🥤 DRINK
Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer)
Cold, crisp Hungarian white wine lengthened with fresh soda water in named ratios, from the even kisfröccs to the long hosszúlépés.
Hungarian · easy · serves 1
prep 2 min · cook 0 min
~82 cal · 0g protein · 3g carbs · 0g fat · 0g fiber · 1g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Fröccs is Hungary's summer drink, and a small language of its own. It is only wine and soda water, but every ratio has a name, and ordering the right one is a mark of a local.
The drink grew up with soda water, which the Benedictine scientist Ányos Jedlik helped make on an industrial scale in the 1820s, and by the late 1800s it was everywhere, from Budapest coffeehouses to railway stations, and it turns up in the work of Hungarian writers. There are more than twenty named versions. The basics are the kisfröccs, one decilitre of wine to one of soda, the nagyfröccs with two of wine to one of soda, and the hosszúlépés, the long step, with one of wine to two of soda. A házmester, the janitor, is three of wine to two of soda.
Hungarians use young, crisp, unoaked white wines such as Olaszrizling or Irsai Olivér, or a rosé, well chilled. The soda should be fresh and lively, ideally from a siphon, and never mineral water, which spoils the taste. It is served in a plain water glass, without garnish.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, 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 1
- 100 ml crisp dry white wine (Olaszrizling, Irsai Olivér or similar), well chilled
- 100 ml soda water, chilled, fresh from a siphon if possible, never mineral water
- 2 ice cubes (optional), on a hot day
Instructions
- 1Make sure the wine and soda water are both properly cold, straight from the fridge.
- 2Add a couple of ice cubes to a plain water glass if the day is hot.
- 3Pour in the wine first, measuring it if you want an exact fröccs.
- 4Top with the soda water, ideally straight from the siphon so it foams up, and drink at once while it is lively.✎ Chef’s noteThis is a kisfröccs, 1 to 1. For a nagyfröccs use 200 ml wine to 100 ml soda; for a hosszúlépés 100 ml wine to 200 ml soda; for a házmester 300 ml wine to 200 ml soda.
Hungarian tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Great Hungarian Plain. The Great Hungarian Plain is paprika country, home of the herdsman's gulyás and rich, red-hued stews cooked in a bogrács cauldron. Cattle, peppers, and open-fire cooking define the puszta table.
🗺️
Hungary. Hungarian cooking is defined by paprika, which colors and deepens its signature gulyás (goulash) and countless braises. Rich, warming, and pork- and sour-cream-forward, it reflects a Magyar heritage and a love of hearty, well-seasoned comfort food.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Gulyás (Herdsman’s Goulash)The original goulash: a paprika-red beef and vegetable soup-stew born over open fires on the Hungarian plain.
BundáskenyérHungarian "fur-coat bread", slices dipped in seasoned egg and milk and fried golden.
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Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer)?
Cold, crisp Hungarian white wine lengthened with fresh soda water in named ratios, from the even kisfröccs to the long hosszúlépés.
Where does Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer) come from?
Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer) is a Hungarian dish from Great Hungarian Plain, Hungary.
Can Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer) 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 Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer) 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 Fröccs (Hungarian Wine Spritzer) take to make?
About 2 minutes total (2 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 1.
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