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Two slices of baked Leberkäse with a brown crust next to potato salad with bacon and pickles on a white plate, fork and knife on a festive tablecloth

Baked Bavarian Leberkäse with Swabian Potato Salad

Baked Leberkäse is the Bavarian classic from the oven: a fine, tender meat loaf with a deep brown, crisp crust. This version uses 500 g of raw Leberkäsbrät, baked for 60 minutes at 160 °C, with a diamond pattern cut into the top.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: German
Calories: 331
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Leberkäsbrät (raw Bavarian Leberkäse mixture) about 1.1 lb. In a baking-ready aluminum tray, or for a small loaf pan. Check the label for gluten
  • oil or butter, for greasing the pan optional; only if you do not use an aluminum baking tray
  • to taste sweet or medium-hot mustard for serving, as much as you like. Check the label

Method
 

  1. Preheat. Heat the oven in good time to 160 °C (320 °F) on the fan setting (circulating air).
  2. Prepare the Leberkäsbrät. If you did not buy it in a ready-to-bake aluminum tray, lightly grease a small loaf pan and spread the Brät in, as free of air bubbles as possible.
  3. Score the pattern. Smooth the surface with a moistened dough scraper or the back of a knife. With a sharp knife, cut a diamond pattern about 0.5 cm (¼ inch) deep into the top. This gives the typical look and stops the loaf from tearing open at random.
  4. Bake. Bake on the middle rack at 160 °C (320 °F) for 1 hour (60 minutes), until risen and deeply browned with a crisp crust.
  5. Cook the potato salad in parallel. As soon as the Leberkäse is in the oven, put the potatoes on (5 minutes in an Instant Pot or 20 to 25 minutes in a pot). While the potatoes cool and are sliced, cut the pickles and fry the onions and bacon for the dressing. Toss the salad with the hot broth dressing and let it stand for the last 10 minutes of the bake. Method in our Swabian Potato Salad with Bacon and Pickles.
  6. Rest and serve. Take the Leberkäse out of the oven, let it rest briefly, cut it into finger-thick slices and serve right away with the lukewarm potato salad and mustard.
    Baked Leberkäse with a dark brown crust, partly cut into slices on a white cutting board, pink and tender inside

Notes

Gluten: some Leberkäsbrät products contain wheat or other binders. Read the ingredient list of the exact product and ask the butcher if it is unpacked. Check the mustard and the potato salad ingredients (bacon, pickles, broth) as well: look for wheat, rye, barley or oats in the ingredient list (the EU requires these to be highlighted) and for malt vinegar. A product marked gluten-free is the safest choice; no special brand is needed.
Portions: plan about 125 g of Leberkäse per person. If your guests are real Leberkäse fans, use 750 g to 1 kg for the same four people. For a bigger loaf, adjust the bake time to the recommendation on the packaging and check that it is cooked through in the middle; the potato salad quantity stays the same, because the salad is already generous.
Timing: the whole meal takes about 70 minutes. Start the potatoes right after the loaf goes into the oven so the salad is ready for the last 10 minutes of the bake.
Brät is a raw meat mixture, so keep it chilled until it goes into the oven and wash hands and tools after handling it.
Nutrition values are an estimate calculated from typical values for raw Leberkäsbrät, not a lab analysis. They cover the Leberkäse only, not the potato salad or mustard; check the pack for your product.