17 Classic Polish Recipes to Make For Wigilia Supper On Christmas Eve (2024)

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What is a typical Polish Christmas Eve dinner? ›

The Wigilia supper

A Christmas Eve dinner excludes meat, as abstinence is required, and should comprise twelve distinct dishes in memory of the twelve Apostles. It begins with a soup, either borscht with uszka (tortellini), or wild mushroom consommé (grzybowa), followed by herring in different forms.

A German Christmas Eve

This culinary tradition continues today in many families, even if no church going is involved, with carp, salmon or hake often taking centre stage at the table, accompanied by fried potatoes or Kartoffelpuffer (potato fritters) and Sauerkraut.

As a rule, Poles do not drink alcohol on Christmas Eve. A special compote is made of dried fruits, primarily plums and apricots.

Sometimes on Christmas Eve both adults and children go to their neighbors and family. As a reward, they receive money or sweets. When midnight comes many Polish people are going to the Christmas mass. Pasterka is a midnight mass celebrated by Roman Catholics during Christmas between 24 and 25 December across Poland.

So, to start things off safe: Just as you would use Merry Christmas - you could say Wesołych Świąt (literal translation being Happy Holidays in Polish) to all people a few days prior to Christmas Eve and on the first days of Christmas.

Wigilia is the Polish name for the main meal eaten on Christmas Eve. At this meal there are traditionally 12 dishes served, though the dishes vary between region and family. It is important to at least take a bite of each one as it is expected to bring luck for the next 12 months.

Pierogi. Pierogi are filled dumplings containing either meat, vegetables, cheese, fruit or chocolate. Pierogi is undoubtedly Poland's most famous and simple comfort food. But after tasting one of these delicious filled dumplings, you're likely to find yourself craving more.

Turkey is classic, of course, as is ham, but you could also serve a roast chicken, roast beef, or pork tenderloin. Fill out your meal with some Christmas-y side dishes, and you'll be all set for the perfect holiday dinner.

Christmas Eve (Heiliger Abend) is a jam-packed day of celebrations for Germans. Traditionally, many households will spend the day decorating the tree, preparing food for the family and sprucing up the home. As soon as the night draws in, households will gather around the tree.

Why do Germans eat potato salad on Christmas? ›

Martin's Day on 11 December until 24 December was a time of fasting. That's why a simple dish is often served on Christmas Eve - such as carp for example, as fish was allowed to be eaten during the fasting period. Potato salad with sausages is also a very popular dish.

The taste of dried forest mushrooms is part of Polish culinary heritage. This delicious soup usually comes with square or thin noodles. Other traditional Christmas Eve soups include soft-water fish soup (for example, carp), white borscht, vegetarian Christmas Eve sour rye soup or old fashioned sweet almond soup.

Polish Christmas Wafer: A Flavorless Tradition That's Oh So Sweet : The Salt Before Christmas Eve dinner, some families share the oplatek along with good wishes for each other. The tradition dates back hundreds of years: Back when bread was scarce, exchanging it with neighbors was a gesture of goodwill.

Sweets are the obvious choice when it comes to Christmas gifts. They are the perfect company to other presents or a great gift on its own, especially for someone with a smaller budget or as a gift for Secret Santa. You can also make it yourself, for example, classic Polish gingerbreads are always a good idea.

Some eat pickled herring in cream sauce while others have it with onions. One special Polish New Year's Eve preparation of pickled herring, called Sledzie Marynowane, is made by soaking whole salt herrings in water for 24 hours and then layering them in a jar with onions, allspice, sugar and white vinegar.

You'll notice that meat is missing – during the Wigilia dinner, we don't eat meat (besides fish). This is a Polish pagan tradition, not a Catholic tradition, which reminds us of the fruits of the earth, forests, and water that primarily fed our ancestors (Dziura 38).

A symbol of good luck and classic meat-free meal for Christians, common carp makes a popular holiday dish in Central Europe. Keeping one's fish in the bathtub for several days likely began as a pre-refrigeration storage technique.

Among popular Polish national dishes are bigos [ˈbiɡɔs], pierogi [pʲɛˈrɔɡʲi], kiełbasa, kotlet schabowy [ˈkɔtlɛt sxaˈbɔvɨ] (pork loin breaded cutlet), gołąbki [ɡɔˈwɔ̃pkʲi] (stuffed cabbage leaves), zrazy [ˈzrazɨ] (roulade), zupa ogórkowa [ˈzupa ɔɡurˈkɔva] (sour cucumber soup), zupa grzybowa [ˈzupa ɡʐɨˈbɔva] (mushroom ...