How To Make Leberkäse At Home – A Step-By-Step Guide

If you want to make your own Leberkäse at home, then this article will explain to you how it can be done easily and with only a few ingredients.

You will find the complete list of ingredients and materials, as well as a straightforward to understand instruction. At the end you also get 5 bonus recipes from me.

First of all…

What is a Leberkäse?

Leberkase is a specialty food found in the south of Germany, in Austria and parts of Switzerland.

The original name translates to “liver cheese”. However, in Bavaria for example liver has never been processed, but it is still called Leberkäse. I am originally from Bavaria and my recipe is a Bavarian Leberkäse “Munich style”.

It consists of beef, pork and fat and is made by grinding the ingredients, mixing them very finely and then baking it as a loaf in an oven safe dish until it has a crunchy brown crust.

You can watch the complete Leberkäse recipe either via video or read it here. I wish you a lot of fun and good luck!

Table of Contents

Making your own Leberkäse – What do you need?

Meat & Spices for Leberkase

For 1000 g of Leberkase:

150 g beef brisket / chuck
500 g pork butt
200 g pork back fat
150 g crushed ice

Spices per 1000 g:

18 g Salt
2,5 g Cure #1
5 g Onion powder
3 g Cutter Phosphate (e.g BRIFISOL 414, PhosThis!, Ames Phos)
2 g White Pepper
0,5 g Cardamom
0,25 g Ginger powder
0,5 g Paprika powder
0,5 g Mace
0,5 g Nutmeg

Equipment for making Leberkäse

Meat Grinder

You need a meat grinder to “grind” the meat. The meat is chopped into small chunks and can then be mixed.

Food processor / Cutter

You need a cutter to get your mass fine and homogeneous. Alternatively, the whole thing can also be done with a food processor.

Pâté dish / glasses / aluminium dish / other dishes

It is up to you which dish you use. You can achieve the same result with any shape.

Making Leberkase – Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Cut the meat into strips or cubes. The size varies depending on how big your meat grinder is. The bigger the grinder, the bigger your pieces of meat can be.

2. Add all the spices, except for the salt and the cure, to the meat and mix them well. Afterwards put the meat into the freezer for 1-2 hours. This will help with the grinding process and the temperature.

Tip: Also put the movable parts of your grinder into the freezer.

3. Now it’s time to grind the meat. Grind the meat through the finest perforated disc (2mm). You can also grind it through twice. The next step will be easier this way.

Tip: If you want to make coarse Leberkäse, you can let 1/3 of the mixture pass through with the smallest disc and 2/3 with the medium perforated disc.

4. Now add the minced meat together with the salt, cutter phosphate and the cure to the food processor. Now mix the ingredients until they form a nice cohesive mass.

Gradually add the crushed ice as you process it.

5. Grease your form and “throw” the mass into it. I do not mean literally throwing but make sure to really punch the mass into the mold so that there are no trapped air bubbles.

The air bubbles won’t affect the taste but the look of the slices later on.

6. Cut the meat loaf on the surface in a cross pattern. This gives it a nice shape when baking.

7. Now it is time to bake your Leberkase.

First step is to bake it in a 180 °C (356 °F) preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 120 °C (248 °F) and finish baking.

The baking time varies depending on the size of your baking dish (rule of thumb 1 hour / kg).

You can also measure the core temperature and bake it until it reaches a core temperature of 69 – 72 ° C (150 – 162 F).

Get it out of the oven and let it cool down for 10 minutes. Then remove from the mold and serve.

8. Your Leberkäse is ready. Enjoy it warm or you can also eat it cold and store it in the freezer.

Book recommendation: The Full Guide On Making Sausages Easily At Home – Step-by-step instructions & 37 delicious recipes

Check out the book

Making Leberkase – Frequently Asked Questions

How is Leberkäse served?

If it is served as a snack, it is in a bun with mustard. -> Sliced thick (hot or cold)

If it is served as a meal, it is accompanied by “Bratkartoffeln” (pan fried potatoes) and a sunny side up fried egg. -> Served Thick and warm – Can also fry it additionally in a pan

But it can also be sliced thinly and then put on a bread or sandwich.

