When it comes to traditional foods eaten around the holiday season, there are many delicious options to choose from in Austria. Traditional Christmas foods in Austria are typically very hearty and with lots of meat and cheese. They warm you up on the inside during the most wonderful season of the year. Especially at the many beautiful Christmas markets all around the country, you can sample the most delicious Austrian Christmas foods. To give you a literal taste of our Austrian Christmas traditions, I have collected my most beloved Christmas foods for you in this post!
Austrian Christmas Roast
Typically in most families, eating some sort of roast on Christmas eve or Christmas day is a beloved Austrian Christmas tradition. Many people serve a typical roasted goose, with red cabbage and dumplings for Christmas. As an alternative, many families roast a pork belly (called Schweinsbraten) or even a carp on Christmas Eve.
Raclette
A very famous Christmas food in Austria, eaten either on the first or second Christmas day or New Year’s Eve, is the Raclette. Raclette is a small tabletop grill that is placed in the middle of the dinner table.
On the grill, you can usually find different meats, or some vegetables and bread. Below the grill, you can bake small pans filled with different toppings, such as mushrooms, potatoes, and ham. Most importantly, a slice of Raclette cheese is placed on the small pan to cover the delicious toppings in a blanket of warm, molten cheese.
Raclette is a very beloved Austrian Christmas food because it keeps the family on the table for quite a while in a cozy atmosphere. Plus, covering things in cheese is just fun. Also, it is a relatively low-maintenance dish that does not need a lot of preparation work.
They even have a smaller version of Raclette on the Christmas markets, called Raclette-bread. The vendor usually has a huge loaf of cheese that is being heated all day long. When someone orders bread, they scrape a big blub of cheese off the loaf and spread it on the bread. There are also many different variations to that, usually, they are offered with onions, vegetables and garlic.
Fondue
The famous Austrian Fondue is, just like Raclette, a communal dish and can not be missed during any traditional Christmas in Austria. It is a small heated pot filled with soup, oil, or cheese (and sometimes even chocolate) and is placed in the middle of the table. Everyone gets long forks with a color code on them. Make sure to remember your color, otherwise, you might steal someone else’s snack.
Different types of meat, veggies, and fruit are cut into small pieces and placed next to the pot. Everyone can put their dish of choice on the fork and place it in the pot for cooking. Same as the Raclette, this is a beloved Christmas tradition in Austria.
Chocolate fondue is a beloved Christmas dessert in Austria. Typically, an assortment of fruit is cut up and presented on a platter. Everyone gets to cover their favorite fruit in some dark, white, or normal chocolate. Chocolate fondue is a super delicious and fun dessert that even includes some fruit (for good conscience).
Game
Another very typical Christmas food in Austria eaten during the holidays is a game. Steaks of wild boar or venison are prepared with a delicious sauce, red cabbage, and dumplings. Some people also prefer preparing the game in form of a delicious venison stew.
Wiener Schnitzel
The probably most famous Austrian food, the Wiener Schnitzel (escalope) can not be missed on any major holiday. Thin slices of veal, turkey, or pork are covered in a crust made of breadcrumbs and fried in a pan. Traditional Viennese Schnitzel is usually served with cranberries, potatoes, and salad. Some people serve Schnitzel with rice or french fries instead of potatoes.
Charcuterie Boards
Especially on Christmas Eve, Charcuterie boards are one of the most beloved Austrian Christmas foods. Cured meats, like bacon and pork belly, are served with traditional cheeses on a big platter. Different vegetables and fruit as well as bread are served alongside the platter. You can buy the cured meats at Christmas markets, where farmers sell directly from their stock.
Many people do not only serve a charcuterie board with meat and cheese but also with fish. Trout and salmon as well as caviar are very popular Christmas foods in Austria.
These pre-prepared boards are especially popular among families with working parents since they can nicely be prepped a day in advance.
Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce
A very famous Austrian dessert served around the Christmas holidays is Apple Strudel. Apple Strudel is a delicious, festive dessert consisting of spiced apples, cinnamon, and raisins in a flaky crust. The Strudel is typically covered in white powdered sugar and a huge amount of Vanilla sauce.
A variation of the Apple Strudel is filling the crust with other fruit or with curd. Strudel is also very delicious served without Vanilla sauce, if you are watching your sugar intake.
