A hearty Ljubljana stew of soured sauerkraut, borlotti beans, potato, and smoked pork — winter in a pot.

Where does Jota come from?

Jota is a Slovenian dish from Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Can Jota be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Jota recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Jota take to make?

About 110 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.

Jota — a Ljubljana, Slovenia recipe

Name: Jota
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Slovenian
Ingredients: 1 lb smoked pork ribs; 1 lb sauerkraut, drained; 1.5 cups dried borlotti (cranberry) beans, soaked overnight; 2 medium waxy potatoes, diced; 4 cloves garlic; 2 leaves bay leaf; 1 tsp marjoram

Europe → 🇸🇮 Slovenia → Ljubljana

Jota

Slovenian · easy · serves 6

prep 20 min · cook 90 min

~381 cal · 31g protein · 38g carbs · 11g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Rustic bowl of sauerkraut and bean stew with smoked pork ribs

🇸🇮 Ljubljana

Jota is the taste of the Slovenian Alps in the cold months, a peasant one-pot that stretched a little smoked meat across a whole family. The sourness of the sauerkraut, the earthiness of the beans, and the smoke of the pork ribs come together over a slow simmer that fills the whole kitchen with steam.

Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.

Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 6 —

•

1 lb smoked pork ribs

•

1 lb sauerkraut, drained

•

1.5 cups dried borlotti (cranberry) beans, soaked overnight

•

2 medium waxy potatoes, diced

•

4 cloves garlic

•

2 leaves bay leaf

•

1 tsp marjoram

Instructions

1

Simmer the soaked beans in fresh water with the bay leaf for 45 minutes until nearly tender; keep the cooking liquid.

2

In a second pot, cover the smoked ribs (or smoked tofu) with water and simmer 40 minutes to build a smoky broth.

3

Add the sauerkraut, potatoes, garlic, and marjoram to the broth and cook 20 minutes until the potato is soft.

4

Tip in the beans with a ladle of their liquid and mash a few potatoes against the side to thicken.

5

Simmer 15 more minutes so the flavors marry, then rest off the heat — jota always tastes better the second day.

Ljubljana home cooking.

Ratings & reviews

Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Ljubljana. A green capital that warms winter with sauerkraut-bean jota.

🗺️

Slovenia. Alpine and Adriatic kitchens in one small green country.

🌍

Europe. Village recipes guarded for generations.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →