Geschnetzeltes (Creamy German Hunter’s Sauce)
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One of my very favorite dishes growing up in Germany, my Mutti and Oma both excelled at making Geschnetzeltes, a traditional dish consisting of strips of pork cooked with onions and mushrooms in a luxuriously creamy sauce. Hands down, this dish defines the very essence of German comfort food!
Serve this German Geschnetzeltes over hot homemade Spätzle, with Semmelknödel or Kartoffelklösse, and get ready to fall in love!
What is Geschnetzeltes?
Geschnetzeltes (prounounced geh-shnet-sel-tess) is German for “sliced meat” and refers to a sauce consisting of sliced meat cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce. The meat is cooked in a skillet with butter or oil until browned, onions and mushrooms are sauteed, and cream and seasonings are added to make a sauce. The sauce is usually served with Spätzle, Semmelknödel, Kartoffelklöße, egg noodles or potatoes. It’s a quick and easy dish to make and is thoroughly delicious comfort food. Geschnetzeltes is a traditional and popular dish throughout Germany and Switzerland though there are differences between the two versions (more on that below).
German Geschnetzeltes vs Zürcher Geschnetzeltes
Both versions share the commonality of sliced meat that’s browned and simmered in a creamy mushroom sauce but there are also some significant differences between the German and Swiss versions. One key difference is the choice of meat. Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, also known as Zürich Ragout, traditionally uses veal while German Geschnetzeltes uses pork. Another distinction is that the German version is creamier and richer in texture whereas the Swiss version uses white wine and broth to create a thinner sauce. Zürcher Geschnetzeltes is commonly served with Rösti, the Swiss version of Kartoffelpuffer (German potato pancakes).
I enjoy both versions but my favorite will always be the luxuriously rich and creamy German Geschnetzeltes that reminds me so much of home. And for me, Spätzle is definitely the accompaniment of choice.
What to Serve with Geschnetzeltes
Geschnetzeltes is a creamy sauce meant to be served with a carb. Here are a few serving recommendations:
- Spätzle
- Semmelknödel
- German Potato Dumplings (Kartoffelklöße)
- Egg Noodles
- Boiled or Mashed Potatoes
- Kartoffelpuffer (this is how the Swiss commonly serve Geschnetzeltes, their version known as Rösti)
Along with your carb of choice, other side dishes that pair well with Geschnetzeltes include:
- Leafy Green Salad
- German Cucumber Salad or Creamy German Cucumber Salad
- German Green Bean Salad
- Steamed Vegetables
German Geschnetzeltes Recipe
Let’s get started!
Heat the oil in a stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is heated, add the pork, being careful not to overcrowd, and brown it on all sides. Browning the pork will ensure a rich flavor in the finished sauce. Transfer the pork to a plate and set aside.
Add the onion to the skillet, adding more oil if necessary, and saute until translucent and beginning to brown, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the mushrooms to the skillet with the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the onion/mushroom mixture to the pork and set aside.
Melt the butter in the skillet.
Add the flour and whisk until smooth.
Continue to whisk constantly until the mixture darkens.
Continue to cook, whisking continually, until the mixture is a rich caramel brown.
Add the milk and cream and whisk until smooth. Simmer, continuing to stir, until thickened.
Add the paprika and the beef bouillon base.
Return the pork and mushroom/onion mixture to the sauce.
Add salt and pepper. Bring it to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve immediately with homemade Spätzle, Semmelknödel, German Potato Dumplings, or hot egg noodles and a fresh green salad.
Enjoy!
For more authentic German recipes be sure to try our:
- Rouladen
- Sauerbraten
- German Goulash
- Käsespätzle
- Swabian Potato Salad
- Senfbraten
- Schnitzel
- Jägerschnitzel
- Currywurst
- Maultaschen
- German Potato Soup
- Frikadellen
- Flädlesuppe
- Gaisburger Marsch
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Geschnetzeltes (Creamy German Hunter's Sauce)
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean pork cut into thin strips
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion , diced
- 10 oz fresh white button mushrooms , sliced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder
- 2-3 teaspoons beef bouillon base (e.g., Better Than Bouillon), or beef bouillon cubes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat and brown the pork on all sides. Transfer the pork to a plate and set aside.Add the onions to the skillet, adding more oil if necessary, and sauté until beginning to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the onion mushroom mixture to pork and set aside.
