🥔 SIDE
Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes)
Soaked beans and potatoes cooked separately, mashed together and topped with onion fried golden in lard and a little crushed garlic, the Slovenian side for sour turnip, sauerkraut and sausages.
Slovenian · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 90 min · plus 12 h hands-off time
~271 cal · 14g protein · 52g carbs · 1g fat · 11g fiber · 3g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Matevž is one of Slovenia's national dishes, a thick purée of beans and potatoes that is typical of central Slovenia and especially of the Kočevje region. It from the nineteenth century, when poorer families ate it as a meal in itself. It is also called krompirjev mož, and in the local slang to have a matevž means to have a hangover.
Today it is mostly served as a side dish. The beans are soaked overnight and simmered with a bay leaf, the potatoes are boiled on their own, and the two are mashed together and seasoned. The finish is what makes it: onion, or cracklings, fried in lard and poured over the top with a little crushed garlic.
The classic plate puts matevž beside kisla repa, sour turnip, or sauerkraut, with a Kranjska sausage or a piece of smoked pork.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, 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
- 350 g dried beans, such as borlotti or pinto
- 1 bay leaf
- 500 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
- 3 tbsp lard
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
Instructions
- 1Cover the beans with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak overnight, for at least 12 hours.
- 2Drain the beans, cover with fresh water, add the bay leaf and bring to the boil. Simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, until completely soft, adding salt towards the end.✎ Chef’s noteSalt only when the beans are nearly done, or the skins stay tough.
- 3Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes, until tender, then drain.
- 4Drain the beans, keeping a cupful of their cooking water, and remove the bay leaf. Mash the beans and potatoes together into a thick, slightly rough purée, adding a little of the bean water if it is too stiff. Season well with salt and pepper.
- 5Heat the lard in a frying pan and fry the onion over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until golden. Take off the heat and stir in the garlic.
- 6Pile the matevž into a warm bowl, pour the onion and its fat over the top and serve hot beside sour turnip or sauerkraut and sausages.
Central Slovenian and Kočevje home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Ljubljana. Struklji is a category rather than a recipe: the same rolled dough boiled, baked or steamed, filled with cottage cheese and tarragon, or walnut, or apple. Zganci is the other everyday thing, buckwheat cooked stiff and broken into lumps, once the breakfast of anyone working outdoors.
🗺️
Slovenia. Potica is the rolled cake that marks every occasion, yeast dough spread thin with a filling and coiled into a ring tin, with walnut the classic and tarragon the one that surprises outsiders. It holds EU protected status. Struklji are the savoury and sweet rolled dumplings, boiled or baked, and buckwheat zganci is the mountain porridge underneath a lot of the older cooking.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Slovenia
JotaA Ljubljana stew of soured sauerkraut, borlotti beans, potato, and smoked pork, winter in a pot.
Ajdovi ŽganciRustic buckwheat "spoonbread" crumbles served with warm milk or cracklings, Slovenian comfort.
Kranjska KlobasaThe protected Carniolan sausage, simmered and served with mustard, bread, and sauerkraut, a Slovenian icon.
Browse all Slovenia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Blender.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Slovenia meal
Borovničke (Slovenian Bilberry Liqueur)Drink
Prekmurska GibanicaDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes)?
Soaked beans and potatoes cooked separately, mashed together and topped with onion fried golden in lard and a little crushed garlic, the Slovenian side for sour turnip, sauerkraut and sausages.
Where does Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes) come from?
Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes) is a Slovenian dish from Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Can Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes) 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 Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes) 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 Matevž (Slovenian Mashed Beans and Potatoes) take to make?
About 13 h 45 min in all: 15 minutes prep and 90 minutes cooking, plus 12 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 6.
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