Chef Elsa
Eiersalat (Austrian Egg Salad)
Cool, creamy Austrian egg salad with sour gherkins and tart apple in a mustard-yogurt dressing, the kind of honest Jause food that tastes like an Austrian Easter table and works beautifully all year round.
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Wurstsalat mit Käse
Created by
Extrawurst and Emmentaler cut in matching strips, tossed with gherkins and onion in a sharp, vinegar-forward Marinade. The Heuriger buffet staple that proves Austrian salads are serious food.
Salads
Austrian
Outdoor Dining
Potluck
25 min
Active Time
0 min cook•1 hr 25 min total
Yield4 servings
Every Heuriger buffet I've ever stood in front of has a big ceramic bowl of Wurstsalat somewhere in the lineup. It sits between the Liptauer and the Erdäpfelsalat, looking unassuming, and people who don't know Austrian food walk right past it. Their loss. This is one of the most satisfying things you can eat on a warm evening with a glass of Grüner Veltliner and good company.
The 'mit Käse' version is the one I grew up loving. Gretel always said the cheese was what made it a proper meal instead of just a snack. You cut the Extrawurst and the Emmentaler into matching strips so they tangle together on the fork, and you dress the whole thing in a Marinade that's more vinegar than oil. This is important. Austrian salad dressings are not shy about acid. The vinegar is the backbone. It cuts through the richness of the sausage and cheese, sharpens the onion, and ties everything together into something bright and clean and impossible to stop eating.
I serve this at my restaurant in Salzburg all through the summer months. It goes out on a simple white plate with dark bread and a few cornichons on the side, and people order it with cold beer or dry white wine and sit on the terrace until the sun goes down. That's Gemütlichkeit in a bowl. No cooking required, no complicated technique, just good ingredients cut well, dressed honestly, and given time to become something worth sitting down for.
Wurstsalat has roots in the Swiss-Austrian-South German Alpine region, where preserved meats and cheese formed the foundation of the cold kitchen, the Kalte Platte that sustained farmers and vineyard workers. The 'mit Käse' variation is particularly associated with the wine tavern tradition. In Austrian Heurige, where winemakers serve their new vintage alongside cold buffet food, Wurstsalat mit Käse became a staple because it could be made in large quantities, held well for hours at a cool buffet, and paired naturally with the young, acidic wines being poured. The dish sits at the intersection of Swiss cheese-making culture and Viennese Wurstkultur, shaped by centuries of shared Alpine pantry traditions.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Extrawurst
Quantity
300g
sliced 3-4mm thick
Emmentaler cheese
Quantity
150g
in one piece
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
peeled and thinly sliced into rings
Essiggurkerl (sour gherkins)
Quantity
4-5 medium
sliced into thin rounds
Apfelessig (apple cider vinegar) or Hesperidenessig
Quantity
4 tablespoons
sunflower oil or neutral vegetable oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
reserved Essiggurkerl brine
Quantity
3 tablespoons
mild mustard (Kremser Senf or Dijon)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
granulated sugar
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
fresh chives
Quantity
1 small bunch
finely cut
sweet Hungarian paprika (optional)
Quantity
for finishing
Bauernbrot (dark farmhouse bread)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Extrawurstsliced 3-4mm thick | 300g |
| Emmentaler cheesein one piece | 150g |
| white onionpeeled and thinly sliced into rings | 1 medium |
| Essiggurkerl (sour gherkins)sliced into thin rounds | 4-5 medium |
| Apfelessig (apple cider vinegar) or Hesperidenessig | 4 tablespoons |
| sunflower oil or neutral vegetable oil | 2 tablespoons |
| reserved Essiggurkerl brine | 3 tablespoons |
| mild mustard (Kremser Senf or Dijon) | 1 teaspoon |
| granulated sugar | 1/2 teaspoon |
| salt and freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| fresh chivesfinely cut | 1 small bunch |
| sweet Hungarian paprika (optional) | for finishing |
| Bauernbrot (dark farmhouse bread) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Sharp chef's knife
- •Small whisk or fork for the Marinade
Instructions
- 1
Cut the Extrawurst
Stack the Extrawurst slices two or three high and cut them into strips about half a centimeter wide and five centimeters long. Matchstick-sized, roughly. The shape matters because you want every piece to pick up marinade on all sides, and thick chunks won't absorb the way strips do. If your Extrawurst is from a ring sausage, slice it into half-moons first, then cut those into strips.
