As we drove our RV from Venice, Italy towards Austria you knew something was different. The road began to curve in at every corner, and incredible panoramic views of the mountains and hills were endless and breathtaking. You just wanted to jump from the RV and spin around with a dress (think we watched Sound of Music too many times!)
History of Austrian Cuisine
We fell in love with Austria; it’s one of the most beautiful countries we’ve traveled to in the world. What makes it even more special is all the wonderful food they have that our children loved. Austrian cuisine, or the style of cooking dates back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and has many influences from Italy, Germany, and Hungary.
Austrian cuisine is most often associated with Viennese cuisine, but there are significant regional variations. Viennese cuisine is best known for its pastries, but it includes a wide range of other unique dishes as well.
Austrian’s are health-conscious, but many high-fat, starchy traditional foods are staples and on most restaurant menus. With the younger generation you will find lighter versions of the meals below being served. It’s always best to order “house specials”, asking if they are kid-friendly.
Kid-Friendly Austrian Foods to Try
The food from Austria differs in preparation depending on what city you visit, so you’ll never get bored ordering the same item if you decide you like it. These items became staples for our children during our month long stay in the country. Here’s our favorite kid-friendly Austrian foods – soon to be yours, too when you visit this glorious country!
Wiener Schnitzel
A traditional Austrian dish made with boneless meat which is pan-fried with a coating of flour, egg, and breadcrumbs (similar to escalope). We confused this with a hotdog when we first arrived because we thought if something was called a “wiener” it meant it was a sausage of some type.
Apfelstrudel
Apple strudel is a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria and in many countries in Europe that once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire. Layers of thin pastry surrounding a filling of apple, usually with cinnamon and raisins is wonderful served warm or chilled.
Rindsuppe
A simple beef consomme (beef broth) soup served with noodles my 5 year old fell in love with can be found at many restaurants throughout Austria.
Rindsgulasch (Goulash)
Goulash of beef (or hot beef stew) served with fluffy dumplings are the best dish to order when you don’t know what to order for your kids in Austria. This dish is also served with boiled potatoes or bread rolls.
Topfenstrudel
After the Apfelstrudel, the Topfenstrudel is a very popular pastry filled from Austria made with sweet cheese and raisins. We had some served warm and it was almost as good as some homemade breadpudding!
Schnitzelsemmel
This Schnitzel sandwich is breaded pork served up like a burger (like a chicken filet burger but pork). The kids ate a lot of these at the train stations which were a fast, tasty and cheap lunch (3 euros).
Frankfurter
Try to order a Vienna sausage in Vienna, Austria, and you’d most likely get a blank stare. That’s because a “hotdog” or a “sausage” are called frankfurters in Austrian. You can read all about our confusion in a recent article, What the Wienerschnitzel??!!
Almdudler
Almdudler an Austrian soft drink made with mountain herbs and flavors from the elderflower flower. It is considered the ‘national drink of Austria’, and is popularly used as a mixer with white wine or water. To our kids, it tasted just like sparkling apple cider and couldn’t get enough of it.
Eiernockerl
These are simple, small flour based dumplings made with flour, eggs and milk. It is then scrambled eggs, cheese and other toppings, depending which city in Austria you visit. This version is from a city called Klosterneuburg on the outskirts of Vienna where we camped a few days and visited wineries and farms. This dish was made with ham, eggs and potatoes. A hearty meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Tafelspitz
A typical Austrian restaurant would serve the Tafelspitz in the broth it is boiled in. We ordered this dish several times throughout our visit to Austria and it sometime came with/without carrots or turnips on the side or with/without potatoes or dumplings. We liked it best with just the broth and dumplings (pictured here).
If you’re visiting Austria in the near future with your children, you now know what kid-friendly Austrian foods to order when visiting any restaurant in the country. We’re looking forward to returning in the winter when we heard from the locals all the wonderful “seasonal” foods make their debut…
Christmas in Salzburg, Austria sounds nice!