Food in Poland

On this page you will find information on food in Poland for Kids. Here we show you which Polish dishes are really popular with kids - and with adults as well.

Typical Food in Poland

You will learn about typical Food in Poland and which delicious Polish food you simply must try when you travel to Poland.

What do Polish people eat every day?

For breakfast and dinner, we traditionally eat ham or cheese sandwiches although some of us love jam or marmalade. We drink a cup of tea or coffee which gives us energy for the whole day. Children eat a bowl of hot milk with cereals or scrambled eggs for the first meal of the day.

For a two-course lunch, we have a bowl of soup and for the main course - noodles, rice, potatoes and meat or fish.

Now here are some of the most popular Polish dishes:

Food in Poland for Kids

Dumplings | Pierogi

Typical Polish pierogi

Pierogi are probably the most well known traditional Polish food. These half-moon shaped dumplings called pierogi are filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms, potatoes and onion, curd cheese or minced meat. Sweet pierogi contain curd cheese with seasonal fruit such as blueberries, plums, cherries, strawberries.

Pork chops or cutlet | Schabowy

Polish schabowy is breaded cutlet or port chops served with potato mash and salad

Polish Schabowy or cutlet

The breaded cutlet called schabowy is often referred to as Poland's national dish. Schabowy is served for lunch with potatoes and side dish. The thinly sliced pork chops are dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried. Many Polish families eat schabowy for Sunday lunch.

Cucumber soup | Ogórkowa

Traditional cucumber soup

Polish cucumber soup is called ogórkowa. This typical Polish soup contains sour pickled cucumbers as well as vegetables such as leeks, carrots and potatoes.

Cabbage rolls | Gołabki

Cabbage rolls

Gołąbki (pronounce it like: ghowombki) are very popular in Poland too. Cabbage rolls here contain minced meat and rice wrapped in a cabbage leave. The steamed cabbage rolls are usually served with a tomato sauce.

Potato Dumplings | Kopytka

Kopytka

Hoof-shaped potato dumplings called kopytka are made with boiled potatoes and flour. They are very similar to Italian gnocchi. In the Polish language the word „kopytka” means hooves.

Hunter's Stew | Bigos

Bigos

Bigos is a Polish stew made of meat, cabbage, other vegetables and spices. You can eat this dish with bread. It is said that the best bigos should be cooked for 3 days!

Cottage cheese | Gzik

Gzik

Gzik is a thick and heavy cottage cheese dip. This cheese is served with potatoes in northwestern Poland.

Poppy seed cake | Makowiec

Makowiec is poppy seed cake

The delicious poppy seed cake called makowiec is served traditionally at Christmas. This is a cake roll with a dense and rich filling of poppy seed. Very yummy!

Angel Wings | Faworki

Faworki are fried pastry strips. Faworki means 'Angel Wings'. The pastry dish is always served powdered with icing sugar. The crispy and light faworki are especially popular during the Carnival and other celebrations.

Food in Poland: Swede Soup | Rutabaga

Rutabaga soup

This soup is made of swedes and carrots. Swedes are root vegetables and have a milder taste than turnips and are similar to potatoes. Rutabaga is eaten especially in northern Poland.

Cucumber Salad | Mizeria

Mizeria (pronounce it like: meezerya) is a traditional Polish salad made of cucumbers with lots of sour cream with dill and radish. The salad is usually served with lunch.

Cheese | Oscypek

Oscypek cheese

Oscypek is a cheese made from salted sheep milk and typical for the Tatra Mountain region. The cheese is made by and expert called baca who also is a sheep herd.

Fruit juice | Kompot

Kompot

Lastly, we can't do without ,,kompot’’- it’s a kind of juice with water made of seasonal fruits. We usually make it in summer and autumn, put into the jars and relish all year round.

Popular Food in Poland

Is the Polish cuisine the same all over the country?

Just like Oscypek and Rutabaga soup are eaten mainly in Northern Poland, certain types of food you can only try in some parts of Poland. Among these are also:

babka ziemniaczana: a potato cake typical of the Podlachia region (east of Poland). It is served with sour cream sauce and pork belly, also called flitch
wuzetka: this is the classic cake from Mazovia region. The chocolate sponge cake has a cuboid form and is made of layers of cocoa-flavoured sponge cake, jam, whipped cream with chocolate coating. The name of the cake is associated with the great W-Z highway which was built in Warsaw in the late 1940s.
proziaki: the soda bread is made with the addition of baking soda and soured milk. The bread is baked on a stove top in Subcarpathia region (southeastern Poland).

Other delicious food in Poland includes popular dishes such as these:

sernik: the Polish desert cake is made of curd cheese. The cheesecake may be prepared with vanilia, variety of fresh fruits or sweet jelly.
placki ziemniaczane: these are potato cakes are made with grated and fried potatoes and are served with sauce
jarzynowa: a vegetable soup that consists of a variety of vegetables: cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, parsley, leek, onion, brussels, cabbage and potatoes
chłodnik: this cold soup (pronounce it like: hwodneec) is served only on hot summer days. It is different from other soups as it can be both either a vegetable or a fruit soup. The soup is usually served with noodles.

Food in Poland | Useful resources

This page was submitted by Justyna Kiedos from the English Language Studio in Opole/ Poland. Many thanks for the hard work of your students in collecting all the information on these wonderful dishes and the many food facts which we will add on another page soon!

Find more information on Poland's food and the Polish Cuisine on the Poland.travel website of the Polish Tourism Organisation

Poland Travel. "Polish Food, Drink and Culinary Tradition." Poland.travel. Last accessed 2 June 2021
Poland's Official Travel and Tourism Website. "Stuffed Cabbage Rolls - Recipe." Poland.travel. Last accessed 22 June 2021
Eden Poland. "Silesian Tastes." Eden. Last accessed 22 June 2021

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