Czechs love homemade garlic cheese spread! There are plenty of variations on česneková pomazánka, but two main ingredients remain the same: freshly pressed garlic and cheese.
Family Recipes
My mom used to make the best garlic spread imaginable. The preparation was easy: you just mixed mayo, grated cheese, and garlic paste, a pinch of salt, and you were done!
My husband’s family makes garlic spread from processed cheese. Imagine something like the Laughing Cow wedges mixed with garlic and cream cheese.
I prefer a light garlic spread variant based on cream cheese (usually Czech Pomazánkové máslo), sour cream, and grated cheese (Czech favorites like Edam or Gouda).
🍲 More Czech recipes:
- Obložené chlebíčky – Czech specialty, open faced sandwiches
- Rybí pomazánka - healthy sardine spread
- Tatarka – tatarská omáčka, Czech style tartar sauce
Ingredients
Here are ingredients for my garlic spread, our family’s choice:
- Garlic; pressed
- Sour cream; the more fat, the thicker garlic spread will be
- Cream cheese; for example Philadelphia, „Pomazánkové máslo“ is usually used in the Czech Republic
- Semi-hard cheese; for example Cheddar (Czechs like their Gouda or Edam – you can also buy already grated cheese, then use about 1 cup for this spread)
- Salt
- Pepper; freshly ground
Optionally, you can add some fresh herbs to the garlic cheese spread. And what herbs go best with garlic? Try finely chopped chives or sprigs of parsley.
Green herbs give better color, flavor, and some minerals in organic compounds to the spread.
TRY OUT: Vajíčková pomazánka, easy Czech egg salad with yogurt
Instructions
I have to admit, I don’t have any fancy food processor or kitchen mixer at home; I prepare most foods with my hands.
As such, this homemade recipe for garlic spread describes the procedure in the way I’m used to.
- Peel garlic cloves and make a puree out of them (use knife, garlic smasher, pest, and mortar – whatever works for you).
- Grate cheese on the hand grater. Watch out, so you don’t scrape your knuckles.
- Combine sour cream and cream cheese in a bowl. Add pureed garlic, a pinch of salt, ground pepper, and mix it again.
As you can see, making this DIY Garlic Cheese Spread is easy and not that much time-consuming.
Serving
This creamy garlic cheese spread is great as a quick snack on a bread or bagel.
If you add some milk to the spread, it becomes thinner and can be used as a dip for crackers or breadsticks.
Czechs generally spread their Česneková pomazánka on so-called jednohubky.
Jednohubky are a Czech specialty, they’re a sliced rohlík (a Czech type of pastry resembling a croissant), with various spreads on top.
I personally decorate garlic spread jednohubky with a stripe of canned bell pepper for more taste, better texture, and color contrast.
Read also: What Do Czechs Eat at Christmas
Jednohubky are an ideal type of finger food for a family gathering or a party with friends.
Jednohubky are also prepared for more ceremonial gatherings, like weddings (svatba), New Years’ Eve (Silvestr) or birthdays (narozeniny).
Garlic Cheese Spread Recipe – Czech Česneková pomazánka
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120 g) sour cream (fat content of around 20 %)
- 4 oz (110 g) cream cheese (fat content of around 30 % or more)
- 3 cloves of garlic (freshly pressed)
- 4 oz (110 g) semi-hard cheese (Cheddar, Edam)
- salt
- pepper (ground)
Instructions
- Grate the hard cheese on a hand grater and put it into a bowl.
- Peel the cloves of garlic, make puree out of them with a knife or press them with garlic smasher, place in the bowl with the grated cheese.
- Add both the cream cheese and the sour cream, blend ingredients until they’re smooth.
- Salt and pepper according to your preferences and mix it again.
- Let the spread rest for 20 minutes in a fridge.
Notes
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
Irena Cafasso
I absolutely loved this recipe! I was born in Prague and have lived in the U.S. for almost 30 years. This is my first time making it.. always thought I needed to make it with tvaroch. The combination of sour cream and cream cheese (I used whipped cream cheese) was so delicious! By the way, I am looking for Budapestska pomazanka recipe. I only found recipes with tvaroch. How do you substitute it since we can’t find it here? Maybe farme’s cheese?
Thank you so much!
Petra
Ahoj Irena, thank you for your lovely comment! 🙂 I’m happy you liked the garlic spread. About tvaroh: you are right, Budapešťská pomazánka calls for tvaroh, there is a relatively simple method how to make tvaroh at home with milk and lemon juice. I’m going to post tvaroh recipe here, too. And I want to point out another Czech pomazánka made from tvaroh, called rozhuda! (tvaroh + butter + salt + milk or cream, mixed and spread on fresh bread, sprinkled with chopped chives - soo delicious 🙂 Greetings from the Czech Republic, Petra