Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Berner Platte
Bern's great festive platter: boiled beef, smoked pork, bacon and sausage heaped over sauerkraut, dried beans and potatoes.
Swiss · medium · serves 8
prep 30 min · cook 150 min
~776 cal · 53g protein · 33g carbs · 47g fat · 6g fiber · 3g sugars · 17g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The Berner Platte is Bern's monument to abundance, a groaning platter said to date from a 1798 victory feast when townsfolk brought out everything they had and stored for the winter. Boiled beef, smoked pork loin, bacon and Bernese sausages are cooked with sauerkraut and served heaped over dried green beans and boiled potatoes.
Each component is cooked separately, the beef simmered with root vegetables and spices, the smoked meats laid over sauerkraut sharpened with juniper, then everything is arranged on one vast platter and shared. It is cold-weather, special-occasion food, and Bernese restaurants still bring it out by the Teller (plate) for a hungry table.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- and egg-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 8
1 1/2 lb boiling beef (topside or silverside)
1 lb smoked pork loin (Rippli)
10 oz smoked bacon in one piece (Speck)
4 smoked pork-and-beef sausages
1 each carrot, leek and celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cloves
1 lb raw sauerkraut
4 juniper berries
1 onion, chopped
5 oz dried green beans, soaked overnight
2 lb waxy potatoes
1 tbsp oil
to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
1
Simmer the beef with the carrot, leek, celery, bay and cloves in salted water for about 2 hours until tender.
2
In a second pot soften the onion in a little oil, add the sauerkraut and crushed juniper with a ladle of the beef broth, lay the smoked pork loin and bacon on top, cover and cook gently about 1 hour.
✎ Chef’s note
Cooking the smoked meats over the kraut lets their flavour drip down into it; no wine is needed for depth.
3
Add the sausages to the sauerkraut for the last 30 minutes.
4
Boil the soaked dried beans in unsalted water about 30 minutes, and boil the potatoes separately until tender.
5
Slice all the meats, pile the sauerkraut on a big platter, arrange the meats over it, and set the beans and potatoes alongside. Serve hot for the table to share.
Canton of Bern tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bern. The country's language border is nicknamed the Roestigraben, the rosti ditch, running between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, which shows how far one potato cake has travelled as a piece of shorthand. The canton of Bern itself sits on both sides of that line.
🗺️
Switzerland. Switzerland melts its way to fame with fondue and raclette, alongside crispy rösti potatoes and superb Alpine cheeses and chocolate. French, German, and Italian regions each shape a distinct, dairy-rich cuisine.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Switzerland
RöstiSwitzerland’s golden potato cake, crisp outside, tender inside, flipped whole and served with pride.
Swiss Cheese FondueA communal pot of melted Gruyère and Emmental with white wine and garlic, for dipping bread.
ÄlplermagronenAlpine macaroni baked with potato, cream, and cheese, topped with fried onions and served with applesauce.
Browse all Switzerland recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it a Switzerland meal
Engadiner NusstorteDessert
ÄlplermagronenLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Berner Platte?
Bern's great festive platter: boiled beef, smoked pork, bacon and sausage heaped over sauerkraut, dried beans and potatoes.
Where does Berner Platte come from?
Berner Platte is a Swiss dish from Bern, Switzerland.
Can Berner Platte be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Berner Platte 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 Berner Platte 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 Berner Platte take to make?
About 180 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 150 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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