Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Begova Čorba
A rich, velvety chicken and okra soup finished with a sour cream and egg yolk liaison, the noble Bey's soup of Bosnian cuisine.
Bosnian · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 50 min
~604 cal · 50g protein · 26g carbs · 32g fat · 6g fiber · 9g sugars · 16g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Begova čorba, the Bey's soup, is one of the jewels of Bosnian cuisine, a dish fit for a nobleman as its name suggests. It comes out of the Ottoman heritage that shaped so much of Bosnian cooking, refined and rich rather than rustic.
At its heart is chicken, simmered to a flavourful broth and shredded back in, alongside a medley of vegetables and the defining ingredient, , whose gentle thickening lends the soup its velvety texture. A adds body, and a liaison of egg yolk and sour cream, brightened with lemon, finishes it into something smooth, tangy, and luxurious, served with fresh bread.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally nut- and pork-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 4
1 1/2 lb chicken pieces on the bone
1 cup , sliced
2 cups carrot and celery, diced
1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup sour cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tbsp butter or oil
1 handful fresh parsley
Instructions
1
Simmer the chicken with the onion, carrot, and celery until tender, then shred the meat and reserve the broth.
2
Add the okra to the broth and simmer until softened and the soup thickens slightly.
3
Make a light roux with the butter and flour, then whisk in some broth and stir it back into the pot.
✎ Chef’s note
Cook the roux until just golden and whisk it into hot broth off the boil, so it thickens smoothly without lumps.
4
Beat the egg yolks with the sour cream, then temper in a ladle of the hot broth and stir the mixture back into the pot off the boil.
✎ Chef’s note
Keep the soup below a boil once the yolk-and-cream liaison goes in, or the egg will curdle instead of turning it silky.
5
Return the chicken, brighten with the lemon juice, and finish with parsley.
Bosnian Ottoman-influenced cuisine.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Sarajevo. Sarajevo's old bazaar smells of grilling cevapi, small beef sausages served in soft somun bread with raw onion and kajmak cream. Ottoman rule left burek pastries, stuffed vegetables, and thick unfiltered coffee poured from a copper dzezva.
🗺️
Bosnia & Herzegovina. In Bosnia, burek means the meat one and nothing else. The cheese version is sirnica, the potato one krompirusa, the spinach one zeljanica, and calling any of them burek marks you out immediately. Coffee arrives in a copper dzezva with an empty cup and a cube of sugar, for the drinker to pour and to take their time over.
🌍
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 Bosnia & Herzegovina
ĆevapiHand-rolled grilled beef fingers tucked into pillowy somun with raw onion and kajmak, Sarajevo’s pride.
Uštipci with KajmakLittle fried dough balls served warm with kajmak clotted cream and soft cheese.
TufahijeWhole apples poached in syrup and stuffed with sweet walnuts, topped with cream, an elegant Ottoman-Bosnian sweet.
Browse all Bosnia & Herzegovina recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Bosnia & Herzegovina meal
TufahijeDessert
Bosanski LonacDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Begova Čorba?
A rich, velvety chicken and okra soup finished with a sour cream and egg yolk liaison, the noble Bey's soup of Bosnian cuisine.
Where does Begova Čorba come from?
Begova Čorba is a Bosnian dish from Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Can Begova Čorba be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Begova Čorba 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 Begova Čorba 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 Begova Čorba take to make?
About 70 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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