Slovenian Recipes

Slovenian cooking sits where the Alps, the Pannonian plain, the Karst plateau and the Adriatic meet, so it changes from valley to valley. Austrian and Hungarian influences show in dumplings, strudels and stews, while the west leans Italian and Mediterranean, with olive oil, polenta and seafood. Everyday staples include potatoes, buckwheat, barley, beans, sauerkraut and sour turnip, pork and smoked sausage, fresh curd cheese, pumpkin seed oil in the northeast, and wild mushrooms and honey. Soups such as jota and ričet are meals in themselves, and štruklji, rolled dumplings with sweet or savory fillings, are made across the country. Holidays call for potica, a rolled yeast cake with walnut or tarragon filling, and for the layered gibanica of Prekmurje in the northeast. Slovenes usually eat a large Sunday lunch of soup, roast meat, sides and dessert, and many families still gather their own mushrooms, herbs and fruit for the table.

Staple ingredients

• potatoes
• buckwheat
• sauerkraut and sour turnip
• pork and smoked sausage
• fresh curd cheese (skuta)
• beans and barley
• walnuts
• pumpkin seed oil

• Soups 2
• Salads 1
• Main Dishes 3
• Side Dishes 1
• Desserts 3

Soups

• Jota (Slovenian Bean and Sauerkraut Soup)SI2 h 25 minEasy
• Ričet (Slovenian Barley and Bean Soup)SI2 hEasy

Salads

• Fižolova Solata z Bučnim Oljem (Slovenian Bean Salad with Pumpkin Seed Oil)SI15 minEasy

Main Dishes

• Idrijski Žlikrofi (Slovenian Potato-Filled Dumplings)SI1 h 40 minChallenging
• Klobasa s Kislim Zeljem (Slovenian Sausage with Sauerkraut)SI1 h 15 minEasy
• Skutni Štruklji (Slovenian Cottage Cheese Rolls)SI1 h 40 minChallenging

Side Dishes

• Ajdovi Žganci (Slovenian Buckwheat Mush with Bacon)SI40 minEasy

Desserts

• Potica (Slovenian Walnut Roll)SI1 h 55 minChallenging
• Kremšnita (Slovenian Vanilla Custard Cream Cake)SI1 h 20 minMedium
• Prekmurska Gibanica (Slovenian Layered Poppy Seed and Apple Pastry)SI2 hMedium