This recipe for Senfeier - Eggs in German mustard sauce is right from Oma's cookbook and is a family favorite since generations. The simple dish is very popular in Germany as it is very budget friendly and easy and fast to make.
This light dish is a especially popular during the German Easter celebrations. It is usually served on Maundy Thursday with a side of green cream spinach or green asparagus. This recipe is also a great idea to use dyed Easter eggs after the holidays.
If you are a fan of mustard gravy you should check out my recipe for this easy mustard sauce fish recipe or the tender pork loin filet strips in mustard gravy.
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Cultural Background of Senfeier
It is unclear who the original culinary creator of Senfeier is. Entries in cookbooks can be found as early as the 19th century. The tasty eggs in mustard sauce are featured in Henriette Davidi's "Praktisches Kochbuch" (1845) and Betty Gleim's "Bremisches Kochbuch" (1843).
Senfeier is a German vegetarian entree. The dish consists of hard-boiled eggs that are smothered in a creamy mustard gravy.
Ingredients
The recipe can be made with just a few ingredients that you probably already have at home.
- eggs
- butter
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- chicken broth
- milk
- heavy cream
- yellow mustard
- salt & pepper
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Making Senfeier is very easy. These step-by-step pictures show you exactly how to make this German dish.
Start with bringing water to a boil in a large pot or use your preferred way to prepare hard-boiled eggs. Many years I pierced holes into my eggs before cooking but did not find that this makes a difference.
Tip: What really makes a difference in case if an egg cracks is to add a bit of vinegar to the cooking water. This makes the egg white stock faster and you will have less egg white floating in the pot.
When the water is boiling, lower your eggs into the pot with a slotted spoon.
I like my eggs semi hard-boiled but you can cook them your preferred way. If you need some guidance on how many minutes you need to cook your eggs, you can find that information further down in the blog post. I usually cook my large eggs for ten minutes before I douse them with cold water.
Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan, then add the flour and a pinch of sugar and mix everything well. Make sure to stir constantly for about 5 minutes until the butter-flour mixture lightly browns which is called a blonde roux.
Then add chicken broth and milk to the roux and cook on medium heat until the sauce thickens. Make sure to stir constantly to make sure that the sauce does not burn.
Remove your pot from the heat before you add the heavy cream, salt and pepper and the mustard. Mix everything until well combined.
Make a taste test and decide if you would like to use a bit more mustard. Our family likes an intense mustard flavor, so I use usually about 14 tbsp. instead of the 10 tbsp. that the printed recipe calls for.
Place the eggs either into the sauce to reheat them or if they are still warm just ladle generously the delicious sauce over them.
Substitutions
You can adjust the recipe to the following diets:
- Low Fat - use low fat margarine instead of butter. Omit the heavy cream and add instead of the cream ¼ cup more milk to the gravy.
- Low Carb and Gluten free - omit the flour and use about 2 tsp. of Xanthan gum powder to thicken the sauce.
- Vegan - use vegan butter instead of cow butter. Instead of cow milk use almond milk.
Variations
Try these variations you might like them.
- Spicy - use spicy mustard or chili pepper flakes to give the dish a little spice kick.
- Deluxe - add capers to the sauce, they give a special flavor. Make sure to salt your dish after you added the capers as some brands are very salty.
- No eggs - even eggs are the star of this dish, you might have family members who just can´t stand hard-boiled eggs. Fry a piece of meat or fish and serve it with the mustard gravy.
Equipment
This recipe can be made with just a pot and a small sauce pan. You might want to use a whisk to make the sauce instead of a cooking spoon, but this is the full extend of equipment you need.
As you don´t need a lot of kitchen equipment you can make this dish easy even on a campsite.
Storage
The dish can be stored refrigerated for about 2-3 days. I would not recommend to freeze the whole dish but you can freeze leftover sauce and just cook some eggs to have a full meal.
Top Tip
You can prepare the dish the day before and then just reheat it the next day!
Serve with
Traditionally German eggs in mustard sauce are served with boiled potatoes. Mashed potatoes and rice are also great sides. For a veggie side I love Bavarian cucumber salad or cream spinach.
Video Tutorial
Recipe
Senfeier - German Eggs in Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
- 4 tbsp. butter
- 4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 10 tbsp. mustard yellow
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Hard-boil or semi hard-boil eggs with your preferred way of cooking eggs.
- In the meantime, melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan.
- Add flour and a pinch of sugar and mix well.
- Stir constantly for about 5 to 7 minutes until the butter-flour mixture lightly browns.
- Add chicken broth and milk and cook on medium heat until sauce thickens. Make sure to stir constantly to avoid burning the sauce.
- Remove pan from the heat. Add heavy cream, salt and pepper and mustard and mix until everything is well combined.
- Peel eggs. Place them either whole or halved the eggs into the sauce to reheat them. In case the eggs are still warm you can just ladle some sauce over them.
- Serve with boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes.
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