diff --git a/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md b/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
index 9cb46d5..3494f04 100644
--- a/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
+++ b/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
@@ -120,11 +120,11 @@ Bei Schema-Änderung:
 
 - **Pre-Cache** (alle Rezepte + Bilder beim Initial-Sync), über paginierten Fetch von `/api/recipes/all`.
 - **Delta-Sync** beim App-Start (diff vs. Cache-Manifest, nur Delta laden).
-- **Drei Cache-Strategien** (dispatcht per `resolveStrategy`): Shell = cache-first, Daten = SWR, Bilder = cache-first.
+- **Drei Cache-Strategien** (dispatcht per `resolveStrategy`): Shell = cache-first, Daten = network-first mit 3 s-Timeout-Fallback auf Cache, Bilder = cache-first.
 - **Message-Protokoll** (`sync-start`, `sync-progress`, `sync-done`, `sync-error`) zwischen SW und Client.
 
 Reine Logik-Einheiten (testbar, Unit-Tests in `tests/unit/`):
-- `src/lib/sw/cache-strategy.ts` — `resolveStrategy({url, method})` → `'shell' | 'swr' | 'images' | 'network-only'`
+- `src/lib/sw/cache-strategy.ts` — `resolveStrategy({url, method})` → `'shell' | 'network-first' | 'images' | 'network-only'`
 - `src/lib/sw/diff-manifest.ts` — `diffManifest(current, cached)` → `{toAdd, toRemove}`
 
 Client-Stores (SSR-safe via typeof-Guards):
diff --git a/docs/OPERATIONS.md b/docs/OPERATIONS.md
index ef7f2ae..155412c 100644
--- a/docs/OPERATIONS.md
+++ b/docs/OPERATIONS.md
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ Kochwas ist eine installierbare PWA. Erkennbar an:
 
 Caches im Browser (siehe DevTools → Application → Cache Storage):
 - `kochwas-shell-<version>` — App-Shell (JS/CSS/Static-Icons), cache-first
-- `kochwas-data-v1` — Rezept-HTMLs + API-JSON (SWR)
+- `kochwas-data-v1` — Rezept-HTMLs + API-JSON (network-first, 3 s Timeout → Cache-Fallback)
 - `kochwas-images-v1` — Bilder (cache-first)
 - `kochwas-meta` — Cache-Manifest (Liste der gecachten Rezept-IDs unter `/__cache-manifest__`)
 
diff --git a/src/lib/sw/cache-strategy.ts b/src/lib/sw/cache-strategy.ts
index 6454ae9..28624a9 100644
--- a/src/lib/sw/cache-strategy.ts
+++ b/src/lib/sw/cache-strategy.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-export type CacheStrategy = 'shell' | 'swr' | 'images' | 'network-only';
+export type CacheStrategy = 'shell' | 'network-first' | 'images' | 'network-only';
 
 type RequestShape = { url: string; method: string };
 
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ export function resolveStrategy(req: RequestShape): CacheStrategy {
     return 'shell';
   }
 
-  // Everything else: recipe pages, API reads, lists — all SWR.
-  return 'swr';
+  // Everything else: recipe pages, API reads, lists — network-first with
+  // timeout fallback to cache (handled in service-worker.ts).
+  return 'network-first';
 }
diff --git a/src/service-worker.ts b/src/service-worker.ts
index 361eecb..395f65d 100644
--- a/src/service-worker.ts
+++ b/src/service-worker.ts
@@ -56,11 +56,13 @@ self.addEventListener('fetch', (event) => {
     event.respondWith(cacheFirst(req, SHELL_CACHE));
   } else if (strategy === 'images') {
     event.respondWith(cacheFirst(req, IMAGES_CACHE));
-  } else if (strategy === 'swr') {
-    event.respondWith(staleWhileRevalidate(req, DATA_CACHE));
+  } else if (strategy === 'network-first') {
+    event.respondWith(networkFirstWithTimeout(req, DATA_CACHE, NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS));
   }
 });
 