- Melt the butter in the skillet and whisk in the flour, continuing to whisk until the mixture is a rich caramel brown. Add the milk and heavy cream, whisking continually, until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Add the paprika and beef bouillon base and whisk until smooth.Return the meat mixture to the sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you prefer the sauce a little thinner, add a little more cream.Serve with Spätzle or carb of choice (see serving recommendations in blog post) and a fresh green salad or cucumber salad.
Nutrition
Originally published on March 26, 2013
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
I made this the other night. Everything was coming along perfectly until the part where I added the bullion cubes. The cubes weren’t breaking up, and combining with the sauce, so I continued whisking. Unfortunately, I whisked so long that my sauce began to separate, and the bullion cubes still weren’t completely dissolved. I went ahead and added the pork/onions/mushrooms back to the sauce, but it was a mess. We ended up eating it. It didn’t taste terrible, but I’m sure it would have been better if the sauce had stayed together. Long story short: I am going to make this again, but I am going to crush the bullion cubes before I add them to the sauce. Otherwise, great recipe!
Hi Sean, sorry about the ordeal you had with the cubes – that’s unusual for them not to have dissolved, it’s sounds like they were really hard! Yes, either crush them or you can also find powdered bouillon that you can scoop. Do give it another shot, this is such good comfort food!
Sean, I have a small mortar and pestle that I use for crushing things like; bouillon cubes and garlic with a little salt to make a paste, herbs, whole spices…
Thank you for this recipe! Made it tonight for Reformation Day celebration and everyone loved it. I probably used more butter than you suggested (and that SURELY didn’t hurt :-) ) We went with the egg noodles… cooked the pork, mush and onions in cast iron and it came out fantastic. This one is going in the rotation. Next time we’ll have time to go with the proper spaetzle!
Fantastic, David, I’m so glad it was a hit, thank you! And I’m with you, the more butter the better! :)
Question, do you think this could be adapted for a slow cooker? I love this recipe but am trying to find ways to prep for the work week!
Hi Laurel, most of the flavor of this dish comes from the process of sauteing, caramelizing and making the roux with the flour – all steps that will be missed in the slow cooker. If you’re going to employ a slow cooker for this I’d recommend waiting until Step 5 and transferring everything over at that point to slow cook on LOW for maybe 3-4 hours. But for this particular dish I recommend sticking with the stovetop.
Kimberly, we have a very close friend from Germany and over the years we’ve enjoyed many Swabian dishes. I made the pork schnitzel recipe of yours and this sauce. It was delicious!! She and her husband kept saying how much it reminded them of her Mom’s cooking. Also made buttered noodles with parsley and fresh steamed green beans with the bread crumbs browned in butter. Our friend is going through chemo so she has enough left over for tomorrow’s dinner when she gets home from the hospital. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
Thanks so much, Bob. I’m so glad you were able to enjoy a delicious German meal with your friends and family. God bless your friend in her journey towards recovery.
Is the sauce similar to what would be used for Jagerschnitzel?
It is, Mark, though the sauce for Jäegerschnitzel usually isn’t creamy, it’s a brown sauce.
This recipe looks amazing!! I’m going to try it for sure! When you say heavy cream?…what percentage is the cream you use? I’m also going to make sweet and sour red cabbage salad (served hot) to eat along side … It will be a perfect match for your recipes.
Thanks, Karen! Heavy cream typically has between 36-40% milk fat, but you can use a lighter cream too if you prefer.
Looking for inspiration and came across this wonderful sounding recipe for Geschnetzeltes wow I am salivating already cant make it today but off the the Pork Butcher in the morning at first light Kimberly and Thanks
Charlie Gardiner
Wonderful, Charles, happy cooking and let us know what you think!
Hi Kimberly! What a greaat idea! I am cooking for a very large group-a memorial. Many people lived in Bavaria for at least part of their lives. I wanted to to jaegerschnitzel since it is such a favorite but too difficult for a group. This is perfect!
