Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Mămăligă cu Brânză
Thick cornmeal polenta layered with salty sheep's cheese and sour cream, the soul of Moldovan tables.
Moldovan · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 30 min
~590 cal · 20g protein · 44g carbs · 39g fat · 4g fiber · 2g sugars · 23g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Mamaliga cu branza is Moldova's soul food, a golden cornmeal porridge that for centuries served as the daily bread of Moldova and neighbouring Romania, cooked so thick it was cut with a length of thread rather than a knife. It fed rural households when wheat was scarce, and it remains a taste of home for every Moldovan.
What lifts plain cornmeal into a dish is what goes with it. Here it is layered or topped with tangy branza de oi, a salty sheep's cheese, and a generous spoon of smantana, the thick soured cream, so each bite runs hot, salty, and cool at once. A fried egg often crowns it, and it accompanies stews and grilled meats just as happily.
It carries the whole memory of a village kitchen: the pot stirred patiently over the fire, the cheese from the family's own sheep, the cream from its cow. Simple, filling, and deeply nostalgic, mamaliga is the plate Moldovans point to when asked what their country tastes like.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, 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
1.5 cups coarse cornmeal ()
5 cups water
1 cup brânză (salty sheep's or feta cheese), crumbled
1/2 cup sour cream (smântână)
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
Instructions
1
Bring the salted water to a boil and rain in the cornmeal while whisking hard to avoid lumps.
2
Lower the heat and cook 25-30 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until very thick and pulling from the pan.
3
Beat in the butter (or oil) at the end for a glossy finish.
4
Spoon into bowls in layers with the crumbled cheese so it softens into the hot cornmeal.
5
Top each with a spoon of sour cream and serve at once.
Chișinău tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Chișinău. Chisinau is a wine-country capital raised on mamaliga, cornmeal served with sheep cheese and sour cream. Moldovan cooking centres on placinta pastries, stuffed cabbage rolls, grilled meats, and the vineyards that surround the city.
🗺️
Moldova. Moldovan food is rustic and wine-country generous, mămăligă polenta, cabbage rolls (sarmale), and plăcintă pastries. Sitting between Romania and Ukraine, it centers the garden, the vineyard, and the family table.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Moldova
Plăcintă cu BrânzăPan-fried or baked flatbread pockets stuffed with salty cheese, a Moldovan morning favorite.
ZeamăA tangy chicken noodle soup soured with fermented bran brine and fragrant with lovage, Moldova's restorative bowl.
CornulețeTender sour-cream crescents rolled around a sweet walnut filling and dusted with sugar, a Moldovan holiday cookie.
Browse all Moldova recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Moldova meal
CornulețeDessert
ZeamăLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Mămăligă cu Brânză?
Thick cornmeal polenta layered with salty sheep's cheese and sour cream, the soul of Moldovan tables.
Where does Mămăligă cu Brânză come from?
Mămăligă cu Brânză is a Moldovan dish from Chișinău, Moldova.
Can Mămăligă cu Brânză be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mămăligă cu Brânză 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 Mămăligă cu Brânză 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 Mămăligă cu Brânză take to make?
About 40 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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