Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Kartaflianaja Babka
A Belarusian baked potato pudding: grated raw potato with fried onion and bacon, baked into a golden, creamy-centred casserole.
Belarusian · easy · serves 6
prep 25 min · cook 60 min
~340 cal · 10g protein · 38g carbs · 16g fat · 5g fiber · 4g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kartaflianaja babka, "potato grandmother," is Belarus's beloved baked potato pudding, built on the same grated-raw-potato batter as draniki but baked into a casserole rather than fried into pancakes. Fried onion and bacon are folded through, and the whole thing bakes until crisp and golden on top and creamy and tender within.
The nickname is said to have been borrowed from a rich gentry Easter cake in the 19th century, half tribute and half joke. A trick every Belarusian cook knows is to grate a little onion in with the potatoes so the batter stays pale and golden rather than turning grey. It is served hot with sour cream.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 1/2 lb starchy potatoes, grated
7 oz smoked bacon, diced
2 onions, chopped (plus 1 small grated)
1 egg
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tbsp, plus more to serve sour cream
to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
1
Grate the potatoes (and a small onion with them to keep them pale), then squeeze out the excess liquid.
2
Fry the diced bacon until crisp, remove some to garnish, then soften the chopped onions in the bacon fat until golden.
3
Mix the grated potato with the bacon, onions, egg, flour, sour cream, salt and pepper into a thick batter.
✎ Chef’s note
Grating a little onion into the potato keeps the batter from turning grey before it bakes.
4
Spread into a greased baking dish or cast-iron skillet and bake at 350F for about 45 minutes, then brush the top with a little fat or sour cream and bake 10 to 15 minutes more at high heat until deep golden.
5
Rest 10 minutes, scatter with the reserved bacon, and serve hot with sour cream.
Belarusian home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Minsk. Draniki means shredded, and the claim to have invented them is weaker than the affection for them: the first printed mention is from 1830 and the dish sits in a family with German kartoffelpuffer, Ukrainian deruny and Jewish latkes. What is not in dispute is the enthusiasm.
🗺️
Belarus. Draniki simply means shredded, and the country puts more potato per head into its cooking than almost anywhere, on the order of a hundred and sixty kilos a year, with several hundred potato dishes recorded. The pancakes are fried until lacy at the edges and eaten with soured cream, and often with pork crackling.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Belarus
DranikiCrisp-edged potato pancakes fried golden and served with a generous spoon of sour cream.
Manna KashaSmooth semolina milk porridge, lump-free and lightly sweet, topped with jam or butter.
MachankaA rich pork and sour-cream gravy for dunking soft potato pancakes, a filling Belarusian country dish.
Browse all Belarus recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Oven.
Storing it: Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and reheats covered in the oven. Most bakes can be assembled a day ahead and baked when needed.
Make it a Belarus meal
KulagaDessert
KholodnikLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kartaflianaja Babka?
A Belarusian baked potato pudding: grated raw potato with fried onion and bacon, baked into a golden, creamy-centred casserole.
Where does Kartaflianaja Babka come from?
Kartaflianaja Babka is a Belarusian dish from Minsk, Belarus.
Can Kartaflianaja Babka be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kartaflianaja Babka recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kartaflianaja Babka safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kartaflianaja Babka take to make?
About 85 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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