Quick & Easy Liptauer Recipe

This simple recipe for a mild Liptauer cheese spread is quickly mixed with just a few ingredients. Instead of butter, only a little oil is used to make the paprika cheese spread creamier. In addition to curd cheese and paprika powder, this liptauer cheese spread recipe also asks for ground caraway, pickles and a little from the pickle stock.

Whether for a cold platter at a party buffet, a quick breakfast or for dinner - with this recipe, making your own Liptauer is a snap!

Liptauer is a slovakian cheese spread made from curd cheese. It is one of the most popular spreads in Austria and usually served in Austrian wine taverns (Heuriger).

The recipe makes a mild Liptauer, if more spiciness is desired, there are also a few optional ingredients listed at the bottom of the recipe.

This Liptauer is perfect when you don't have much time to cook. Because there's no butter to mix and no onion to chop, the recipe is on the table in 3 minutes.

I love to make these kind of quick spreads for party buffets, where a few spreads and dips are then on the table in no time at all. (For example, together with this quick Grammelschmalz spread and this farmer's bread).

Ingredients

For this easy Slowakian spread recipe you only need a few ingredients:

• 1 cup of Curd Cheese - Instead of curd cheese, you can also use cream cheese, cottage cheese or farmer’s cheese.
  
  For a vegan version, you may substitute milk cheese with vegan cream cheese, but I did not try this out myself.
• 1 teaspoon of sweet ground paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon of ground caraway seeds
• 1 tablespoon of neutral oil (e.g. corn oil)
• 100g (~½ cup) sweet-sour cucumber pickles (gherkins) - no salt cucumber pickles! –
  The most popular cucumber pickles in Austria are with a sweet and sour dill marinade.
• 5 tablespoons of pickle marinade - Don’t throw away that pickle broth, we will need some of it for the recipe!
• 1 teaspoon of finely grated salt (table salt)

Optional ingredients

For more spiciness and pep, the following ingredients can be added:

• 1 tsp. hot paprika powder
• 1 pinch of pepper
• ½ onion
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ tbsp. mustard
• 1 tbsp. caper berries, finely chopped

Equipment

You don't need any special equipment for this quick spread. There is no electric hand mixer or blender needed. All you need is:

• a mixing bowl
• a cooking spoon
• a knife
• a board

Instructions

Cut the pickles into small pieces. Put them in a bowl with the curd and mix with the oil, pickle marinade, salt, cumin and paprika until smooth. Stir until there are no more lumps.

Serve this Liptauer spread with

• This spread is usually served on a dark rye bread, together with various kinds of pickles and veggies like paprika, cucumber, tomatoes, onion rings,...
• It is also very common to use it as a party dip for Pretzel Sticks.
• At the Austrian Wine Taverns,Liptauer is usually shared at the whole table, together with a variety of other spreads, bread rolls, ham, bacon, etc.
• I love to make these kind of quick spreads for party buffets, where a few spreads and dips are then on the table in no time at all.

How long does the homemade Liptauer keep?

The spread keeps fresh for about 3 days stored in a clean jar in the refrigerator. You should always use clean cutlery to remove it.

Can I freeze Liptauer?

In principle, the spread can be frozen, but after thawing, the consistency is not as good. It is best to defrost overnight in the refrigerator.