Vepřo knedlo zelo (pork, dumpling, sauerkraut) – a Czech national dish


Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 3 hours (mainly to wait until the potatoes cool) | Cook time: 3 hours

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Vepřo knedlo zelo is Czech’s national dish (or at least one of them – I couldn’t find an official source to state what the official national Czech dish is, but most sources have pointed to this one (another source claims it to be svičkova)). Regardless of whether or not it’s the true national dish, it’s definitely very popular and found in most Czech restaurants.

The name of the dish directly translates to the 3 components that make up the dish: vepřo = pork, knedlo = dumpling, zelo = sauerkraut. Disclaimer: this page is not a recipe page of all 3 components, but rather a guide to making all 3 components in order with links to each of their dedicated recipes. I’ve chosen to split it up this way to make it easier for the reader to navigate rather than writing it all in one monstrously long recipe post with a million photos. Each component is also delicious on their own that you can pair it with other dishes instead of just in a vepřo knedlo zelo.

1. Vepřo = pork

The pork portion is usually a pork shoulder, which can be roasted or smoked. The first time I had this dish was at babička’s place and she served it with a smoked pork shoulder. She was cooking away with it for hours that the whole apartment smelled like smoked ham – I’m pretty sure my jacket still has a hint of it 4 weeks later 😅. When I set out to recreate this dish, we visited the lovely little Polish butcher a block away from us and found that they sell beautiful already-cooked smoked pork shoulder! We couldn’t resist and bought a few hundred grams (it was delicious). We still go back there when we’re feeling too lazy to cook and heat it up with sauerkraut and dumplings.

Instead of a smoked pork, a roast pork is the other version of this dish. When I first made it from scratch, I didn’t expect much since the steps were so simple and straightforward. I also don’t usually cook with pork much so my experience with making pork roasts is very limited, but I’ve gotta say, it came out really fucking good – even Toby approves! Although the smoked pork is good and easy, the roasted version is a lot juicier in my opinion. The recipe for the roasted pork shoulder is below.

2. Knedlo = dumpling

Knedlíky are Czech dumplings. There are a few different kinds of Czech dumplings, but in this particular dish, it’s commonly served with either the bread version (houskové knedlíky) or the potato version (bramborové knedlíky) (you can find out more about the difference here). I personally prefer it with a heavier dense potato dumpling, but it can be served with the lighter fluffier bread dumpling version too. In this guide, I will reference the potato dumpling version (which happens to be easier too!). Here are links to both types of dumplings:

3. Zelo = sauerkraut

You can serve this dish with whatever style of sauerkraut you like, but I prefer it with a sweet smokey version like this one here. Since this is my favourite sauerkraut, I will also be writing this guide in accordance to that recipe. Fun fact: I actually liked this version of sauerkraut so much that I needed to find a meat dish to go with it which is how I got onto making a vepřo knedlo zelo in the first place. I never would’ve made this dish if I hadn’t succeeded in making the sauerkraut 🙃.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the guide! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Directions:

1. Make the pork roast first. This is the most time-consuming and will take 2.5-3 hours to cook. Although lengthy, all this time is literally waiting. There’s nothing else that needs to be done with the pork once you pop it in the oven which makes it the perfect time to prepare everything else. When it’s done, measure it with a meat thermometer to ensure that it’s cooked and slice it. Easy. If you’re not ready to serve it yet while you finish the other components, leave it drenched in the drippings/oils from the pan to keep it moist and soaking up flavour.

2. While the pork is roasting in the oven, start making the potato dumplings. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to put the dough together and once the loaves are formed, it takes about half an hour to cook each batch. If you have extra stove space and extra pots, you can get two pots going at the same time so you can cook them all at once to save time rather than waiting for back to back 30 minutes. Make sure you set timers so you don’t forget about them.

3. When the dumplings are boiling, start making the sauerkraut. It takes about 30-40 minutes in total including two 15 minute braising times during the process, so while you’re waiting you can intermittently check on the dumplings.

