🍢 SNACK
Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings)
Chewy rings of lean yeast dough dipped in a hot baking-soda bath, crowned with sesame, poppy seeds or coarse salt and baked golden, Romania’s favourite walk-and-eat snack.
Romanian · medium · serves 8
prep 30 min · cook 25 min · plus 1 h 15 min hands-off time
~286 cal · 7g protein · 49g carbs · 6g fat · 2g fiber · 1g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Covrigi are the snack of Romanian streets. They are sold warm from little bakery windows in every town, piled in baskets, and bought by the bagful on the way to work, to school or to the train. Most are rings or pretzel shapes of lean white bread dough, dipped briefly in hot water with baking soda before baking, which gives them a shiny, golden-brown crust and a chewy crumb, and they are topped with sesame, poppy seeds or grains of coarse salt.
The most famous come from Buzău, whose covrigi are registered and protected at EU level. Local legend says Greek wine merchants who settled in the town around 1800 made them to go with their wine, though the word itself comes from Old Bulgarian and similar breads are far older.
In the countryside they are also a holiday gift, and home-made covrigi are handed to carollers at Christmas. They are best on the day they are baked, still slightly warm.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and 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 8
- 500 g strong white bread flour
- 7 g instant dried yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 300 ml lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 litres water, for the bath
- 3 tbsp baking soda
- 4 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds or coarse sea salt, for some of the rings
Instructions
- 1Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, add the water and oil and knead for 8 to 10 minutes to a smooth, elastic, fairly firm dough. Cover and leave to rise for about 1 hour, until doubled.
- 2Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a rope about 40 cm long and join the ends into a ring, pressing them together firmly, or twist into a pretzel shape. Leave to rest for 15 minutes on a floured board.
- 3Heat the oven to 220°C and line two trays with oiled baking paper. Bring the water to the boil in a wide pan and add the baking soda carefully, as it foams.
- 4Lower the rings into the gently simmering water two at a time for about 30 seconds, turning once, then lift them out with a slotted spoon, let them drip and set them on the trays.✎ Chef’s noteThis alkaline bath is what gives covrigi their shiny brown crust and chewy bite.
- 5While they are still wet, sprinkle generously with sesame, poppy seeds or coarse salt.
- 6Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until deep golden brown. Eat warm, on the day they are baked.
Romanian street bakery tradition (Buzău).
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Transylvania. Mamaliga is younger than it feels. Maize only reached these mountains after the Atlantic crossings, and the porridge that replaced an older millet mush became so ordinary that it still stands in for bread, cut with a thread rather than a knife and eaten with sour cream and salty telemea.
🗺️
Romania. Mamaliga is a peasant staple that outlived its own necessity. Maize arrived through Ottoman channels and replaced millet, and the polenta made from it is still cut with a thread rather than a knife in some households, served with sheep cheese, soured cream and a fried egg. Sarmale are Ottoman in origin and shared across the Balkans rather than Romanian alone.
🌍
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.
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Omletă ȚărăneascăA rustic Romanian peasant omelette with tomato, pepper, onion, and salty telemea cheese.
MiciSkinless grilled minced-meat rolls seasoned with garlic and spice, Romania's smoky, garlicky barbecue staple.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings)?
Chewy rings of lean yeast dough dipped in a hot baking-soda bath, crowned with sesame, poppy seeds or coarse salt and baked golden, Romania’s favourite walk-and-eat snack.
Where does Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings) come from?
Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings) is a Romanian dish from Transylvania, Romania.
Can Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings) 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 Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings) 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 Covrigi (Romanian Pretzel Rings) take to make?
About 2 h 10 min in all: 30 minutes prep and 25 minutes cooking, plus 1 h 15 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 8.
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