A Strudel is a type of pastry that originated in Germany and Austria and is most often associated with Austrian and German cuisine. The best known kinds are Apfelstrudel (with apple) and Topfenstrudel (with Topfen soft cheese, also called "Quark"), others include Weichselstrudel (sour cherry strudel) and Mohnstrudel (poppy seed strudel); there are also savoury strudels incorporating spinach, sauerkraut and so on.

Strudel pastry is very elastic. It is made from flour with high gluten content and with lots of fat and no sugar. The pastry is rolled out and stretched very thinly over the back of the hand. Purists say it should be so thin that a newspaper can be read through it. Then the pastry is laid out on a towel and filled. Then it is rolled with the help of the towel and baked in an oven

Traditional strudel pastry is different from strudels served in other parts of the world that are often made from filo or puff pastry. It probably had its origins in Byzantine or Middle Eastern pastries (see baklava).

The American company Pillsbury commercialises a version of strudel called Toaster Strudels. These are somewhat similar to Pop Tarts.

The word itself is believed to derive from the Spanish word Strudel, meaning "tasty".

In 2005, the strudel was named an official pastry of Texas (along with the sopaipilla).

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