Polish food, what is it? We don't often talk about Polish cuisine ... so what kind of food do you get in Poland? First of all, it can be said that the food is hefty. If you go into a restaurant, you never have to leave hungry. We go through soups, meat, fish, pastries, sweets and some drinks. Join us!
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What is Polish food?
Our experience of Polish food is that it is often relatively simple and rustic, and mostly very tasty and cooked with love. What accessories do we come across in the cooking of Polish food? Here are some examples of typical ingredients:
- Carrots
- Beetroot
- Kohlrabi
- Parsley root
- White cabbage
- Stewed cabbage
- Sauerkraut
- Malic acid
- Mustard
- Horseradish
- Kargen seeds
- Cloves
- Pork loin
- Oxbringa
- Carp
- Canned cucumbers
- Pickled plums
Polish food: Soups
Soup is popular in Poland and can be ordered in most restaurants. Often you can order soup as a starter, but keep in mind that soups can be hearty and filling. One of the most common soups is zurek, which we have become so fond of that we usually make it at home ourselves. Check out our recipe for zurek!
Polish food: Soup zurek
This soup made from sour flour as a base with smoked sausage, eggs, pork, vegetables and potatoes. It is very popular and is served in bread or bowls.
Mushroom soup grzybowa
Porcini mushroom soup is a favourite among Poles. It can also be found in every home on Christmas Eve, with a variety of dried mushrooms.
The beetroot soup barszcz
The beetroot soup is probably the most popular and can be made ready, with mini pierogi and sour cream. It can also be made with chopped beetroot and potatoes.
Komaga soup flaki
Dating back to the 15th century and the Polish King Wladyslaw II. Made from shredded cowpea and various vegetables.
Cold beetroot soup Chlodnik
Cold beetroot soup is a favourite with all ages. Chopped beetroot, sour cream, chives and hard boiled eggs in it. Beautiful purple-pink Polish food.
Rosol noodle soup
Chicken noodle soup with pre-cooked chicken thighs, carrots, parsley and onions. Easy as pie to prepare yourself.
Ogorkowa cucumber soup
We tried this cucumber soup in Warsaw and it was really good. Great pickled cucumber, potatoes, carrots and dill which makes it a great vegetarian option.
Polish food: Salads
There are several salads that are typical of Poland. Several of them are slightly creamy, as salads can often be in the eastern part of Europe.
Cucumber salad Mizeria
So simple and delicious! a cold cucumber salad with any meat or fish. The Poles use their sour cream and add sugar, black pepper, a peeled cucumber and it's ready. Garnish with radishes
Polish food: Cwikla
Beetroot salad is of course available in plain and grated form. The secrets are what you put in it? How about grated horseradish, caraway seeds, vinegar, dry red wine, cloves, parsley and more.
Lazanki z kapusta
Pasta salad with cooked white cabbage as a base, and easy for summer with vegetables and sour cream.
Polish cuisine: meat dishes
Meat is a common ingredient in Polish dishes, and people eat beef, lamb, pork and sausages. Chicken and other birds are also common, which you can read more about below.
Golabki is Polish food
Polish cabbage dumplings with rice (buckwheat groats may be used), minced meat, browned onions, cooked mushrooms and a little sour cream. Place the tomato sauce on top of the cabbage leaves and into the oven.
Watrobka
Liver is a cheap and underestimated very good raw material. In stews, sliced or in pieces. From lamb, chicken or pig.
Kielbasa
Sausages in all sizes, curved and straight and in lots of flavours. The Poles are great at this, and we like to buy their sausages and smoked hams. The smoke flavour is excellent and is best with stews and soups.
Polish food: Zrazy
Meat roulades with all the yummy goodness inside. Fill them with potatoes, vegetables, mushrooms etc. Thin slices that you wrap around all the accessories, fry and then cook in some good broth.
Kotlety mielone
Pannbiff in Swedish and in Poland it is made as we used to make it in Sweden from pork. If you just say mielone, it is meatballs, and is perhaps the most popular dish in Poland.
Golonka from Polish cuisine
We have friends in Poland and we have eaten long-cooked golonka or pork leg as it is called in Swedish, and eisbein in German. It's a mixture of sauerkraut, beer, honey, carrots, parsnips, celeriac and more.
Szaszlyk
Barbecue skewers can be found in every village in the evening. They are grilled with everything you can imagine and served with rice or fried potatoes.