Sacher Cake
My favorite Austrian Christmas food is the famous, rich chocolate cake from Vienna, the Sacher cake. The original Sacher cake is a typical Viennese dessert with a long history, that was first served to royals in 1832.
The cake is glazed with chocolate frosting and filled with apricot jam. The original Sacher cake can only be bought in cafes and restaurants affiliated with the Sacher company. Nevertheless, every Austrian family has its own recipe passed down by generations for a delicious Sacher cake. My family typically serves their homemade Sacher cake with a big pile of whipped cream.
The café of the Hotel Sacher in Vienna has become somewhat famous because of the cake. If you are visiting Vienna in winter, make sure to stop by to drink some hot chocolate and enjoy the delicious cake. Make sure to reserve a table or show up early, because there are usually long lines in front of the café.
Christmas Cookies
A very famous Austrian Christmas tradition is the serving of Christmas cookies. Usually, at the beginning of Advent times, most Austrian families start baking a set of traditional Austrian Christmas cookies. As a child, this was one of my favorite traditions. Baking is not only about preparing the cookies, but also about listening to Christmas music, drinking hot mulled wine, and getting in the holiday spirit. There are many great Austrian Christmas traditions that will absolutely get you in a holly jolly mood.
Whenever you receive visitors during Christmas time, the cookies are served on a big platter with coffee or hot chocolate on the side. Every household has different old recipes and you can sample your way through a unique set of little treats. A great tradition to motivate people to go visit each other during the most wonderful time of the year.
The most famous Austrian Christmas cookies are vanilla crescents and authentic Linzer cookies. Linzer cookies are made of ground nuts and almonds and are filled with apricot or raspberry jam. Most Austrian families serve a great selection of cookies, such as rum balls, gingerbread, and coconut macroons. Nut corners (Nussecken) and Cinnamon Stars are also wildly common Christmas cookies.
Roasted Chestnuts
Roasted chestnuts are another beloved Christmas food in Austria. Typically, you can buy them at every Christmas market and just snack on them as you stroll around the market. However, you can also buy them at the store and easily make them at home yourself.
Make sure to buy a bag of (edible) chestnuts at the store and cut the surface with a knife (so you can peel them better). Put them in the oven until the peel opens and then let them cool off a bit before indulging in the yummy treat.
Hot Mulled Wine and Christmas Punch
Fruit punch and hot mulled wine are my favorite winter drinks served alongside every great Austrian Christmas food. Hot mulled wine, or in German Glühwein, is typically made from, red wine and mulling spices. You can find it in many variations on Austria’s Christmas markets. Drinking hot wine on the Christmas market is one of my favorite Austrian Christmas traditions.
All-time favorite variations are made with orange, cinnamon, or berries. Sometimes, hot mulled wine is spiked with traditional Austrian Schnaps (an alcoholic beverage made from distilled fruit). Some people prefer the Austrian Christmas punch over the quite intense Glühwein. Usually, tea or fruit juice is added to the Glühwein to make it less intense. Obviously, there are also versions available for children without any alcohol.
Another famous hot drink served on Christmas markets is hot chocolate laced with eggnog or rum. There are many different variations to that as well, such as white hot chocolate or hot chocolate with cherry schnapps (called Snow-white, after the Disney movie). Make sure to enjoy these delicious drinks alongside traditional food in Austria.
Baked Apple
A very famous Austrian Christmas dessert is the baked apple. Cut open an apple and fill it with cinnamon, hazelnuts, chocolate, and other spices. Bake in the oven for a couple of minutes and serve with a spoon of Vanilla ice cream. On many Austrian Christmas markets, you can indulge in a traditional baked apple, heavily loaded with cream.
Gingerbread Houses
Baking and decorating gingerbread houses is another beloved Austrian Christmas tradition. While this takes a little bit of planning in advance, baking Gingerbread houses is a lovely family tradition that is practiced several days or weeks before Christmas. The decorated house is then lovingly displayed in the living room before it can be eaten around the holidays.
Traditional Austrian gingerbread houses are decorated with white sugar frosting, Smarties, gummy bears, and other sweets. Many people host gingerbread house baking contests, where every guest decorates their own house. Whoever decorated the prettiest house wins the competition.
Weihnachtsstollen
The Weihnachtsstollen (Christmas stollen) is a richly baked cake filled with marzipan and fruit and laced with a great deal of rum. This cake is incredibly popular during Christmas times, especially for the older generations. They have served this cake for years as a traditional food in Austria for Christmas.
