Food of Poland
Polish cooking is hearty and comforting, built on potatoes, cabbage, beets, mushrooms, rye bread, pork and dumplings. Sour flavors from sauerkraut, pickles and fermented soups balance rich sausages and stews, while dill and sour cream finish many dishes. Meals are generous family affairs, with soup almost always served before the main course.
Bigos
Hunter's stew of sauerkraut, cabbage, sausage and meats, even better when reheated.
How to make Bigos- Main dishes (12)
- Breakfast (4)
- Street food (4)
- Soups (6)
- Salads (3)
- Breads (2)
- Desserts and sweets (5)
- Drinks (4)
- Fruits and produce (6)
Staples
- potatoes
- cabbage
- pork
- rye bread
- beets
- mushrooms
- flour
- sour cream
Signature flavors
- dill
- marjoram
- caraway
- garlic
- horseradish
- allspice
- sour cream
Main dishes
Half-moon dumplings with potato and cheese, sauerkraut, meat or fruit fillings.
Key ingredients: dough, potatoes, cheese, onionFull guide →Hunter's stew of sauerkraut, cabbage, sausage and meats, even better when reheated.
Key ingredients: sauerkraut, pork, kielbasa, mushroomsFull guide →
Cabbage rolls filled with pork and rice in tomato sauce.
Key ingredients: cabbage, pork, rice, tomato
Breaded pork cutlet fried until golden, served with potatoes and cabbage salad.
Key ingredients: pork loin, egg, breadcrumbs, potatoes
Garlicky smoked sausage, grilled or simmered.
Key ingredients: pork, garlic, marjoram
Crisp grated potato pancakes with sour cream or goulash.
Key ingredients: potatoes, onion, egg, flour
Soft potato dumplings cut in small diamonds, served with butter or gravy.
Key ingredients: potatoes, flour, egg
Polish-style beef stew with onions and paprika.
Key ingredients: beef, onions, paprika, potatoesFull guide →
Buckwheat groats with sauteed onions and wild mushrooms.
Key ingredients: buckwheat, mushrooms, onion, butterPolish meatloaf baked with a hard-boiled egg center.
Key ingredients: ground pork, egg, breadcrumbs, onionHerring in sour cream with apples and onions, a cold starter.
Key ingredients: herring, sour cream, apple, onion
Rich beef tripe soup with marjoram and vegetables.
Key ingredients: beef tripe, carrot, marjoram, brothBreakfast
Soft scrambled eggs with chives or kielbasa.
Key ingredients: eggs, butter, chivesOpen sandwiches with cold cuts, cheese and pickles on rye bread.
Key ingredients: rye bread, cold cuts, pickles
Thin Polish crepes filled with sweet cheese and served with jam.
Key ingredients: flour, eggs, milk, farmer's cheeseFresh farmer's cheese with radishes and chives, eaten with bread.
Key ingredients: farmer's cheese, radishes, chivesStreet food
Toasted baguette half topped with mushrooms, cheese and ketchup.
Key ingredients: baguette, mushrooms, cheese
Smoked sheep's milk cheese from the mountains, grilled with cranberry sauce.
Key ingredients: sheep's cheese, cranberries
Ring-shaped bread from Krakow, boiled and baked with sesame or poppy seeds.
Key ingredients: dough, sesame, poppy seeds
Plump jam-filled Polish doughnuts.
Key ingredients: dough, jam, sugarFull guide →Soups
Sour rye soup with sausage and egg.
Key ingredients: rye starter, sausage, potatoes, eggFull guide →
Clear red beet soup with small dumplings.
Key ingredients: beets, broth, garlicFull guide →
Golden chicken noodle soup, a Sunday standard.
Key ingredients: chicken, carrot, parsley, noodles
Barley soup with vegetables and meat.
Key ingredients: barley, carrot, potatoes
Creamy dill pickle soup.
Key ingredients: pickles, potatoes, carrot, dill, creamWild mushroom soup with cream.
