Fleischsalat (German Meat Salad)
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
This homemade Fleischsalat recipe is just the way you know and love it from Germany! Deliciously creamy with meat and pickles, spread this on your favorite bread for lunch or a light dinner. Guten Appetit!
What is Fleischsalat?
There isn’t a German alive who isn’t familiar with Fleischsalat. In Germany it’s practically as common as peanut butter and jelly is here in the U.S.. It’s a sandwich spread that consists of mayonnaise, pickles and bologna. But the key is those ingredients must all be German because the American equivalent is very, very different.
Fleischsalat takes me back to my childhood, youth and young adulthood in Germany. I ate this stuff pretty frequently! One of my favorite things to do was to pick up some freshly baked Brötchen at the local bakery, grab some Fleischsalat from the grocery store like Aldi, Lidl or Real, and then go home and bite into that crusty roll slathered thick with Fleischsalat. I love it!
In Germany Fleischsalat is readily available in every grocery store, but since you can’t find it anywhere here in the U.S. (unless you have a local German deli that makes it), I’m providing a copycat recipe that tastes exactly like the Fleischsalat we know and love in Germany.
Key Ingredients
There are different variations of Fleischsalat, but the standard and traditional version – and the kind you find in most German delis and grocery stores – is this one. Simple with no embellishments and thoroughly yummy.
Please, please, please don’t use American bologna. Not unless you want to gag or make me gag at the thought of you eating it. German bologna is more like a mortadella with a more delicate flavor and texture. Check out your grocery store deli or the pre-sliced meat section for a product like the one in the first picture below.
The other thing, if you have access to German mayonnaise, such as this Thomy Mayonnaise, use it. There’s a significant difference between German and American mayonnaise (the former tastes really good and the latter tastes tolerable). Especially if you’re wanting to get the true taste of German Fleischsalat, use the German mayo. If you don’t have access to it then use the American stuff.
However, using German pickles is a must. A MUST. The difference between German and American pickles is like night and day – no comparison. No substitutions. Not if you want it to taste like it’s supposed to. You can often find German pickles in places like World Market, Lidl or Aldi, and some well-stocked grocery stores.
Ready to make this quick-and-simple yummy German sandwich spread?
Fleischsalat Recipe
Let’s get started!
Thinly slice (like julienne) the pickles and bologna, in pieces about 1-inch in length and about 1/4 inch wide.
(By the way, if you’re looking for a good pairing knife, I LOVE my German Wusthof 3 1/2 inch paring knife)
Combine all the ingredients, including the pickle juice.
If at all possible, for this to taste the way it’s supposed to, use German mayonnaise, for example Thomy Mayonnaise.
German mayonnaise tastes substantially different than American mayonnaise and I strongly recommend using German.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
For best results let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
Serve this as a sandwich spread on crusty rolls, French bread, baguettes, or artisan bread.
Enjoy!
For more authentic German recipes be sure to try my:
- Rouladen
- Rotkohl
- German Potato Dumplings
- Sauerbraten
- Schnitzel
- Spaetzle
- Maultaschen
- German Goulash
- German Potato Dumplings
- Semmelknödel
- Sauerkraut Soup
- German Potato Salad
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address and we’ll send it straight to your inbox!
Fleischsalat (German Meat Salad)
Ingredients
- 1 cup German-style bologna cut into thin strips about 1/4 inch wide and 1 inch long
- 1 cup German pickles this is a MUST, no American substitutions, cut the same as the bologna
- 1 cup German mayonnaise or American if you can’t access German
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons pickle juice from the jar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. For best results let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.Serve as a sandwich spread on crusty rolls, French bread, baguettes, or artisan bread.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet May 16, 2015
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!
Hallo, thanks for the recipe. Everytime I visit my folks back home in Germany, the first thing I ask for is Homann Fleischsalat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. D you think “Schinkenwurst” would work? I get everything else fine from an international market in my neighborhood.
Ulrike
Hallo Ulrike! Yes, Schinkenwurst is perfect. Guten Appetit! :)
We use Black Forest ham and not bologna. Just love it.
Hi, Kimberly, just ran across your Fleischsalat recipe and readers’ comments. I have made Fleischsalat the way my mother and Grandmothers made it (with red wine vinegar and oil), sometimes adding Maggi or using mayo. BUT, I am still searching for a recipe for “Delicatess”-Salat which one could buy at an upscale Deli (Schindler?) in Karlsruhe. It contained green peas as well as most of the other ingredients. have experimented with adding cheeses, parsley, chives, even apple, using ham; all taste good, but something is missing from the taste I remember. The only thing I have not tried is Thomy Mayonnaise. I will try to find it in a German import store as I don’t think our supermarkets carry it. Meanwhile, if you or one of your readers has any idea, it would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi Rose, I believe what you’re describing is what is called Wurstsalat, which is different than Fleischsalat. Fleischsalat is mayonnaise-based with just German bologna and pickles while Wurstsalat is oil & vinegar-based and usually includes German bologna, onions, pickles, parsley or chives, sometimes apples, and diced cheese like Emmentaler or Gouda.
If you live in Canada Freybe’s Lyoner sausage and Hellman’s mayonaise are excellent for Fleischsalad.Agreed Kuehne pickles are a must but can be substituted with Knax pickles from Hengstenberg…..just as good.
My personal preference is to leave the pepper out and there is enough salt in all the other ingredients.
Which Thomy do you use? The mayonnaise or the salat mayonnaise?
Hi Corinna, I use Thomy’s regular mayo.
My Mother-in-Law is German, naturlised British, and my late Wife was a German National but we have numerous relatives still living in Bad Fallingbostel who we visited on a regular basis. Until recently my Mother-in-Law used to buy German meat salad from our local Lidl but they no longer stock it even though Lidl and Aldi are German companies.
I shall, however, show her your recipe and hopefully she will try it, if she doesn’t than I shall have to make it, I am a fair cook having learnt over the years.
I shall be going back to Germany by car later this spring and, again hopefully, will see these products in the local REWE and I shall bring some back
In the meantime, thanks for the recipe and we shall certainly try it..
Thanks, John. I miss the convenience of buying this in the German grocery stores too, but it’s really so quick and easy to whip it up yourself. Let us know what you think once you’ve had the chance to try this!
I use Bavarian Fleischwurst or Krakauer (same sausage but much better version)
Live in Chicago now
My husband was so happy when I discovered your recipe. He always loved Fleischsalat from the German deli’s as a boy. Now we are living in Florida, and there is a shortage of German Deli’s here. But that meant the next problem was locating a proper German style bologna. Then I discovered that Publix sells German style bologna in their deli, and it is there own brand. I brought it home and my husband sampled it and said it was just how he remembered it tasting. I get it sliced thick because he likes the chew of the thick slice. Then for the authentic German pickles, the store brand of pickles at Trader Joe’s is made in Germany, so that works perfectly at a very reasonable price. My husband is a very happy guy whenever I make this for him.
That’s wonderful, Jackie! I’m thrilled to hear that and appreciate the feedback, thank you!
Very nice and quick menu that made me hungry when see your recipe,I “ll try to find German in gredients to made it soon.Thank you for your suggestion.I love it.😍😍😍
Thank you, Tamagorn, I hope you enjoy it!