Europe → Bosnia & Herzegovina → Sarajevo
🍢 SNACK
Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita)
Thin sheets of pastry rolled around finely diced potato and onion seasoned with plenty of black pepper, coiled into a round tin and baked golden and crisp, then cut into wedges and eaten warm with yogurt.
Bosnian · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 40 min · plus 10 min hands-off time
~554 cal · 11g protein · 70g carbs · 25g fat · 5g fiber · 6g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, pita is the name for the family of pies made by rolling a filling up in paper-thin sheets of hand-stretched dough, and each filling has its own name. Only the meat one is burek; the cheese one is sirnica, the spinach one zeljanica, and the one filled with potato is krompiruša, from krompir, potato. It is sold by the piece in the buregdžinice, the pie shops, and baked at home for family and guests.
The filling is simplicity itself: raw potatoes cut into small dice, onion, oil, salt and a great deal of black pepper, which is what krompiruša is known for. The dough is stretched paper-thin, brushed with oil, the filling is laid along one edge and the sheet rolled into a long sausage, which is then coiled into a round tin. Home cooks often use shop-bought filo instead of stretching their own.
It is baked until the pastry is crisp and golden, softened with a little warm water or butter at the end, and eaten warm, cut in wedges, with a glass of yogurt or a bowl of it on the side.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut-, egg- 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 6
- 700 g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice (about 5 mm)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, krompiruša is meant to be peppery; use less or white pepper for a gentler heat
- 120 ml sunflower oil, divided
- 500 g filo pastry sheets (jufka)
- 4 tbsp warm water
- 400 g plain yogurt, to serve
Instructions
- 1Heat the oven to 200°C and oil a round baking tin about 30 cm across. Mix the diced potato and onion with the salt, pepper and 3 tbsp of the oil.✎ Chef’s noteCut the potato small and even; it goes in raw and must cook through inside the pastry.
- 2Lay one sheet of filo on the work surface with a long side towards you and brush it lightly with oil. Lay a second sheet on top and brush again. Spread a line of filling along the long edge nearest you and roll it up loosely into a long sausage.
- 3Starting in the centre of the tin, coil the roll into a spiral. Repeat with the rest of the pastry and filling, continuing the spiral out to the edge of the tin. Brush the top with the remaining oil.
- 4Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, until deep golden and crisp and the potato is soft (test with a skewer).
- 5Sprinkle the warm water over the hot pita, cover it with a clean cloth and leave for 10 minutes so the pastry softens slightly. Cut into wedges and serve warm with yogurt.
Bosnian pita tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Sarajevo. Cevapi here are beef and lamb, ground and shaped without any casing at all, and never pork. They come ten to a portion inside a round of somun still warm from the oven, with raw onion and kajmak, a soured cream skimmed thick and counted as part of the dish rather than a garnish.
🗺️
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.
Begova ČorbaA rich, velvety chicken and okra soup finished with a sour cream and egg yolk liaison, the noble Bey's soup of Bosnian cuisine.
Browse all Bosnia & Herzegovina recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Rolling pin, Mould or tin.
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 Bosnia & Herzegovina meal
Bosanska Kafa (Bosnian Coffee)Drink
TufahijeDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Chäschüechli (Swiss Cheese Tartlets)Switzerland
Ballokume (Albanian Cornmeal Cookies from Elbasan)Albania
Karantika (Algerian Chickpea Flan)Algeria
Kaak Malih (Libyan Savoury Cookie Rings)Libya
Irish SconesIreland
Ugiyot Tahini (Israeli Tahini Cookies)Israel
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita)?
Thin sheets of pastry rolled around finely diced potato and onion seasoned with plenty of black pepper, coiled into a round tin and baked golden and crisp, then cut into wedges and eaten warm with yogurt.
Where does Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita) come from?
Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita) is a Bosnian dish from Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Can Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Krompiruša (Bosnian Potato Pita) take to make?
About 1 h 20 min in all: 30 minutes prep and 40 minutes cooking, plus 10 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.