Key ingredients: dried mushrooms, cream, potatoesSalads
Thin cucumber slices in sour cream and dill.
Key ingredients: cucumber, sour cream, dill
Polish vegetable salad with potatoes, carrots, peas and mayonnaise.
Key ingredients: potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, mayonnaiseFull guide →Shredded cabbage slaw with carrots and vinegar.
Key ingredients: cabbage, carrot, vinegarBreads
Dense, tangy rye bread made with sourdough starter.
Key ingredients: rye flour, water, saltSoft white bread rolls for breakfast.
Key ingredients: flour, yeast, milkDesserts and sweets
Polish cheesecake made with farmer's cheese.
Key ingredients: twarog, eggs, sugar, raisinsPoppy seed roll with sweet dough.
Key ingredients: dough, poppy seeds, honey, raisins
Polish apple pie with cinnamon.
Key ingredients: apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon
Custard cream between flaky pastry layers.
Key ingredients: puff pastry, custard
Honey spice cookies from Torun.
Key ingredients: honey, flour, ginger, cinnamonDrinks
Sweet fruit drink simmered from seasonal fruits.
Key ingredients: fruit, water, sugar
Tangy fermented milk drink.
Key ingredients: milk, kefir grainsStrong black tea with lemon served in glasses.
Key ingredients: tea, lemon, sugarCoffee brewed by pouring hot water over ground beans in a glass.
Key ingredients: ground coffee, waterFruits and produce
Poland is a major European apple grower.
Key ingredients: fresh, pies, compote
Used in jams, compotes and fillings.
Key ingredients: compote, dumplings, cake
Tiny sweet berries eaten fresh in summer.
Key ingredients: fresh, jam
Used for dried plums and plum butter.
Key ingredients: fresh, jam, pierogi filling
Foraged porcini and chanterelles prized in soups and sauces.
Key ingredients: soup, sauces, kasha
Woodland blueberries in pierogi and pancakes.
Key ingredients: pierogi, jam, pancakesDish guides from Poland
More cuisines of Central Europe
Descriptions written by Intercontinental Chef. Dishes are listed as commonly eaten today; many are shared across neighbouring countries.
- Pierogi z masłem - 2023.03.31: Aw58, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Bigos (1): Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Töltött káposzta, 2: Christo, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Kotlet Schabowy: Dmitry Dzema, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Kielbasa: Mariuszjbie, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Korean potato pancake-Gamjajeon-02: by ~Nisa at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Kopytka in tomato sauce: MOs810, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Gulyas080: Lily15, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Гречневая каша: Laitr Keiows, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Flaki (1): Alina Zienowicz Ala z, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Crepes dsc07085: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Polish zapiekanka, June 2021: MichalPL, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Oscypki: Pawel Swiegoda (Paberu), CC BY-SA 2.5 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Obwarzanek mak: Manuel, CC BY-SA 2.5 (Wikimedia Commons)
- 00409 paczki z serem, sanok: Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Żurek w chlebku: MOs810, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Borscht served: liz west from Boxborough, MA, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- 09516 rosol z makaronem, sanok: Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Krupnik zupa: Mariuszjbie, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Cucumber soup: No machine-readable author provided. Mohylek assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mizeria - 2023.06.04: Aw58, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Салат Оливье 03: Pannet, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Market Bread, Riga, Latvia: Ken Eckert, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Baked cheesecake with raspberries and blueberries: zingyyellow, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Apple juicy cake (2): Roozitaa, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Kremowki dwie: No machine-readable author provided. Piotrus assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mjuk pepparkaka med lingon: Johan Bryggare, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Peach kompot: Biso, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Kefir in a glass: Quijote at Russian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- 95apple: Agricultural Research Service (Research agent of United States Department of Agriculture), Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Prunus cerasus - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-113: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Illustration Fragaria vesca0: Unknown, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Plums African Rose - whole, halved and slice: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Sparrige Schüppling (Pholiota squarrosa): Holger Krisp, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Blueberries: The original Uploader was Oven Fresh at English Wikipedia, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
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