Question: Do you think there would be any benefit in coating the pork pieces like for schnitzel?
Oh and for your bacon comment…I’m sauteing with some rendered bacon fat for the extra piggyness! :)
Thanks so much for your awesome site!
Hi Christine, what a wonderful memorial! Yes, this is a great dish for a crowd because it can be made in advance and reheated. No, I wouldn’t recommend coating the pieces of pork for two reasons: One, frying/browning the pork is key to the flavor of the sauce and two, the breading would just get soggy and probably fall off in the sauce anyway. Happy cooking and I hope the memorial will be as special as it sounds.
Thank you Kimberly! :D
Hi Kimberly, I am German, I grew up in Landstuhl (Rheinland-Pfalz or in English the Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany, which is close to Ramstein Air Base and Kaiserslautern (1. FCK Soccer Club, which has been very disappointing in the past years). My mother was also from Swabia and to be exact, she grew up near Schwaebisch-Hall and my father in Landstuhl. I just want to give you a tip on your Schnitzel with Hunter-style grave and it is also great to use for your Geschnetzteltes recipe. I use the drippings from the meat, add small cubes of bacon and the rest is just about the same as you have in your recipe. I have to say, since I have grown up in a very large or lets say the largest American Military Community outside of the United States, the American bacon is much greasier than the German bacon is. You may want to brown it separately and pour out some of the grease before adding it to the pan of drippings. Let it brown some more and then add the rest of your ingredients. I think you and your admirers/followers will love this little but great change of taste.
Hi Doris, thanks for the tip. Bacon pretty much makes everything taste better, doesn’t it? :)
Hi Doris…AFRC in Garmisch Partenkirchen by any chance? Thats where all my extended “framily” lived and worked. My Uncle was a helicopter pilot there in the ’50s shuttling the brass in for skiing etc. My husband and the rest were there from the late ’70s and some still live there. If that is where you were, “Hi” from our GAPer framily!
Thank you so much. Is there a national german dessert you could recommend to finish up this traditional meal?
Hi Celeste! Oh, there are so many to choose from, it just depends on how filling versus light of a dessert you want after this meal. Here are just a few traditional German desserts and there are many more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_desserts
So is the sauce for jaeger schnitzel basically the same just omitting the pork strips? Im looking forward to making a jaeger schnitzel with spatzle for my friends 50rh birthday.
Hi Celeste! Yes, it’s basically the same thing. You can make creamy or clear brown gravy mushroom sauces for Jägerschnitzel, both equally popular. I’m actually going to be posting my recipe for Jägerschnitzel in the near future but probably won’t be before your friend’s birthday. You’ll be good to go though making a mushroom gravy as described in this recipe.
We made this tonight with some beef we had in the fridge that needed to be used up. It was excellent! We didn’t have any Spaetzle either so we put it over potato gnocchi which was surprisingly good.
That’s awesome, Nate, thanks for the feedback and gnocchi was a great choice!
Fixed this tonight for my German-born father-in-law. Didn’t have equipment to make spätzle, so just served over wide egg noodles. It was fabulous, with everyone having seconds. Only change I made to the recipe: I had 1-1/2 lbs pork on hand so used that amount, instead of 1 lb pork as the recipe calls for. It was not too much meat for the quantity of sauce. A big hit for this German-born and German-heritage family!
That’s wonderful, Mary, thanks so much for your feedback! This dish has always been a favorite of mine.
A few weeks ago my fiancé bought some porkchops on sale at the store. When she unpackaged them she found that they had buried a very oddly shaped/cut pieces at the bottom. Discouraged, she was about to throw them out saying they wouldn’t cook up right. Then I remembered this recipe. With it, I turned the butchers scraps that were destined for the trash into a meal fit for a king. Thanks again, Daring Gourmet!
Good call, Steve! Exactly, traditionally scraps probably would have used for this kind of dish. So glad this dish was a hit, it’s always been a favorite of mine!
This was absolutely delicious! Made the spetzel, too. Served with spiced red cabbage. Thank you for the recipe, will make this often. We were married in Augsburg almost 45 years ago.
That’s wonderful, Sandra, thank you! You’ve got me really in the mood to make this again, I think I’ll make it for my family today :)