Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Kapustnica
Slovakia's Christmas Eve soup: tangy sauerkraut simmered with smoked sausage, dried mushrooms and a few sweet prunes.
Slovak · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 90 min
~365 cal · 20g protein · 5g carbs · 29g fat · 1g fiber · 2g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kapustnica is the sauerkraut soup that anchors the Slovak Christmas Eve table, though it is eaten all winter long. cabbage is simmered with smoked pork and paprika-spiced klobása sausage, deepened with dried mushrooms, and balanced with a few dried plums that offset the sourness with a whisper of sweetness.
Finished with a swirl of sour cream, it is thick, smoky and bracingly tangy. Many families keep a meatless version for the fasting Christmas Eve meal, leaning harder on the mushrooms and prunes, but the smoky, sour backbone of good sauerkraut is constant.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, nut- and egg-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
1 lb sauerkraut, drained and chopped
10 oz smoked pork (shoulder or neck), cubed
7 oz smoked paprika sausage (klobása), sliced
1 oz dried mushrooms (porcini), soaked
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1/3 cup pitted prunes
2 bay leaves
6 cups water or
1 tbsp oil
3/4 cup sour cream, to serve
to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
1
Simmer the cubed smoked pork with the bay leaves in the water for about 40 minutes until tender.
2
Meanwhile soften the onion in the oil, add the sliced sausage and garlic and fry until browned, then stir in the paprika off the heat.
3
Add the sauerkraut, soaked mushrooms (with their strained liquid), prunes and the sausage-onion mixture to the pot.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the paprika off the heat so it blooms without scorching and turning bitter.
4
Simmer everything together gently for another 30 to 40 minutes so the flavours meld and the soup thickens. Season with salt and pepper.
5
Ladle into bowls and finish each with a spoon of sour cream.
Slovak Christmas tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bratislava. Bratislava sits on the Danube and eats bryndzove halusky, small potato dumplings folded through sharp sheep's cheese and topped with bacon. Slovak cooking is hearty and mountain-fed: sauerkraut soups, smoked meats, and dumplings in many forms.
🗺️
Slovakia. Slovak cooking is hearty and mountain-shaped, famous for bryndzové halušky (potato dumplings with sheep cheese and bacon). Cabbage, pork, potatoes, and dairy anchor a comforting Central European 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 Slovakia
Bryndzové HaluškySoft potato dumplings tossed with sharp sheep’s-milk bryndza cheese and crowned with crispy bacon, Slovakia’s national dish.
Zemiakové Placky (Potato Pancakes)Crisp, garlicky griddled pancakes of grated raw potato scented with marjoram, fried until lacy and golden.
Segedínsky GulášA tangy pork and sauerkraut goulash enriched with paprika and sour cream, served with bread dumplings.
Browse all Slovakia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Slovakia meal
Šúľance s MakomDessert
Segedínsky GulášLunch
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kapustnica?
Slovakia's Christmas Eve soup: tangy sauerkraut simmered with smoked sausage, dried mushrooms and a few sweet prunes.
Where does Kapustnica come from?
Kapustnica is a Slovak dish from Bratislava, Slovakia.
Can Kapustnica be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kapustnica 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 Kapustnica 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 Kapustnica take to make?
About 110 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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