25/03/2026
Easter żurek – ingredients
For about 2 liters of soup:
1 liter vegetable stock
500 ml rye sour starter for żurek
100 g smoked, semi‑dry sausage
200 g white sausage (raw or parboiled)
200 g raw smoked bacon
3 tablespoons heavy cream 30%
1 teaspoon dried marjoram (or more to taste)
1 allspice berry
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon garlic (pressed or powdered)
1/4 teaspoon salt
To serve:
4–6 hard‑boiled eggs
A few slices rye bread
Chopped parsley for garnish
Optional additions:
1 tablespoon rye flour type 2000 (for extra thickness, mixed into the sour)
Grated horseradish or thinly sliced garlic clove added at the end for a sharper taste.
Step 1 – Prepare the stock and sour.
Cook a simple vegetable stock in advance, ideally the day before. Grate a piece of celeriac, a parsley root, and a peeled carrot, add a piece of leek, cover with about 1.5 liters water, and simmer for about 1 hour, then strain. Use 1 liter for the soup.
Chill the stock or use it right away.
The key to good żurek is a strong rye sour starter, preferably homemade with plenty of garlic (or you can use a good bottled one). Shake or stir the sour well before adding so all the sediment goes into the soup.
Step 2 – Prepare meat
Dice the smoked bacon into small cubes. Slice the smoked sausage and the white sausage.
If using raw white sausage, first simmer it in the vegetable stock for up to 4 minutes, remove, cool slightly, and slice.
Step 3 – Cook the soup
Fry the diced bacon in a pan for a few minutes. Add both sausages and fry together for another 4–5 minutes.
Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a medium pot. Transfer the whole contents of the pan (bacon and sausages with fat) into the boiling stock and cook for about 5 minutes.
Pour in all the rye sour starter, stirring well. If you want a thicker soup, mix in about 1 tablespoon rye flour into the sour beforehand.
Add the spices: slightly crushed allspice berry, bay leaf, garlic, salt, and marjoram (you can use up to 2 tablespoons marjoram if you like it strong).
Bring the soup back to a boil, stirring; cook a few minutes until it starts to thicken.
Step 4 – Finish with cream and serve
Add 3 tablespoons heavy 30% cream directly into the pot and stir; sweet cream does not need tempering.
If using sour, thick cream instead: ladle a bit of boiling soup into a glass, mix with the cream until smooth, then pour back into the pot and stir.
Turn off the heat. Serve the żurek with halved hard‑boiled eggs and good dark rye bread baked on sourdough.
For a sharper taste, you can add a spoon of grated horseradish or a thinly sliced garlic clove after adding the sour.
