The main meal of the day is das Mittagessen, or lunch. The tradition is to have a hot meal during lunch. Sauerbraten, snitzels, Frikadellen (German meatballs), potatoes (such as Kartoffelsalat), green beans, soups, and stews are frequently served for lunch.
Lunch is often served after a starter such as potato salad. Lunches cooked at home may include Eintopf, Rouladen, Schnitzel or Sauerbraten. It will usually consist of meat or fish served with potatoes, rice, or German noodles as well as vegetables and sometimes rolls (Brötchen).
The typical meals are divided in a rather copious breakfast (6 am – 8 am), lunch (12 pm – 2 pm) and dinner (6 pm – 8 pm). Breakfast usually consists of bread that can be topped with cheese, cold cuts, jam, honey, Nutella etc., if you prefer something salty.
Sauerbraten is regarded as one Germany's national dishes and there are several regional variations in Franconia, Thuringia, Rhineland, Saarland, Silesia and Swabia. This pot roast takes quite a while to prepare, but the results, often served as Sunday family dinner, are truly worth the work.
Traditional German breakfast is a simple breakfast. It consists of different varieties of Brötchen (bread rolls), marmalade or jam, chocolate spread, cheeses, hams, salami, Schwarzwälder, and honey.
In the north of Germany, dishes are mainly based on fish and seafood, while in the south of the country, they are more likely to be based on red meat and game. Baked goods are especially popular in Germany – for example, whole wheat bread, Bavarian pretzels, and different kinds of rolls.
The top 5 foods in Germany are currywurst, schnitzel, spätzle, sauerkraut, and bratwurst.
Meals in Germany
First of all, we'll take a look at Germany's three main meals in the day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Additionally, we'll take a look at some of the food themed quirks, zoom in on food at work and talk about some standout dishes.
Besides the usual suspects of chocolate bars, candy and salty snacks such as potato chips and pretzels, Germans also love to snack on more healthy products including fruits, nuts and a huge selection of dairy products like yogurt, quark snacks, puddings or rice pudding.
Those who believe the Germans have a sweet tooth are wrong. They may love snacking (53.7% do so several times a week), and prefer doing so in the afternoon, but most of them like savoury snacks (63.2%).
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner… and Lots of Snacks!
When you're visiting Germany for the first time or when your German in-laws come to visit, you may wonder: what do they typically eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Lesson Summary. In this lesson, we learned some of the most important words about mealtime in Germany, like Frühstück (breakfast), Das Mittagessen (lunch), Abendessen (dinner), Zwischenmahlzeit and einladen (invite).
Mittagessen (literally “midday food” – lunch)
Lunch is normally the main meal in Germany, which I think makes sense.
Standard hours in Germany
Monday to Saturday are considered the legal working days, but most employees typically work from Monday to Friday. Workdays usually start between 8-9 am and finish between 5-6 pm. Lunch breaks are 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Gouda – the forefather of the finest cheese indulgence
One of the oldest and most popular types of cheese! By the way: GOLDSTEIG Almdammer is a combination of Emmental and Gouda in taste.
Oktoberfest – also known as Wiesn – is the most famous German tradition, but there are several lesser-known traditional occasions that are just as interesting as well as more original.
But in Germany, the traditional dinner time is much earlier: you'll find many German households having their evening meal between 5 and 7 pm.
1. Hallo – “Hello” This is the simplest way to say “hello” in German. It's a friendly, all-purpose greeting that can be used in pretty much any situation, formal or informal.
The traditional Christmas meal features duck, goose, rabbit or a roast. This main dish is accompanied by German delicacies such as apple and sausage stuffing, red cabbage and potato dumplings. Dessert typically includes Christmas Stollen, considered one of the best Christmas pastries in the world!
It consists of coffee and either pastries or sausages. The typical sausage is a white sausage, Weißwurst, which is considered the specialty of Munich and Bavaria in general. The sausage is prepared during the early morning to serve during the second breakfast. It is served with pretzels, sweet mustard, and wheat beer.
Bread rolls are a typical part of a German breakfast, and they're often paired with butter, cold cuts, cheese slices, honey, and fruit jam. Hard-boiled eggs are also a common addition to the German breakfast table, as well as Leberwurst, a traditional liver sausage (per I Like Germany).