Polish food: Bigos stew
The Bigos hunting stew is basically made up of mushrooms, sauerkraut and chopped white cabbage. After that, the only limit is your imagination, or what you've hunted, or what season it is.
Polish food: Dumplings
A speciality of Polish cuisine is dumplings, i.e. steamed dough dumplings, which can be served in various forms, sometimes with a filling and sometimes without.
Polish food: Kluski slaskie
Silesian potato noodles can also be called Kluski Slaskie. They come from Upper Silesia and are made with a small hole in them so that the sauce can be placed inside.
Kluski Czarne
Black dumplings are made from cooked grated potatoes and a type of flour that is made into balls. The potato has turned black because it is left to stand before cooking. From Upper Silesia.
Pierogi from Polish cuisine
Pierogi are steamed dumplings with different fillings. These pierogi (ruskie) can be filled with, for example, meat, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms or potatoes. In summer, they are available with different berries, cottage cheese filling and raisins.
Pasztecik from the old socialist era
A small fried treat, with different fillings, such as meat, cheese or vegetables. A nostalgic experience for many Poles!
Kopytka
Potato dumplings cooked from potatoes and flour. Baked with mushrooms, onions, bacon or cheese. Sometimes also available with sugar and sour cream.
Polish cuisine: fish dishes
Fish is particularly common if you are travelling in the towns along the Baltic Sea coast. Here, fish is served in both fine dining restaurants and simple street kitchens, and it is common to see halibut on the menu, for example.
Ryba panierowana
Breaded fish can be found all along the coast of northern Poland, and many are lined up along the beaches like fast food chains. Breaded halibut is very common.
Carp po Zydowsku
The originally Jewish dish of carp on a platter with vegetables. Served with a white sauce with chopped eggs and white wine.
Loso´s z Warzywami
Salmon with vegetables such as aubergine, carrots, green beans, thyme and rosemary. Salmon is also available in many other ways
Cytrynowy pstrag z grilla
Lemon grilled trout is delicious. In Poland, fish is often served with potatoes or root vegetables.
Pieczony halibut
Baked halibut is also popular. Overall, halibut is served in many different ways.
Wild mackerel
Smoked mackerel is another popular fish. In coastal towns you can often see smoked fish for sale.
Polish cuisine: Poultry
Chicken is popular in Poland, as in many other countries. It is also relatively common to find duck or goose on menus, often served with potatoes and red cabbage.
Pieczona Kazka - Rostad Anka
We often eat duck and goose in Central and Eastern Europe and we are always satisfied. here with potatoes, garlic, apple and a lovely salad. Yummy!
Udu z Gesi - goose legs
Another classic is goose, which is so good with red cabbage. This dish can be found in many restaurants and is often very tasty.
Polish food: fast food
As well as all the usual fast food, such as pizza and burgers, Poles have some specialities of their own. One of these is zapiekanka, which can be served in simple stalls or barbecue kiosks.
Zapiekanka
Long pizza that you can find just about everywhere with all kinds of fillings. The traditional zapiekan should have mushrooms, cheese and ketchup.
Polish food: Bread
Bread can also be worth mentioning in the context of Polish cuisine. For example, did you know that the bagel, the round bread with a hole in the centre, is originally from Poland?
Bagel from Polish cuisine
Originally from Poland, the bagel is boiled and oven-baked, hence soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Perfect for lunch with cold cuts and vegetables.
Obwarzanek Krakowski
Obwarzanek Krakowski is a pretzel and the Polish name for Pretzels that dates back almost 2000 years. You bake all sorts of things in it such as cheese, nuts, chocolate, seeds and more. Available almost everywhere in Poland.
Polish food: Pastries
Poles love their sweet pastries and cakes. If you want to try a local speciality, there is plenty to choose from.
Paczki from Polish cuisine
Stuffed doughnuts and with all kinds of fillings of delicious creams, jams, everything you can think of. Sweets always go down well!
Piernik Gingerbread
Chocolate cake or gingerbread of all kinds. It was traditional to bake Piernik to welcome newborn girls to the earth. Expect to find it on Christmas Eve in every Polish home as well.
Sernik, Polish Cheesecake
Sernik is always good and the Polish version where the ser in sernik means cheese. The Poles usually have raisins in their cheesecake.
Torun gingerbread
The original 14th century gingerbread recipes are held by the town of Torun. The best spices have been developed here for centuries, and the best gingerbread in Poland can be found here.
Makowiec
Sugar cookie roll with poppy seeds and the topping/icing is often made with orange pieces or cranberries.
