Apfelkren Recipe (Horseradish Sauce with Apples)

Here comes a simple Apfelkren recipe, which is a traditional Austrian sauce made of grated horseradish and apples. It is quite quickly mixed together as a side dish to traditional Austrian boiled beef like Tafelspitz.

The sauce only needs 3 ingredients: apples, horseradish and optionally a little lemon or apple cider vinegar.

In the article below, I present 2 variations of this recipes: with freshly grated apples, as well as an apple horseradish recipe with applesauce.

What to serve with Apfelkren

Apfelkren is traditionally served as a sauce with boiled beef like Tafelspitz, usually together with roasted potatoes, Semmelkren (horseradish sauce with white bread and beef broth), creamed spinach and chive or dill sauce.

Ingredients

For 4 servings of apple horseradish you need:

• 2 apples - alternatively approx. 1 cup of applesauce: to make applesauce yourself, cut the apples into small pieces and boil them in a pot with very little water until soft. Blend with a hand blender.
  The apples are traditionally peeled before preparation - but I prefer to use the apples always unpeeled. This tastes better to me personally, it saves time and reduces kitchen waste, and more of the vitamins under the skin are preserved.
• approx. 4 tablespoons of horseradish, either freshly grated or from a jar - the exact amount depends on your own taste and on the pungency of the horseradish.
• 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to keep the apples from turning brown - alternatively, lemon juice. If you use applesauce, the additional acid is not necessary.

Instructions

Apfelkren with freshly grated apples

Here comes step-by-step instructions with pictures and detailed explanations.

For the short version of the recipe, you can jump directly to the printable recipe card:

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Peel apples (optionally) and grate using a food processor attachment with fine holes or a hand grater.

Place in a bowl and mix with apple cider vinegar.

Peel about 3 inches (~6 cm) of the horseradish root with a peeler. (Or more if you like it spicier).

Grate finely with a grater.

Beware of the pungency: you may want to cover your nose with a cloth and your eyes with protection glasses.

Mix the horseradish to the apples, taste if it is spicy enough.

Cover and store in the refrigerator until serving.

Apfelkren with Apple Sauce

Apple horseradish with applesauce tastes slightly sweeter than with fresh apples. The advantage is also that it can be kept longer and is therefore easier to prepare.

For the apple horseradish recipe with applesauce, mix 1 cup of applesauce with about 4 tablespoons of grated horseradish for about 4 servings. Depending on how spicy you like it or how fresh the horseradish root is. Additional acidity of vinegar or lemon juice is not absolutely necessary.

Store covered in the refrigerator until serving.