Welcome to Our Polish Christmas Table 2022

I’ve put together a collection of festive soups, main courses, desserts and so much more. Have a look around!

Polish Christmas Eve Dinner / Supper

Wigilia feast begins on December 24th, at the appearance of the first star. The supper begins with the breaking of the Christmas wafer (‘opłatek’, pron.: opwateck).

Traditionally, Christmas Eve is a fast day and no meat is served. The table is filled with 12 different dishes, symbolizing the Twelve Apostles – you’ll see the recipes for some of them below. For those who are religious, the Christmas Eve ends with the midnight mass (‘Pasterka’) at a local church. 

Any leftovers are served again on the Christmas Day – this time alongside dishes containing meat.

  

Christmas Barszcz

Step 1: Zakwas

Fermented beet juice / beet kvass in a jar

Make Beet Zakwas
Zakwas Buraczany
[Start on 3-10 Dec]

Step 2: Uszka

uszka dumplings

Prepare Uszka
Uszka z Grzybami
[Week leading to 24th Dec]

Step 3: Soup

Red Borscht (Polish Barszcz Czerwony) with little Mushroom dumplings

Make Red Barszcz
Barszcz Wigilijny
[23 or 24 Dec]


Christmas fish recipes

'Ryba po Grecku' Polish-style Christmas Fish with Vegetables in Tomato sauce on the festive table

Fish coated with veggies
(Ryba po grecku) two ways: Gourmet-style and old school Commie-style.

batter fried carp steaks with lemons

Christmas Fried Carp
Karp Smażony

Pickled herring in vinegar with onions, in a jar

Herring Marinated in Vinegar
Śledź w Zalewie Octowej


christmas favourites

Sałatka Jarzynowa: Polish Vegetable Salad

Vegetable Salad
Sałatka Jarzynowa

Polish Kapusta (Sauerkraut and Mushrooms)

Sauerkraut & Mushrooms
Kapusta z Grzybami


Christmas Pierogi

Christmas Pierogi

Pierogi also show up on a Polish Christmas table. Traditionally, the filling doesn’t contain any meat. 

The most popular stuffing? Wild Mushroom, Sauerkraut or a combination of both.

But first, try one of the following recipes for the pierogi dough:

mushroom pierogi

Wild Mushroom Pierogi
Pierogi z Grzybami

Sauerkraut Pierogi

Sauerkraut Pierogi
Pierogi z Kapustą


Polish Christmas Desserts

Classic Cheesecake
Klasyczny Sernik

Polish Gingerbread Cake

Polish Gingerbread
Piernik Staropolski
[Start on 6-8 Nov]

Keks (Polish-style Rum Soaked Christmas Fruit Cake)

Keks: Fruit Cake
Keks Świąteczny


Poppy seed Love

poppy seed filling

Poppy Seed Filling for Cakes and Desserts
Masa Makowa

It’s full of nuts and dried fruit. You’ll need this filling to make Kutia and Makowiec (Poppy Seed Roll)

Poppy Seed Roll, sliced (Polish 'Makowiec')

Poppy Seed Roll
Makowiec Zawijany

Kutia: Poppy Seed Christmas dessert

Kutia: Poppy Seed Dessert
Wigilijna Kutia


Christmas & Boxing Days
Pierwszy i Drugi Dzień Świąt

On 25th and 26th, meats are allowed again.
Some of the popular dishes include:

Greeting

Time to spread the festive cheer!
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