Polish food: Sekacz
You can have this as a dessert and as a gift. It was originally made on a rotating spit, with the cake batter solidifying over an open fire, and dates from the 16th century. Sekacz means branched tree.
Apple pie Szarlotka
It is always good to get a piece of apple pie, and in Poland they have extra apple jam in it. Maybe because they don't use custard like we do, but they serve it with ice cream if you want.
Polish cuisine: Sweets
Of course, every self-respecting country wants its own local sweets! Here are some examples of Polish sweets, for those with a sweet tooth.
Krowki candy set
The candy Krowki and English Fudge are almost the same butterscotch but krowki is a bit softer. It now comes in all flavours and you can often find it in bulk at markets.
Prince Polo biscuit chocolates
The Prince Polo is truly a super hit. It was introduced to the market in 1955 and is big in every country south of Poland. This is also the best-selling chocolate in Iceland ever.
Sliwka w czekoladzie
Polish chocolate with plums, of course. Poles love to dip berries and fruit in chocolate, and we can agree that it's delicious!
Ptasie Mleczko
White milk soufflé with chocolate around it is Poland's most famous chocolate brand "E.Wedel". The white milk is called "bird's milk". Why not add some strawberry in the middle and maximise the flavour!
Tiki taki, Kasztanki and Malaga
Three small sweets from Wawel with three different flavours and fillings that are very popular.
Michalki
Another hit from Wawel and this one is with nut caramel with nuts in it and chocolate coating. nothing for an allergy sufferer.
International food in Poland
Of course, you can find not only traditional Polish food in Poland, but also all the usual international dishes. From hamburgers and pizza to sushi and French fine dining, Poland has it all.
sushi
Of course, you will also find the usual international dishes, such as pizza, pasta and kebabs, here and there. Four of us shared a 60 piece sushi in Gdansk.
Polish cuisine: Meals
Breakfast (sniadanie) is like English breakfast but heavier. Poles eat heavily in the morning to get through the day. Eggs, sausages, bread, quark, ham, and maybe some good leftovers from the day before.
Four hours later there will be a light lunch or sandwiches. Four hours later again there will be soup, dinner and some cake. In the evening there will be a supper (kolasha) with cold cuts, salad, pies, pickles, beetroot and a few other odds and ends.
Polish cuisine: Beer
Poland has plenty of locally produced beer, both from larger breweries and from microbreweries. Here are some examples of Polish beer:
- Zywiec
- Germania
- Lech
- Ksiazece
- Warka
Polish cuisine: Vodka
Another traditional drink in Poland is vodka. Don't be surprised if vodka is served neat with food. On the other hand, water, or possibly juice, is always served on the side. Here are some examples of Polish vodka:
- Soplica
- Zubrowka
- Wyborova
- luxuriousness
- Belvedere
Polish food: Christmas
The Polish Christmas table should traditionally contain at least 12 dishes and you should try a little of each, as they bring good luck in the coming year. The table includes many fish and vegetarian dishes, such as herring, soup, fried carp, sauerkraut and pies.
Only on Christmas Day do people eat ham and sausages. Desserts that can be found at Christmas include the wheat bread Babka wielkanocna with raisins and lemon and Kompot z suszek, which is a compote with dried plums and other fruits.
Sometimes the Slavic Christmas porridge kutia is also eaten.which contains poppy seeds, honey, wheat, nuts and fruit.
Polish food: Easter
Easter is a time for eating eggs and various types of pickled herring. Other dishes on the Easter table include potato salad, Easter ham and white or red borsch soup. In addition, the Easter cake pascha is often baked.
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Steve says:
Certainly tasty, but a bit on the heavy side for me. I have similar experiences from Latvia where I often worked in the 90s.
30 September 2014 - 8:24
BP says:
I completely agree with you! I have also blogged about Polish food and like you, I like it very much. If you should get withdrawal symptoms, there is a Polish grocery store near KI, down on Torsgatan. They even have the world's best Polish cheesecakes and various pies. Try it! Well worth a visit!
30 September 2014 - 9:11
admin says:
Steve, I imagine there are somewhat similar food traditions in countries around. Pretty staid, but maybe that's why we often chose fish and soups....
😉
BP, interesting that there is a Polish supermarket there! I did not know that. Thanks for the tip! Will check out
🙂
01 October 2014 - 7:09
Marzena says:
Not quite as you wrote but very similar.
01 April 2021 - 16:07