Authentic Dishes for Your Oktoberfest Party Menu

The official, original Oktoberfest kicks off in Munich this coming Saturday, September 17. If you can't spring for a trip to Europe, you can find local Oktoberfest celebrations all over the US. They're a great opportunity to enjoy German culture, including dancing, artwork and German food and drink.

Want to throw an Oktoberfest party of your own? You'll need more than steins full of beer. We searched for authentic recipes from folks who know. From Apfelstrudel to Wiener Schnitzel, this Oktoberfest party menu will knock your guests' lederhosen off.

Kartoffelsalat

German potato salad is well-known in the US. But as we learned from Diony of The Kitchen Maus, this dish actually originated in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany. She likens calling Kartoffelsalat "German" potato salad to calling Chicago deep-dish pizza "American" pizza. (We're pretty sure New Yorkers would have something to say about that.)

Diony's recipe for Kartoffelsalat comes from her mother, who is German. The photos in her post were taken while they prepared this dish together in Germany. We don't think it gets any more authentic than that!

Schwäbische Käsespätzle

Even if you aren't of German heritage, you may have heard of Spätzle. These egg noodles hail from another southern German state -- Baden-Württemberg -- and are essential to an Oktoberfest party menu.

Take your Spätzle up a notch and turn them into Käsespätzle, or German macaroni and cheese with this recipe from Kimberly at The Daring Gourmet. She's from Stuttgart and grew up eating this delicious comfort food, just like American kids grow up eating mac-n-cheese.

Heed her advice to splurge on Emmentaler or Jarlsberg cheese; our bland white Swiss cheese won't do. Caramelized onions are also a must. Refer back to our post on how to make caramelized onions for a refresher.

This dish looks so good, it may become our go-to macaroni and cheese recipe.

Sauerbraten

Pot roast is one of those grandmotherly dishes that might be even more comforting than macaroni and cheese. So it only makes sense that we found a wonderful recipe for Sauerbraten -- German pot roast -- on The Oma Way.

Sauerbraten is not a dish you can whip up in an hour. You'll want to allow a few days for the meat to marinate, and set aside plenty of time to prepare the roast and gravy the day of your party.  A kitchen scale would also be helpful, since Oma's recipe includes quantities in grams and ounces.

Wiener Schnitzel

Did you know that Wiener Schnitzel has nothing to do with hot dogs, or even frankfurters? "Wiener" means Viennese, and "Schnitzel" refers to the way the meat is prepared. Wiener Schnitzel is always made with veal, though other Schnitzels are made with pork or chicken.

Austrian chef Kurt Gutenbrunner shared a Wiener Schnitzel recipe on Bon Appetit. If you've never had real Wiener Schnitzel, give it a shot. You can try it with pork or chicken if you prefer those over veal. Be sure to use a thermometer to help monitor the temperature of your oil.

Apfelstrudel

It's not a party without dessert, and it's not Oktoberfest without Apfelstrudel. It's also probably not surprising to learn that the apple strudel recipe we selected came from yet another grandmother's kitchen.

Like Wiener Schnitzel, Apfelstrudel has its origins in Austria.  Ursula of Li'l Vienna shared her granny's strudel recipe, complete with photos of each step and measurements in both metric and imperial. We also appreciate that she encourages readers to weigh the flour rather than measure by volume.

Be sure to put the stretched-out dough on top of a large piece of cloth like muslin. Then put the filling on the dough and use the cloth to help roll your strudel. While we're still afraid we'll tear the dough, we've got to give this recipe a try anyway.

Tell us what's on your Oktoberfest party menu!