Austrian Fruit Bread
Traditional Austrian fruit bread (called Kletzenbrot) is another famous Christmas food in Austria. The fruit bread is filled with delicious fruit, dried pears, figs, and raisins. Typically, the fruit was first soaked in rum to give the cake an extra punch. Lastly, the cake is spiced with zesty lemon, aniseed, fennel, and cinnamon.
Schnapps
Schnapps is a very general name for distilled fruit brandy made in Austria. It is customary to drink one small shot glass of Schnapps after a heavy meal (such as a Christmas dish). There are many different variations, and many families make their own. A very typical Schnapps for the Styria area of Austria is Schnapps made from pine cones, called Zirben. Sometimes people not only drink it after a meal but also add it to hot mulled wine, to give it some extra punch.
Kaiserschmarrn
Kaiserschmarrn is a typical dish served in Austrian ski cottages for winter sports fans. The dough reminds me a lot of pancake dough. It is torn into small pieces before the pancake gets sturdy during cooking.
Traditionally, raisins or apple sauce are added afterward. Some people serve it with cranberry jam, others only put some powdered sugar on it. Sometimes Kaiserschmarrn is served as dessert, in other places, it is presented as a main dish. It is also a great dish to have when you hit the mountains, in St. Gilgen or in Hallstatt.
Schmalzgebäck (Baked Mice)
My last but not least favorite Austrian Christmas food is called baked mice (gebackene Mäuse in German). They are made from special dough and deep-fried in oil. Lastly, they are covered in powdered sugar. This reminds me a lot of the famous Krapfen (dough filled with apricot jam), that are traditionally eaten during carnival times. Baked mice can be bought at many Christmas markets and are especially delicious if eaten hot.
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Wow! Schweinsbraten looks really delicious. I would love to have this more than the typical roasted goose. I am also happy to see similar food included in my own family’s Christmas tradition since we usually have a charcuterie board, roasted chestnuts, and apple strudel for the holidays too.
I would love to try the Kletzenbrot. It’s very similar to our fruitcake. I wonder if there is any difference.
Christmas in Austria seems delicious! I think I would love all of those foods. I’m especially a huge mulled wine lover so every year I go for a mulled wine hunt. I would love to spend a Christmas in Austria someday and experience all this myself.
I would love to visit Austria in Christmas to try all these cuisine. What a lovely spread. All the pictures looked soooo delicious. I would love to try Austrian Christmas Roast, Fondue and Wiener Schnitzel. They look so tempting to try.
I can already tell these dishes are delicious from the pictures. Given how much I enjoy fried food, I was eager to sample Wiener Schnitzel. The Sacher cake is my favorite treat out of all those provided. The Austrian Christmas Roast, which appears to be incredibly tasty, also attracted my attention. I appreciate you sharing! Indeed, just looking at the food makes me drool.
This is an appetite-stimulating article. I have some of my favorite dishes that I always eat when visiting Austria. Dessert comes first; I love Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce and could eat it daily. I will not pass by the classic Wiener Schnitzel indifferently either. And such a meal always goes best with Hot Mulled Wine. I haven’t had the opportunity to be in Austria during Christmas. But after reading your article, I would love to visit it at Christmas. I would love to visit Vienna for the Christmas market and try other delicacies and dishes you describe. Necessarily I have to try Roasted Chestnuts because I only ate them in Paris. I also had no idea that Austria has great Fondue. As a foodie, I add to my list to try Weihnachtsstollen and Kaiserschmarrn.
Now you have made me hungry with all these food pictures. And for some of them, like Stollen, Bratapfel, chestnuts and christma cookies, I will have to wait for another eight monts or so. And you are right Austrians eat a lot of meat, although I am sure there are some vegetarian christmas dishes too!
We have been to Austria twice and our favourite is Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce hands down. Didn’t go during Christmas, but can see lot of common things like mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, Schnapps and ginger bread etc.
Time to go there again during Christmas now. 🙂
You can not go wrong with Christmas food! My favorite from the list is definitely fondue, I love cheese and the fact that you need a lot if time since fondue is a process is a big benefit.
Since I am a vegetarian with a major sweet tooth, all the desserts on your list are totally making me drool!! I can’t pick one simply because it is tough.. 🙂