Placki ziemniaczane
Photo: Aw58 · CC BY 4.0

History

Placki ziemniaczane became a Polish home-kitchen staple in the 19th century once the potato spread across rural Galicia. The Tatra-mountain version of the dish, placki po zbojnicku (highwayman style), tops the pancakes with a heavy goulash and originated in Zakopane bars; this version is served at Morskie Oko on Plac Szczepanski in Krakow.

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Warsaw

Guided tour · 3h 30m

Warsaw: Polish Food Tour

The Polish food tour is a great way to experience a must-try cuisine of this amazing country. A professional guide will teach you all there is to...

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 45 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1kg floury potatoes (Bintje or russet), peeled
  • 1 large onion, peeled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 60g plain flour (or potato starch for a crispier edge)
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 60g lard or neutral oil, for frying
  • To serve sweet: 200ml sour cream (smietana) and 2 tbsp sugar
  • To serve savoury (Tatra style): 600g pork goulash (gulasz wegierski), with paprika, onion, and cubed pork shoulder simmered in stock for 90 minutes

Method

  1. Grate the potatoes very finely on a box grater or food processor with the fine plate. Grate the onion to match. Combine.
  2. Tip into a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you possibly can; pour off the water but reserve the starch that settles at the bottom of the bowl.
  3. Return the squeezed potato-onion to a clean bowl. Stir in the reserved starch.
  4. Mix in eggs, flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The batter should hold together when scooped but not be runny.
  5. Heat a thick layer of lard in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat.
  6. Drop heaped spoonfuls of batter into the pan and flatten gently with the spoon to 1cm thick discs. Do not crowd.
  7. Fry 3 to 4 minutes per side until deep golden with crisp lace edges. Drain on kitchen paper.
  8. For sweet service: stack pancakes, dollop with cold sour cream, scatter sugar across the top.
  9. For Tatra style: place 2 to 3 pancakes overlapping on a warmed plate, ladle hot pork goulash over the top, finish with a spoon of sour cream and chopped parsley.

Tip from the editors. Squeezing the grated potato dry is the single most important step; wet batter gives soft pancakes that taste of boiled potato rather than the crisp lace-edged placki of a Polish home kitchen.

Where to eat placki ziemniaczane

Placki ziemniaczane in Kraków

Morskie Oko ★ 4.0

$$ Modern PolishStare Miasto

Morskie Oko in Kraków cooks Tatra-highlander Polish in a wooden-room dining hall with live folk music. Oscypek, kwaśnica cabbage soup, slow lamb.

OrderGrilled oscypek with cranberry and the kwaśnica sour-cabbage soup with smoked pork ribs.

TipLive highlander folk music in the dining room most evenings; check ahead for the schedule.

Directions Book

Polakowski ★ 3.9

$ Modern Polish

Polakowski in Kraków's Kazimierz is the all-day Polish canteen for the Old Synagogue end: pierogi, bigos, schabowy, gołąbki, served counter-style 10:00.

TryPolish canteen plate under 30 zl

TipMiodowa 39 in Kazimierz is the flagship; the M1 mall branch has closed but Kazimierz remains open daily.

Directions

Marchewka z Groszkiem ★ 4.2

$$ Polish Home CookingKazimierz

Marchewka z Groszkiem in Kraków's Kazimierz is the homely Polish bistro on the Mostowa footbridge: pierogi, gołąbki, beetroot soup with uszka.

OrderGoose pierogi and a bowl of beetroot soup with little uszka mushroom dumplings.

TipThe Mostowa branch sits on the footbridge with river views. Open daily 12:00-22:00.

Directions Book

Pod Baranem ★ 4.3

$$ Traditional PolishStare Miasto

Pod Baranem near the Wawel side of Kraków's Planty cooks classic Polish since 1997. Chef-founder Jan Baran's menu runs duck, veal cheeks, traditional soups.

OrderDuck with apple and red cabbage; veal cheeks in mushroom sauce.

TipReservation only in the evening; lunch easier as walk-in. Close to Wawel Castle.

Directions Book

Milkbar Tomasza ★ 4.4

$$ 20-30 zlBrunchPolish breakfast

Milkbar Tomasza on Kraków's Świętego Tomasza updates the milk-bar form: same prices and naleśniki, but table service and a younger crowd. Booking recommended.

OrderNaleśniki with cottage cheese and strawberry jam.

TipClosed Monday. The brunch plate at 25 zl is the steal; sit-down service, not a counter.

Directions

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Placki ziemniaczane in Warsaw

Bar Mleczny Prasowy ★ 4.5

$ Modern Polish

Bar Prasowy in Warsaw is the milk bar that fed central Marszalkowska since 1954. Pierogi for under 15 zl, zurek for 8, kotlet schabowy with sides.

TryPierogi ruskie, kotlet schabowy, zurek

Directions

Bar Mleczny Familijny ★ 4.3

$ Modern Polish

Bar Familijny on Warsaw's Nowy Swiat is the cheapest hot meal on the Royal Route. Nalesniki, kotlet mielony, plate of pierogi, all under 25 zl.

TryNalesniki, mielony, zurek

Directions

Restauracja Polka ★ 4.2

$$$ Traditional PolishStare Miasto

Magda Gessler's Polka in Warsaw is the Old Town home-cooking room: seven flower-painted dining rooms in a Renaissance tenement, heavy curtains.

OrderThe bigos plate, hand-rolled pierogi, and a Polmos vodka shot.

TipTouristy but earns it; ask for the back room, not the streetside seats.

Directions Book

Lokal Vegan Bistro ★ 4.3

$$ Vegan PolishSrodmiescie

Lokal Vegan Bistro on Krucza in Warsaw, run by the Margines cooperative since 2015, rebuilds the Polish home-cooking canon without any meat or dairy.

OrderThe vegan pierogi ruskie and a bowl of mushroom-and-barley krupnik.

TipClosed Mondays. Tue-Sat 12:00-21:00, Sunday 12:00-19:00. Cash and card.

Directions

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