If you can't find Extrawurst outside Austria, use a good-quality Fleischwurst or bologna. What you're after is a smooth, mild pork sausage without a heavy smoke flavor. Anything too smoky will overpower the vinaigrette. - 2
Cut the Emmentaler
Cut the Emmentaler into strips that match the Extrawurst as closely as you can. Same width, same length. This isn't fussy perfectionism. When the strips match, every forkful gives you a bit of both, and that's the whole point of the 'mit Käse' version. The sausage is soft and yielding, the cheese has a bit of resistance. You want that contrast in every bite.
- 3
Make the Marinade
Whisk together the Apfelessig, oil, Essiggurkerl brine, mustard, sugar, a good pinch of salt, and several grinds of black pepper. Taste it. The Marinade should be sharp and vinegar-forward with just enough oil to round it out. This is not a French vinaigrette where oil dominates. Austrian salad dressings lean into the acid. The sugar is there to take the raw edge off the vinegar, not to make it sweet. If you can taste sweetness, you've added too much.
Hesperidenessig is the traditional Viennese vinegar, made from citrus and slightly more complex than plain cider vinegar. If you can find it, use it. If not, a good Apfelessig works perfectly. What you don't want is wine vinegar. Too harsh for this salad. - 4
Combine and marinate
Put the Extrawurst strips, Emmentaler strips, onion rings, and gherkin slices in a large bowl. Pour the Marinade over everything and toss gently with your hands or two spoons until every piece is coated. Cover the bowl and let it sit in the fridge for at least one hour. Two hours is better. The salad needs time for the vinaigrette to soften the onion, for the sausage to absorb the acid, for the flavors to get to know each other. Rushing this step gives you a salad that tastes assembled instead of married.
Toss the salad once more halfway through marinating. The Extrawurst and cheese settle and the strips on top dry out if you don't redistribute. - 5
Season and serve
Pull the salad from the fridge and taste for seasoning. It will likely need another splash of vinegar or a pinch of salt. The cheese absorbs acid as it sits, so what tasted sharp an hour ago may have mellowed. Scatter the chives generously over the top and dust with a light pinch of sweet paprika for color. Serve cool, not ice-cold, with thick slices of dark Bauernbrot alongside. The bread is not a suggestion. You need something sturdy to soak up the Marinade pooling at the bottom of the bowl. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Buy your Extrawurst from a proper Fleischhauer or delicatessen if you can. The supermarket stuff is fine, but a good butcher's Extrawurst has cleaner flavor and firmer texture that holds up better when sliced into strips.
- •Don't substitute pre-sliced or pre-shredded Emmentaler. You need to cut it yourself from a block so the strips have clean edges and hold their shape in the Marinade. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in anti-caking starch that repels the dressing.
- •The ratio of vinegar to oil in the Marinade should lean about two-to-one toward vinegar. If you're used to French dressings where oil dominates, this will feel aggressive. Trust it. Austrian Marinade is supposed to be sharp.
- •This salad is better the next day. The flavors deepen overnight in the fridge. Make it in the afternoon, serve it that evening, eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. It keeps well for two days.
Advance Preparation
- •Wurstsalat mit Käse can and should be made at least one hour before serving. It improves with time in the fridge, up to 24 hours.
- •The Marinade can be whisked together a day ahead and stored in a jar. Shake well before dressing the salad.
- •If serving for a crowd or a potluck, make the full salad the morning of and keep it covered in the fridge. Toss once more and add fresh chives just before setting it out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
420 calories
Total Fat
33 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
1200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
21 g
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