Authentic Tafelspitz – Austrian Boiled Beef with Soup and Sauces 🇦🇹

Tafelspitz (Austrian boiled beef) is a topside cut of beef, slow-cooked with vegetables, herbs and spices in a flavorful broth. It’s traditionally served with the broth (soup) and accompanied by apple and horseradish sauce and/or chive sauce.
The broth is also used to make Frittatensuppe, a soup with pancake ribbons.
All recipes included.

Recipe Intro

Even though I was very young, I still remember the elegance of Tafelspitz from my childhood in Vienna. Thinly sliced boiled beef in that lovely, clear golden broth, the meat so tender it practically melted in your mouth. My mother would serve it with sautéed potatoes and onions, and she would use the broth to make a delicious Viennese soup – Frittatensuppe – with pancake ribbons, which is quite similar to the French céleste soup.

Tafelspitz was often served at family gatherings and holidays, and it’s a dish I frequently make, including for Christmas dinner. Its simple yet elegant presentation, with thinly sliced beef in a golden broth, always adds a special touch to the table and is sure to impress guests.

Tafelspitz Ingredients

• meat: For an authentic Tafelspitz (Austrian boiled beef), choose a high-quality cut, such as topside or silverside. From 1 kilogram of beef, you should expect to yield around 8-10 slices once it’s cooked.
• Beef bones, particularly those with marrow, are crucial for crafting a rich and flavourful broth. As they cook, they release nutrients and gelatin, creating a robust base for the soup. For the best results, select one or two good-quality bones to complement the beef.
• vegetables: Use root vegetables like carrots, parsnips and turnips, onions, celery, and leeks for the best flavour. The carrots and parsnips do more than just flavour the broth, they’re also served with the Tafelspitz or added to the soup.
  If you like, you can add fresh chives, though it’s not essential to the recipe, it’s up to you. And don’t overdo the vegetables; the goal is to make a rich, beefy broth, not a vegetable soup! 😊
  
• herbs and spices: Do not skip any from the list ( see recipe card), as they all contribute to the traditional flavour of Tafelspitz. While the recipe gives specific amounts of parsley, thyme, and bay leaves, feel free to add more of these herbs.

Check the recipe card below for the ingredients of the two sauces served with Tafelspitz.

While you are here check out these yummy international recipes with beef 🐄 🥩;

Carbonnade de Boeuf – Belgian beef stew
Salisbury Steak – American beef patties in sauce
Moroccan Meatballs Tagine – Spiced beef in rich sauce

How to make authentic Tafelspitz – Austrian boiled beef?

Cooking the beef

Note:
Due to the size of my pot (5 litre), I couldn’t fit all the ingredients at once, so I first cooked the meat and bones for an hour. After that, I removed the bones and added the vegetables to continue cooking together with the meat. If you have a large enough pot, you can add all the ingredients at once and cook them together.

• Cut the onion in half and dry-roast it in a pan (no oil) until it’s dark brown. Dry-frying the cut side of the onion adds a subtle smokiness, flavour and colour. Don’t worry if it blackens slightly – this is perfectly fine and actually enhances the flavour, giving the broth that perfect taste.
  
• Place the meat and marrow bones into a large pot. Add enough water to cover, then season with salt, add peppercorns, cloves, juniper berries, and garlic. Heat the pot gently, bringing the temperature to 90°C. Ensure the liquid never reaches a full boil and simmers for 2 hours. The pot should be partially covered with a lid.

⚠️ Important
During the cooking, you’ll see a frothy foam (scum) appear on the surface (this is protein). Skim it off with a spoon to ensure the broth stays clear and free from impurities, giving you a clean, flavourful soup.

Preparing Tafelspitz for Serving

• Once the cooking is complete, remove the meat and bones from the pot. Strain the broth and set aside the cooked carrots and parsnips, which you’ll serve with the meat. Place the meat on a large plate, cover it with foil, and allow it to rest while you finish preparing the soup.
  
• The remaining vegetables – celery, leeks, onion, garlic, and herbs – have contributed their flavour to the broth so you can discard them. But don’t throw them away just yet! These vegetables are still tasty and full of flavour, so chop them finely or mash them with boiled potatoes for a rich, delicious mash!
  
• Slice the rested meat into thin slices before serving.

How to make Tafelspitz soup and sauces?

Viennese beef soup with pancakes

The broth in which the beef was cooked is traditionally served with the slices of meat. Half of the remaining broth can be used as a classic Viennese beef soup (Wiener Rindsuppe). This is served with dumplings (knoedel) or thin pancake strips –Wiener Frittatensuppe, my favourite! Here is the recipe;

I won’t go into how to make pancakes here, but you can either use your own recipe or follow mine, which includes a basic pancake recipe as part of a different dish (spinach and cheese pancakes).

• Add finely chopped parsley or chives (or a mix of both) to the pancake batter. Once done, slice the cooled pancakes into thin strips. Put them in a soup bowl and pour over the hot broth.
  For extra flavour, you can add the cooked carrots and other root vegetables you used to make the broth. Simple, delicious, and perfect!

Traditional Sauces for Tafelspitz

Tafelspitz is traditionally served with a rich apple and horseradish sauce and a creamy chive sauce.

Tips

Apple and horseradish sauce: Fresh horseradish adds a traditional touch with extra heat and fresher flavour. However, if you want to keep things simpler, you can skip the fresh horseradish and use only ready-made horseradish, but make sure it doesn’t contain additional ingredients.

Chive sauce: If it turns out too thick, you can adjust the consistency by mixing in a bit of beef broth, it is a traditional ingredient for this recipe. If you want to use this sauce as a salad dressing, replace the beef broth with a little wine vinegar.

📝 The old method of making chive sauce uses a simple base of butter, flour, and milk, similar to a roux.

How to serve Tafelspitz – Austrian boiled beef?

• Traditionally, Tafelspitz is served with two sauces: apple and horseradish sauce, and creamy chive sauce, both should be served cold. It is also accompanied by side dishes of either roasted or boiled potatoes, and with creamy spinach.

• For an elegant Viennese-style presentation, serve the sliced meat on a shallow plate with chopped vegetables, and pour the hot broth over it. Garnish with freshly chopped chives.

• Tafelspitz, or boiled beef, is just as delicious cold with a slice of bread, perfect for canapés or a simple, satisfying lunch.

Recipe Card