🇨🇿 Czechia
ZelňačkaCzech sauerkraut soup
A Czech soup of sauerkraut in a smoked-meat stock, often with potatoes and sausage or smoked pork.
Origin and history
Zelňačka, also zelná polévka, takes its name from zelí, cabbage, and is the Czech everyday soup of sauerkraut (kysané zelí). Czech cooks call the roux-thickened version with smoked meat and sausage an old Czech (staročeská) dish and count it among the treasures of their home cooking. Each neighbour has its own form: kyselica in Moravian Wallachia, kapustnica in Slovakia, where it is the Christmas soup, and kapuśniak in Poland.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h
- Hands-on
- 30 min
Ingredients
- 500 g1.1 lb sauerkraut (kysané zelí), drained, brine kept; chop long strands
- 250 g9 oz smoked pork, cooked (uzené maso: rib meat, shoulder or knuckle) or smoked sausage (klobása), cut in 1 cm cubes or slices
- 30 g2 tbsp lard, plus 1 tsp for the meat
- 2 onions (about 250 g / 9 oz), finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed or ground
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika, plus a pinch of hot paprika if you like
- 50 g6 tbsp plain flour
- 1.5 l6 1/3 cups stock (chicken, beef, or the water the smoked meat was cooked in), warm
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 allspice berries
- 400 g14 oz waxy potatoes, peeled, cut in 1 cm (1/2 in) cubes
- salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar, to taste
- 150 g2/3 cup sour cream (zakysaná smetana), to serve
Method
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1. Taste the sauerkraut. If it is pleasantly sour, do not rinse it; squeeze it over a bowl to keep the brine and chop any long strands.
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2. Melt the lard in a heavy pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 6-8 minutes, until soft and translucent.
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3. Add the garlic and caraway and stir for 1 minute, until fragrant.
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4. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the paprika for 30 seconds (it burns and turns bitter on direct heat), then sprinkle in the flour and stir to a paste.
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5. Return the pot to low heat and cook the roux for 1-2 minutes, stirring, without letting it darken.
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6. Whisk in the warm stock a ladle at a time, so no lumps form, then bring to the boil.
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7. Add the sauerkraut, about a third of its brine, the bay leaves and the allspice. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring now and then.
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8. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in a separate pan of salted water for 10-12 minutes, until just tender. Cooked in the sour soup from raw they would stay hard.
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9. Fry the smoked meat or sausage in a teaspoon of lard for 3-4 minutes, until the edges brown.
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10. Add the drained potatoes and the meat to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. If the soup is too thick, thin it with some of the potato water.
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11. Remove the bay leaves. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, and add more brine if you want it sharper.
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12. Serve hot with a spoonful of sour cream in each bowl and rye bread.
Notes
- The roux (jíška) is what Czech cooks call the old-style way: it gives the soup body and a velvety sheen. For a lighter soup, skip the flour and thicken it by mashing a few of the potato cubes into the broth.
- Smoked meat: Czech cooks use smoked pork rib meat, shoulder or knuckle, or a good smoked sausage with plenty of meat and natural fat (cheap sausages full of starch turn mushy in the soup). If the smoked meat needs cooking first, boil it in plain water and use some of that water as the stock, so the soup does not become too smoky.
- Sourness varies a lot between krauts, so balance salt, sugar and brine at the end rather than at the start.
- Related soups: Moravian Wallachia has kyselica, a thicker sauerkraut soup whitened with sour cream, often with dried mushrooms, potatoes and sausage, sometimes prunes. Slovak kapustnica, served at Christmas, adds mushrooms and often prunes. Polish kapuśniak is the closest neighbour.
- Serving: rye bread is the usual partner. The soup is hearty enough to be lunch on its own.
- Make-ahead: zelňačka is better the next day, when the flavours have mellowed. It keeps 3 days in the fridge and freezes well; add a little water when reheating.
Adapted from Roman Vaněk, "Zelňačka", Rohlík Chef, Rohlík Magazine, "Zelňačka z kysaného zelí", and Cook Like Czechs, "Zelňačka: Czech Sauerkraut Soup".
Variants
At the festivals
Served at 1 festival in Czechia.
Earlier editions
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October 17, 2026
🇨🇿 Prague, Czechia
Polívkování