Pretty much an allrounder – The Leberkäse.

What is the shelf life of Leberkäse?

You should not keep the raw mass uncooked for more than 24 hours.

When you baked it, you can store it in your refrigerator for a maximum of 5 days.

Another option is to preserve it in glass jars. By boiling the jars for 2 hours it will keep for several months.

Can I make Leberkäse without a meat grinder?

You think my recipe is great and would like to make your own meat loaf, but you don’t have a meat grinder and don’t want to buy one?

No problem! Here I have 2 workarounds for how you can make Leberkäse without a meat grinder.

Ask your local butcher if he can grind the ingredients for you and add the spices afterwards.
You can also cut your meat into very small pieces by hand and put them in the food processor. This takes longer, but it also works.

Baking Leberkase – How long do I need to bake it?

As described above, the Leberkäse must be baked for cooking.

First put the uncooked Leberkase into an oven preheated to 180 °C (356 °F) and bake for 15 minutes until it gets a nice golden yellow color.

Then turn the oven down to 120 °C (248 °F) and finish baking the Leberkäse (I will show you exactly how long in the next section).

After the baking process you can let your Leberkäse cool down for 10 minutes at room temperature. Then take it out of the mold and serve it warm.

If you still have some left over, you can keep it in the refrigerator and eat it cold in the next few days.

Tips & Tricks for your Leberkase

The curing salt helps the Leberkäse to keep a nice color. The salt makes it turn into a beautiful red. If you do not want to use curing salt, you can use only salt instead. This will make your meatloaf a bit grayish. There is little or no difference in taste.
You need a binding agent to bind your mass. I prefer cutter phosphate (e.g BRIFISOL 414, PhosThis!, Ames Phos). You can easily buy it online or ask your butcher.
Make sure to use enough crushed ice so that your mass does not get too hot while mixing. Otherwise, the mass will split. The mixture should not exceed a temperature of 12 °C (53 °F).
Not sure which mold to take? You can use the following forms to bake your Leberkäse: stainless steel bowl, ceramic bowl, small glass casserole dish, alarm glasses, aluminum bowls
Do you want to preserve your Leberkase in jars? Cook the glasses at 100 °C (212 °F) for about 2 hours. This makes it keep longer and makes it a great gift.

How to customize and adjust the Leberkäse to your taste

You want to try yourself and take the basic recipe to the next level? Then you can give your meatloaf its own individual touch. I still have a few ideas for you.

If you like herbs, you can add parsley, coriander or seasonal herbs like wild garlic
For a spicy kick, add a fresh chili or chili flakes
Vary the meat: for example, use turkey, lamb or beef
Add more ingredients such as peas, peppers, corn, mushrooms, cheese cubes…
Exciting variations can only be created by trial and error, so I advise you to have the courage to experiment!
Not sure or uncreative? Then have a look at the next 3 recipes.

5 Additional Leberkaese recipes

Pizza Leberkäse – So much variations

You can find the recipe here.

Leberkase recipe: „ Thuringian Style“ with liver

For 1000 g of Leberkase „ Thuringian Style“ (35.27 oz):

450 g pork belly
220 g lean beef
220 g beef liver
150g pork back fat
150g ice water or crushed ice

Spices per 1000:

18 g Salt
2,5 g Cure #1
3 g Cutter Phosphate (e.g BRIFISOL 414, PhosThis!, Ames Phos)
4g pepper
120g onions (sweated in a pan)
2g nutmeg
1g ginger
1g sweet paprika
0,8g cane sugar

Preparation is done as in the original recipe.

Veal Leberkäse – A special treat

You can find the recipe here.

Back to the Basics – Leberkäse recipe

For 1000 g of Back to the Basics Leberkase (35.27 oz):

300 g lean pork
200 g lean beef
200 g pork belly
100 g pork backfat
200 g crushed ice