor neutral oil like avocado oil.
- Onions: I don’t add raw onions to the salad because they shorten the time the salad keeps. You can add some sliced onions just before serving if you want to add them.
Variations
There are a few different ways to make Wurstsalat depending on the region and country. This is a popular dish in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Bayerischer Wurstsalat: Often just made with sausage, but most restaurants add cheese and pickles and call it Bayerischer Wurstsalat with cheese.
Schweizer Wurstsalat (Elsässer or Straßburger Wurstsalat): Made with Emmental cheese and pickles.
Schwäbischer Wurstsalat: This variation of German sausage salad is made with both, “normal” sausage and blood sausage.
Did you know?
You might wonder what the difference between Wurstsalat (sausage salad) and Fleischsalat (Meat Salad) is? Wurstsalat has a vinegar-based dressing and Fleischsalat a mayonnaise-based dressing. Wurstsalat is also usually served as a main dish and Fleischsalat as a side dish that is part of a bigger Brotzeit.
What to serve with it
Wurstsalat is usually served with rustic German bread, Bavarian pretzels(Brezen) or fried potatoes, but in some regions it’s also served with fries.
If you want to add a few other German dishes to make a great beer garden feast, I recommend my German Potato Salad, my Bavarian Beer Cheese Spread (Obatzda) and my German Cucumber Salad. And for dessert German apple cake (Versunkener Apfelkuchen)
Storage Instructions
Wurstsalat can be made in advance because it tastes best after the flavor had some time to develop. It should rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour for the best taste.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days if you don’t add onions to the salad. With onions, the salad should be eaten on the same day.
More German Recipes
Main Dishes
Jagerschnitzel
German Recipes
Bread Dumplings
Main Dishes
German Schnitzel
Cakes
Black Forest Cake
Wurstsalat
Ingredients
- 10 oz Bologna sausage, or Lyoner, finely sliced (about 4 cups)
- 7 oz Emmental cheese, finely sliced (about 2 cups)
- 1 cup German pickles, finely sliced
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil, or flavor neutral oil
- 3 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons brine from the pickles
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 1 medium white onion, finely sliced (optional)
- chopped parsley or chives, to garnish
Instructions
- Combine 10 oz Bologna sausage, 7 oz Emmental cheese, and 1 cup German pickles in a big bowl.
- For the dressing, combine 3 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons sunflower oil, 3 tablespoons water, and 4 tablespoons brine from the pickles in a jar or bowl. Mix well, then pour over the ingredients in the big bowl.
- Toss together and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover the bowl and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Garnish with chopped parsley or chives and sliced onion (optional) just before serving.
This is recipe is just what I was looking for, I was planning on making the Wurstsalat anyway but, I was doing it on my Memory of the meals I had while traveling in Germany. It is very hard to find good German recipes on the internet, most are all Americanized. Living in Minnesota I Have a hard time finding good German food Here. I also do a lot of my own baking baking because German bread is so hard to find. I have found a recipe that makes a reasonable German Brötchen here on this side of the ocean. Now I have a good Wurstsalat. I will be trying more of your recipes in the coming months.
What are the calories?
I had a package of bologna and decided to try this. Wow, who knew bologna could be so good. Like the recipe states, best to let it sit a while before eating. We can’t get enough!
“Alps which you can only reach by boat.” If this is near or at the konigsee I was there last week and ate this salad. Amazing on a hot day
You’re missing the mayonnaise.
What you’re describing is called Fleischsalat, which is different from Wurstsalat. Fleischsalat is mayonnaise-based and has just German bologna and pickles while Wurstsalat is oil & vinegar-based.
My husband’s family is German. I would like to make this, but what is ring bologna? I live in canada, so we use some different terms. Also, how do I slice the cheese? Is Swiss cheese OK?
Hi Maureen, Instead of the ring bologna you can also use Lyoner sausage which should be easier to get in Canada. Swiss cheese is ok, cut it into thin strips.
Julia: excited to try this wurstsalat. We plan to visit Bavaria in September and want to go to the restaurant you talk about. Can you recommend the kind of pickle you use – sweet or dill?
DeeDee Kennedy
Dill would be best. Let me know if you need any tips for your trip to Bavaria. I’m happy to help!
Hallo Julia!
I am excited to try my hand at making Wurstsalat myself after so many wonderful experiences eating it last summer when I volunteered in Switzerland on organic farms! My question is – what kind of vinegar do you use? I have a bottle of Surig Essig-Essenz concentrated vinegar (25 % acid) and I would love to incorporate it into some more recipes. Do you think that the full amount in this recipe would be too much for this strong vinegar? Danke schön!
Kayla
Hi Kayla, I love to use a herbed vinegar for Wurstsalat but you can also use Essig Essenz. You need to dilute the Essig Essenz with water to make it taste not as strong. I would start with 1 Tbsp Essig Essenz diluted in 1/3 cup (80ml) water (and omit the 3 Tbsp water the recipe calls for). If you want a stronger vinegar taste add a little bit more. I hope that helps! Let me know if you try it! – Julia