Top 5 classic Croatian recipes to make at home
Quick answer
The five classic Croatian recipes to try first are Zagorski štrukli (cheese pastry), Dalmatian pašticada (slow-braised beef), sarma (sour cabbage rolls), fritule (little Christmas doughnuts) and crni rižot (black cuttlefish risotto). Fritule and black risotto are the easiest starting points, and pašticada is the weekend project.
Recepti is the Croatian word for recipes, so this list is close to our hearts. Croatian food changes from region to region: hearty, creamy dishes in the north around Zagreb and Zagorje, and olive oil, seafood and slow Sunday braises along the Dalmatian coast.
These five are the dishes people miss most when they move away, chosen from cooks who make them the traditional way and explain them in English. Each one links to the original, and the button under every recipe saves it to Recepti.
1 Zagorski štrukli
By Royal Croatian Tours with Baka Jagica on YouTube
Štrukli come from Zagorje, the green hills north of Zagreb. Paper-thin dough is rolled around a filling of fresh cheese, then boiled or baked until golden and bubbling. Baka Jagica makes everything from scratch in this video, and watching her stretch the dough by hand is half the fun. It is comfort food at its most Croatian.
- Time
- About 2 hours
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Key ingredients
- Homemade stretched dough, fresh cow's cheese, eggs, sour cream, butter
The button copies this recipe's link and opens Recepti. Tap +, paste, and tap Import recipe.
2 Dalmatian pašticada
By Sail Croatia on YouTube
Pašticada is the dish Dalmatian families make for weddings and big Sunday lunches. The beef marinates, braises slowly for hours and rests again, and the sauce turns deep, sweet and rich. Sail Croatia's video traces it back to old Dubrovnik. Serve it with homemade gnocchi, the way it is done on the coast.
- Time
- Plan for 2 to 3 days, including marinating and a 4 hour braise
- Difficulty
- Hard, but mostly waiting
- Key ingredients
- Beef, a vinegar and wine marinade, root vegetables, garlic, dried plums, gnocchi to serve
The button copies this recipe's link and opens Recepti. Tap +, paste, and tap Import recipe.
3 Sarma
By CroAsian Kitchen&Life on YouTube
Sarma is winter in a pot. Leaves of whole soured cabbage are wrapped around a seasoned meat and rice filling and simmered slowly with smoky bacon until everything is tender. It tastes even better the next day, which is why Croatian families make a huge batch. Serve it with mashed potatoes and crusty bread.
- Time
- About 3 hours, mostly simmering
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Key ingredients
- Whole sour cabbage leaves, minced pork and beef, smoked bacon, rice, onion, sweet paprika
The button copies this recipe's link and opens Recepti. Tap +, paste, and tap Import recipe.
4 Fritule
By Eileen's Kitchen Stories on YouTube
These little doughnuts mean Advent in Croatia. Eileen notes that fritule season traditionally starts on 25 November, a month before Christmas. Small spoonfuls of soft, citrusy dough with raisins are fried until golden and dusted with powdered sugar. Eat them warm, and do not expect leftovers.
- Time
- About 1 hour
- Difficulty
- Easy to medium
- Key ingredients
- Flour, eggs, raisins, citrus zest, a splash of grape brandy, powdered sugar
The button copies this recipe's link and opens Recepti. Tap +, paste, and tap Import recipe.
5 Crni rižot (black risotto)
Written recipeCrni rižot (black risotto)chasingthedonkey.comOrder it once on the Adriatic and you will want it forever. The cuttlefish simmers first to make a quick seafood stock, then the rice cooks in it with the ink, which turns everything glossy black and deeply savory. Chasing the Donkey's recipe is written for home cooks, and they like a little fresh Parmesan on top.
- Time
- About 1 hour
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Key ingredients
- Cuttlefish and calamari with their ink, prawns, onion, garlic, white wine, risotto rice, butter, parsley
The button copies this recipe's link and opens Recepti. Tap +, paste, and tap Import recipe.
Keep the family recipes too
Croatian recipes often live in grandma's head, a YouTube video or a Facebook post from a cousin. Recepti is a free web app that saves them in one place. Paste a link from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or a food blog, and it pulls out the ingredients and steps, keeps the creator's name and adds a View original post button.
It also lets you pick metric or imperial units, handy for recipes written in grams. Open it in your browser, start as a guest, and you are ready. The site is available in Croatian too.
Open ReceptiFree. No download. Start as a guest.
Questions
What is the national dish of Croatia?
There is no single official one. Pašticada, štrukli and sarma are often named, and each region has its own favorite. On the coast, seafood dishes like black risotto are just as beloved.
What is an easy Croatian recipe for beginners?
Fritule and crni rižot are the easiest on this list. Both take about an hour and use simple techniques. Pašticada and štrukli are better saved for a weekend.
What do Croatians eat at Christmas?
Many families make sarma, bake fritule and other sweets, and eat fish on Christmas Eve. Traditions vary by region and by family.
Where can I find Croatian recipes in English?
This list is a good start. Each recipe links to an English video or blog post, and you can save any of them to Recepti to keep the ingredients and steps.
Every recipe here belongs to the creator named above. We link to the original post and do not copy full recipes or photos. Times and difficulty are our own estimates from each recipe.