Today's words · 🍖 Classic dishes
Beyond sausages: 10 classic German dishes
A1A2B1B2C2
Think German food is just sausages and beer? Open a real menu and think again.
In a country pub in southern Germany, the menu was full of words like Knödel, Eintopf and Beilage. You play it safe and order the one word you know — Schnitzel — while staring at the round dumplings on the next table.
Today's ten words are classic German dishes and the menu words around them. With them you can choose confidently from a menu and follow along when German friends talk about home cooking. 🍖
📋 The ten words at a glance
- das Schnitzel — schnitzel (breaded cutlet)
- die Kartoffel — potato
- der Knödel — dumpling (potato or bread)
- die Soße — sauce
- der Eintopf — stew, one-pot dish
- die Suppe — soup
- der Pfannkuchen — pancake; (Berlin) jam doughnut
- das Hauptgericht — main course
- die Beilage — side dish; (newspaper) supplement
- deftig — hearty, rich (food); coarse, crude (language)
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
das Schnitzel
[SHNIT-sel]schnitzel (breaded cutlet)(Pl. die Schnitzel)
📌 Ich nehme ein Schnitzel mit Pommes.
→ I'll have a schnitzel with fries.
💡 From schnitzen (to carve) 🔪 A thin slice of meat, breaded and fried.
⚠ The plural is also die Schnitzel — no -s.
die Kartoffel
[kar-TOF-el]potato(Pl. die Kartoffeln · Austrian: der Erdapfel)
📌 Heute gibt es Kartoffeln mit Gemüse.
→ Today there are potatoes with vegetables.
💡 It comes from the Italian word for truffle 🥔 Both are dug out of the ground!
Bonus potato salad = der Kartoffelsalat · mashed potato = der Kartoffelbrei
der Knödel
[KNUR-del]dumpling (potato or bread)(Pl. die Knödel · Germany: der Kloß)
📌 Zum Braten gibt es Knödel.
→ The roast is served with dumplings.
💡 Related to Knoten (knot) — a dough ball tied into a tight round 🧶
⚠ Knödel is southern and Austrian; elsewhere you'll also hear der Kloß.
die Soße
[ZOH-suh]sauce(Pl. die Soßen · = die Sauce)
📌 Möchtest du noch etwas Soße zu den Nudeln?
→ Would you like some more sauce for your pasta?
💡 French sauce with a German spelling 🥫 Sauce is also correct.
Bonus the rich gravy served with roasts = die Bratensoße
der Eintopf
[INE-topf]stew, one-pot dish(Pl. die Eintöpfe)
📌 An kalten Tagen kocht meine Oma gern einen Eintopf mit Linsen.
→ On cold days my grandma likes to cook a lentil stew.
💡 ein (one) + Topf (pot) = everything in one pot 🍲
Bonus Common kinds: Linseneintopf (lentil), Erbseneintopf (pea)
die Suppe
[ZOOP-uh]soup(Pl. die Suppen)
📌 Die Suppe ist noch zu heiß.
→ The soup is still too hot.
💡 A twin of English soup 🥣 Ends in -e, so die.
Bonus You ‘eat’ soup in German: Ich esse eine Suppe.
der Pfannkuchen
[PFAN-koo-khen]pancake; (Berlin) jam doughnut(Pl. die Pfannkuchen)
📌 Zum Frühstück gibt es Pfannkuchen mit Ahornsirup.
→ For breakfast there are pancakes with maple syrup.
💡 Pfanne (pan) + Kuchen (cake) = pan cake, literally 🥞
⚠ Order a Pfannkuchen in Berlin and you'll get a jam doughnut!
das Hauptgericht
[HOWPT-guh-risht]main course(Pl. die Hauptgerichte)
📌 Als Hauptgericht nehme ich den Fisch.
→ For the main course I'll have the fish.
💡 Haupt (main) + Gericht (dish) = the star of the meal 🍽️
Bonus dish of the day = das Tagesgericht
die Beilage
[BY-lah-guh]side dish; (newspaper) supplement(Pl. die Beilagen)
📌 Als Beilage gibt es Reis oder Pommes.
→ It comes with rice or chips as a side dish.
💡 bei (beside) + legen (to lay) = what's laid beside the main dish 🍟
Bonus The waiter may ask: Welche Beilage möchten Sie?
deftig
[DEF-tikh]hearty, rich (food); coarse, crude (language)📌 Nach dem Skifahren braucht man etwas Deftiges wie Linseneintopf mit Speck.
→ After skiing you need something hearty, like lentil stew with bacon.
💡 The word for hearty, salty, filling food 🥓
Bonus As a noun: etwas Deftiges = something hearty
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
German food is very regional. In Bavaria people love roast pork with Knödel, in Swabia it's egg noodles called Spätzle, and Berlin is famous for Currywurst. Trying the local speciality is half the fun of travelling.
Even the names change from region to region. A jam doughnut is a Berliner in much of the country, but in Berlin it's a Pfannkuchen and in the south a Krapfen.
Traditionally the hot meal was at lunchtime, and the evening meal was Abendbrot: bread, cheese and cold meats. Many families still do this, though habits vary a lot today. 🍞
✅ Quick quiz
Q. You order a schnitzel and the waiter asks ‘Und als Beilage?’. What do you answer?
- ① Ein Schnitzel, bitte.
- ② Die Suppe ist heiß.
- ③ Kartoffelsalat, bitte.
Show the answer
③ Kartoffelsalat, bitte.
A Beilage is a side dish, so you name something like Kartoffelsalat.
Say what you're having for dinner tonight in German, starting with ‘Heute gibt es…’. Guten Appetit! 🍽️
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🥨 Bread & pretzels