Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle)
A whole pork knuckle simmered in beer and aromatics, then roasted hot until the rind blisters into glassy crackling and the meat pulls from the bone, the Bavarian beer-hall centrepiece.
German (Bavarian) · advanced · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 180 min
~869 cal · 89g protein · 11g carbs · 46g fat · 1g fiber · 2g sugars · 16g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Schweinshaxe is the great Bavarian beer-hall centrepiece and one of the dishes most closely tied to Oktoberfest: a whole pork knuckle with a sheath of crackling over meltingly tender meat, served in a puddle of dark beer gravy with dumplings or red cabbage.
The reliable method is a double cook. First the knuckle is simmered gently in beer with onion, caraway, juniper and bay, which the connective tissue and flavours the meat and the eventual gravy. Then the rind is dried, scored, salted and roasted in a hot oven until it blisters and shatters. Skipping the gives leathery rind and tough meat, so the two stages are worth the time.
Serve it the traditional way, with bread dumplings or red cabbage and plenty of that malty gravy, and a stein of dunkel alongside.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 large (about 1.3 kg) pork knuckle (hind hock), rind on
500 ml dark German beer (dunkel)
1 large onion, quartered
1 carrot, chunked
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp caraway seeds
6 juniper berries
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp coarse salt
Instructions
1
Put the knuckle in a deep pot with the onion, carrot, garlic, caraway, juniper and bay. Pour over the beer and enough water to nearly cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 90 minutes, skimming the foam.
2
Lift out the knuckle and pat the rind very dry. Score the skin in a tight diamond pattern, taking care not to cut into the meat.
✎ Chef’s note
Drying and scoring the rind is what lets it blister into crackling rather than turning leathery.
3
Rub the rind all over with the coarse salt, working it into the score lines.
4
Roast at 220C, sitting upright in a tin with a ladle of the strained cooking liquid, for 45 to 60 minutes until the rind is deep brown and crisp and shatters when tapped.
5
Rest 10 minutes. Reduce the strained cooking liquid into a gravy and serve with bread dumplings or red cabbage.
Bavarian Oktoberfest and beer-hall tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bavaria (Munich). Bavarian cooking leans hearty and generous, built on pork, dumplings, cabbage and bread, and on a strong dairy tradition of butter and soft cheeses. Sweet dishes like Kaiserschmarrn, the torn and caramelised pancake shared with Austria, blur the line between dessert and a whole meal.
🗺️
Germany. The German bread register lists more than three thousand two hundred distinct varieties, which is less a boast than a consequence of rye, spelt and mixed grains being taken as seriously as wheat and of every region having kept its own. The country's bread culture is recognised as national intangible heritage in its own right.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Germany
KäsespätzleFresh egg noodles scraped into boiling water, layered with alpine cheese and buried in crispy onions.
Schnitzel (Schweineschnitzel)The German pork schnitzel: a thin cutlet pounded flat, breaded in a loose golden crust, and fried until crisp, served with a wedge of lemon.
RinderrouladenThin beef rolled around mustard, bacon, onion, and pickle, braised into a deep gravy, Sunday dinner across Germany.
Browse all Germany recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Oven, Mould or tin.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Germany meal
Schwarzwälder KirschtorteDessert
Blaukraut (Bavarian Braised Red Cabbage)Lunch
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Cuisine
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Themes
Frequently asked questions
What is Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle)?
A whole pork knuckle simmered in beer and aromatics, then roasted hot until the rind blisters into glassy crackling and the meat pulls from the bone, the Bavarian beer-hall centrepiece.
Where does Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle) come from?
Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle) is a German (Bavarian) dish from Bavaria (Munich), Germany.
Can Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Schweinshaxe (Roast Pork Knuckle) take to make?
About 200 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 180 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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