Weisswurst substitute

Best substitute

Fresh White Bratwurst, Uncooked and Unsmoked

Use the same amount as the weisswurst you are replacing

Best for Bavarian breakfast

Taste and texture differ

The best option in a normal supermarket. The grind is coarser and the bite firmer, and it is more peppery and much less lemony, so it eats like a plainer, meatier sausage. Poached rather than grilled it comes surprisingly close, and it looks right on the plate because it stays pale.

Other weisswurst substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Boudin Blanc
Close match
Use the same amount
The nearest match for texture anywhere on this list: fine, pale, delicate, often made with milk-soaked bread and cream.
What changes
It tastes slightly richer and sweeter than Weisswurst, with nutmeg where the Bavarian version has mace and lemon. An excellent swap and arguably a nicer sausage.
Best for
Bavarian breakfast, with mustard, dinner plates, with potato puree
Prep. Poach gently 10 minutes, or warm in butter over low heat without letting the skin colour hard.
French boudin blanc, not Cajun boudin, which is rice-filled, spicy and a completely different sausage.
3Plain Fresh Veal or Chicken Sausage
Different taste
Use the same amount
Right paleness, right mildness, right poaching behaviour, and no Bavarian seasoning at all, so it tastes clean and slightly bland by comparison.
What changes
Fixable: add the aromatics to the water, or if you are making the mix yourself, work in 1/4 teaspoon ground mace, a tablespoon of chopped parsley and the zest of half a lemon per pound.
Best for
Bavarian breakfast, when only plain sausage is available, children
Prep. Poach at 175F/80C for 10 to 12 minutes with a strip of lemon zest, a pinch of mace and a parsley stalk in the water.
Chicken versions are leaner and can go dry, so keep the water below a simmer and serve immediately.
4Bockwurst
Different texture
Use the same amount
A close relative from the same tradition, also veal and pork and often seasoned with parsley and lemon, so the flavour direction is right.
What changes
Most Bockwurst sold today is lightly smoked and fully cooked, which makes it firmer, saltier and a shade pinker with a smoky background note.
Best for
with sweet mustard, in a roll, Oktoberfest plates, with potato salad
Prep. Warm through in water just off the boil for 8 minutes. Do not boil, or the skin splits.
The easiest swap to find in German delis and the closest in seasoning even though it is smoked.
5Knackwurst or a Good Frankfurter
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Both are finely emulsified and already cooked, so the texture is springy and snappy rather than soft and tender, and both are smoked and usually garlicky.
What changes
The meal still works: sausage, sweet mustard, pretzel and wheat beer is a perfectly good plate. It simply is not Weisswurst, and it tastes distinctly smokier and saltier.
Best for
with mustard and pretzels, quick weeknight version, with sauerkraut
Prep. Heat in water just below a simmer for 5 to 8 minutes.
Cut back on other salt in the meal; these carry considerably more sodium.
6Any Fresh Butcher Veal Sausage, Made to Order
Close match
Use the same amount
Worth saying plainly: no supermarket product gets the specific quality that makes Weisswurst worth eating, which is how fresh and soft and mild it is.
What changes
It was made without preservatives and eaten the same morning. If you have a butcher, ask for a fresh unsmoked veal sausage and mention lemon zest, parsley and mace. That, then boudin blanc, then fresh bratwurst, is the order of preference.
Best for
a genuine Bavarian breakfast, when you want it right
Prep. Poach the day you buy it, at 175F/80C for 10 to 12 minutes.
Many German-American butchers make Weisswurst to order in autumn. Ask before assuming they do not.

What is Weisswurst?

Weisswurst is a pale, unsmoked Bavarian sausage of finely minced veal and pork back fat seasoned with parsley, lemon zest, mace and onion, poached rather than grilled and traditionally eaten before noon.

Cooking tips

Never boil it and never grill it. Weisswurst goes into water held at about 170 to 175F, which is 75 to 80C, for 10 to 12 minutes with the pot off the heat. Boiling splits the casing and the filling turns rubbery. The same rule protects any fresh sausage you swap in.
The skin is not eaten. Traditionally you peel it at the table with a knife and fork, or bite the end and suck the sausage out, which Bavarians call zuzeln. Either way, do not serve it expecting people to chew the casing.
Sweet Bavarian mustard is not a garnish, it is the flavour. Weisswurst is deliberately mild, so the sweet mustard is doing half the work of the dish. If your substitute is saltier or smokier, use a little less mustard so the plate does not tip sweet.
The old rule is that Weisswurst should not hear the midday bell, because it was made without preservatives and eaten within hours. Treat any fresh unsmoked sausage you buy as a substitute the same way and cook it the day you buy it.
Avoid pre-cooked or smoked bratwurst if you can. It will come out pink and firm on the plate, which changes the meal from a delicate poached sausage to something closer to a hot dog, however good it tastes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use bratwurst instead of Weisswurst?

Yes, and it is the best common substitute, but pick a fresh, uncooked, unsmoked one and poach it rather than grilling it. A smoked or pre-cooked brat is pink, firm and assertive, whereas Weisswurst is pale, soft and mild, and the cooking method is most of the difference.

Can I just leave it out?

Not if the dish is Weisswurst with pretzel, sweet mustard and wheat beer, because there the sausage is the entire meal. If it is one item among several on a Brotzeit platter, any other mild sausage covers the gap without anyone minding.

Is Weisswurst raw?

It is lightly cooked during production but sold to be gently poached before eating, and it is highly perishable because it contains no curing salt or preservatives. Heat it through properly and buy it the day you plan to eat it.

Why is it white?

No smoking, no curing salt and no paprika, just pale veal, pork fat and a little onion. Nitrite curing salt is what turns most sausages pink, so without it the meat stays greyish white when cooked.

Is Weisswurst the same as bockwurst?

Related but not the same. Both are veal and pork sausages with parsley and lemon, but bockwurst is usually lightly smoked and sold fully cooked, making it firmer, saltier and slightly pink. Weisswurst is neither smoked nor cured.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Weisswurst substitute

Other weisswurst substitutes

2Boudin Blanc

3Plain Fresh Veal or Chicken Sausage

4Bockwurst

5Knackwurst or a Good Frankfurter

6Any Fresh Butcher Veal Sausage, Made to Order