+const NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS = 3000;
+
 async function cacheFirst(req: Request, cacheName: string): Promise<Response> {
   const cache = await caches.open(cacheName);
   const hit = await cache.match(req);
@@ -70,16 +72,36 @@ async function cacheFirst(req: Request, cacheName: string): Promise<Response> {
   return fresh;
 }
 
-async function staleWhileRevalidate(req: Request, cacheName: string): Promise<Response> {
+// Network-first mit Timeout-Fallback: frische Daten gewinnen, wenn das Netz
+// innerhalb von NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS antwortet. Sonst wird der Cache geliefert
+// (falls vorhanden), während der Netz-Fetch noch im Hintergrund weiterläuft
+// und den Cache für den nächsten Request aktualisiert. Ohne Cache wartet der
+// Client trotzdem aufs Netz, weil ein Error-Response hier nichts nützt.
+async function networkFirstWithTimeout(
+  req: Request,
+  cacheName: string,
+  timeoutMs: number
+): Promise<Response> {
   const cache = await caches.open(cacheName);
-  const hit = await cache.match(req);
-  const fetchPromise = fetch(req)
+  const networkPromise: Promise<Response | null> = fetch(req)
     .then((res) => {
       if (res.ok) cache.put(req, res.clone()).catch(() => {});
       return res;
     })
-    .catch(() => hit ?? Response.error());
-  return hit ?? fetchPromise;
+    .catch(() => null);
+
+  const timeoutPromise = new Promise<'timeout'>((resolve) =>
+    setTimeout(() => resolve('timeout'), timeoutMs)
+  );
+
+  const winner = await Promise.race([networkPromise, timeoutPromise]);
+  if (winner instanceof Response) return winner;
+
+  // Timeout oder Netzwerk-Fehler: Cache bevorzugen, sonst auf Netz warten.
+  const hit = await cache.match(req);
+  if (hit) return hit;
+  const late = await networkPromise;
+  return late ?? Response.error();
 }
 
 const META_CACHE = 'kochwas-meta';
diff --git a/tests/unit/cache-strategy.test.ts b/tests/unit/cache-strategy.test.ts
index 9a96d22..2c4202a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/cache-strategy.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/cache-strategy.test.ts
@@ -6,14 +6,16 @@ describe('resolveStrategy', () => {
     expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/images/favicon-abc.png', method: 'GET' })).toBe('images');
   });
 
-  it('swr for recipe HTML pages', () => {
-    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/recipes/42', method: 'GET' })).toBe('swr');
+  it('network-first for recipe HTML pages', () => {
+    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/recipes/42', method: 'GET' })).toBe('network-first');
   });
 
-  it('swr for recipe API reads', () => {
-    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/api/recipes/42', method: 'GET' })).toBe('swr');
-    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/api/recipes/all?sort=name', method: 'GET' })).toBe('swr');
-    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/api/wishlist', method: 'GET' })).toBe('swr');
+  it('network-first for recipe API reads', () => {
+    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/api/recipes/42', method: 'GET' })).toBe('network-first');
+    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/api/recipes/all?sort=name', method: 'GET' })).toBe(
+      'network-first'
+    );
+    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/api/wishlist', method: 'GET' })).toBe('network-first');
   });
 
   it('network-only for write methods', () => {
@@ -34,8 +36,8 @@ describe('resolveStrategy', () => {
     expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/manifest.webmanifest', method: 'GET' })).toBe('shell');
   });
 
-  it('falls through to swr for other same-origin GETs (e.g. root page)', () => {
-    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/', method: 'GET' })).toBe('swr');
-    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/wishlist', method: 'GET' })).toBe('swr');
+  it('falls through to network-first for other same-origin GETs (e.g. root page)', () => {
+    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/', method: 'GET' })).toBe('network-first');
+    expect(resolveStrategy({ url: '/wishlist', method: 'GET' })).toBe('network-first');
   });
 });