4. Once everything is done, plate it up and serve. Enjoy!

Recipes used:

Abby3 Comments

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast


Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains, easy
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 3 hours

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Pork is one of the more common proteins seen in Czech cuisine – in fact, it’s part of their national dish: Vepřo knedlo zelo (= pork + dumplings + sauerkraut). This recipe is for a Czech-style roast pork (vepřová pečeně = “pork roast”) and is the star component of the Czech national dish. You can follow the links below if you’d like to make a full vepřo knedlo zelo.

I originally started researching making a Czech roast pork when I discovered a new found love for sweet sauerkraut that Toby’s babička made. When I perfected the recipe for the braised sweet sauerkraut, I needed a protein to go with it so I looked into making the roast pork that commonly accompanies it. I found a simple recipe at first, and after some tweaking, a beautiful caramelized glistening juicy hunk of meat was born. This pork is so good that it is worth making on its own. It’s flavourful enough to have it by itself or you can pair it with sauerkraut, a rajská sauce, mashed potatoes…anything you want! The best part is that this dish is SO easy to make with minimal ingredients. The ONLY downfall is that it takes about 3 hours, HOWEVER, it’s 3 hours of waiting and you literally do not have to do anything other than wait for the timer to go off and double check that it has cooked through with a meat thermometer. To make it even easier, you can marinate the meat in the rub the night before and the next morning, just pop it in the oven a few hours before lunch time and when it’s ready, just slice and serve. 😊

If you want to make the full vepřo knedlo zelo dish, the recipe for the potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky) can be found here and the sauerkraut can be any sauerkraut, but I prefer to have it with a sweet sauerkraut like this one. You can also find a guide on how to put it all together here.

Vepřo knedlo zelo = roast pork + potato dumplings + sauerkraut

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tsps caraway seeds, crushed
  • 2.5 Tbsps kosher salt
  • 2 x 900g (2 x 2 lbs) pieces of pork shoulder, get ones with marbling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 160˚C (325˚F) on “roast” setting if you’ve got the option, or otherwise ‘bake’ will be fine.

In a small bowl, make the seasoning rub by mixing together: olive oil, garlic, crushed caraway seeds, and salt. Tip: to easily crush caraway seeds without the mess, you can put it in between a sheet of baking paper and use a rolling pin to crush it by rolling over it a few times. Crushing the caraway seeds releases its flavour.

Use the rub and massage it evenly around the entire pork shoulder. Tip: To save time, you can do this the night before and let the pork marinate in the rub in the fridge overnight in a sealed container. When ready to cook, take it out of the fridge half an hour beforehand to let it come to room temp.

Place the pork in the middle of a lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 2.5 – 3 hours (or until the middle of the pork measures 62˚C and the juices are no longer pink).

Now is a good time to make any sides that you want to serve with the roast pork. The most common is with a sauerkraut and Czech potato dumpling/knedliky like in a vepřo knedlo zelo.

When the pork has finished, take it out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for 5-10 mins before slicing. After slicing, drench each slice in the drippings/ oils from the baking tray before serving. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains, easy
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tsps caraway seeds, crushed
  • 2.5 Tbsps kosher salt
  • 2 x 900g (2 x 2 lbs) pieces of pork shoulder, get ones with marbling

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 160˚C (325˚F) on “roast” setting if you’ve got the option, or otherwise ‘bake’ will be fine.
  2. In a small bowl, make the seasoning rub by mixing together: olive oil, garlic, caraway seeds, and salt.
  3. Use the rub and massage it evenly around the entire pork shoulder.
    • Tip: To save time, you can do this the night before and let the pork marinate in the rub in the fridge overnight in a sealed container. When ready to cook, take it out of the fridge half an hour beforehand to let it come to room temp.
  4. Place the pork in the middle of a lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 2.5 – 3 hours (or until the middle of the pork measures 62˚C and the juices are no longer pink).
  5. When the pork has finished, take it out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for 5-10 mins before slicing. After slicing, drench each slice in the drippings/ oils from the baking tray before serving. Enjoy!

Abby1 Comment