Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Uštipci with Kajmak
Little fried dough balls served warm with kajmak clotted cream and soft cheese.
Bosnian · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 15 min
~447 cal · 17g protein · 64g carbs · 12g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ustipci are the fried dough balls found across the Balkans, and in Bosnia they are a treasured breakfast. A simple dough, leavened with yeast or sometimes just soda and yogurt, is dropped in spoonfuls into hot oil and fried until the little rounds puff up golden and craggy, crisp outside and soft within.
They are humble, quick, and endlessly comforting, the kind of thing made on a weekend morning or when unexpected guests arrive. Torn open while still hot, they are spread with kajmak, the rich clotted cream, and soft young cheese, so the dairy melts into the warm dough.
They swing easily between savoury and sweet: dipped in jam or drizzled with honey they become a treat, while with cheese and kajmak they are a full, satisfying breakfast. Cheap, cheerful, and best eaten straight from the pan, ustipci are Balkan home cooking at its most welcoming.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and egg-, 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
2.5 cups flour
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
as needed oil for frying
1/2 cup kajmak, to serve
Hard to find? thick crème fraîche - creamy in the same way but missing the ripened, faintly cheesy tang of real kajmak
1/2 cup soft cheese, to serve
Instructions
1
Mix the flour, yogurt, baking soda, and salt into a soft, sticky dough.
2
Heat oil for deep-frying.
3
Drop rough spoonfuls in and fry until golden and puffed.
4
Drain on paper towels.
5
Serve warm with kajmak and soft cheese to spread.
Sarajevo tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Sarajevo. Burek in Bosnia means meat and nothing else. The same coiled pastry filled with cheese is sirnica, with spinach zeljanica, with potato krompirusa, and calling any of them burek will get you corrected. Coffee is unfiltered, poured from a copper dzezva and drunk slowly against a cube of sugar.
🗺️
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.
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.
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
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Bosnia & Herzegovina meal
TufahijeDessert
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Uštipci with Kajmak?
Little fried dough balls served warm with kajmak clotted cream and soft cheese.
Where does Uštipci with Kajmak come from?
Uštipci with Kajmak is a Bosnian dish from Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Can Uštipci with Kajmak be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Uštipci with Kajmak 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 Uštipci with Kajmak 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 Uštipci with Kajmak take to make?
About 35 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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