When you smell dill in the Czech Republic, it means either koprová omáčka or kulajda soup are going on the table. Talking about kulajda, it’s a very satisfying hearty soup made from simple basic ingredients.
➜ What Is Kulajda
Kulajda is a Czech mushroom soup containing dill and potatoes, softened with cream. It’s characterized by a typical sweet and sour taste.
This dill soup belongs to traditional Czech soups. I highly recommend everyone to try kulajda when visiting Prague or another city in the Czech Republic.
Kulajda originates in southern Bohemia (jižní Čechy), a forested region where mushrooms grow in abundance. That’s why this soup is sometimes called “jihočeská kulajda.”
➜ Ingredients
The hero ingredient is mushroom in this recipe. Czechs love to pick them. Families have their stocks of dried mushrooms, which are replenished each fall in the mushroom season.
- Potatoes; use all-purpose potatoes like Yukon Gold
- Unsalted butter and all-purpose flour for the cooking roux. The ratio between butter and flour should be roughly equal to make a good roux.
- Sugar; to sweeten kulajda soup
- Dried mushrooms; a critical ingredient, if you can, get porcini mushrooms (in Czech “hřiby”) ideally
- Heavy cream; not a light version
- Vinegar; any common you have on hand
- Fresh dill; finely chopped; use the feathery leaves only
- Black pepper; ground
- Salt
- 3 cups vegetable broth; for soup
- 2 cups water; for cooking dried mushrooms
You’ll also need separately boiled eggs. They will be added to the plate with kulajda soup while serving.
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with Photos
STEP 1: Throw dried mushrooms in a pot with 2 cups of water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside.
STEP 2: Let’s make a roux, which will thicken the kulajda soup: In a pot with thicker bottom, melt unsalted butter over medium heat. Add all-purpose flour, stir for 1 minute. It will create a bubbling mass.
STEP 3: Start adding vegetable broth in batches: add ½ cup of broth, stir well. Continue until the broth is used up. This method will prevent you from ending up with lumps in the soup.
STEP 4: Add the mushroom broth to the soup, straining the cooked mushrooms. Taste with salt, stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a minimum. Cover with a lid and let it cook for 10 minutes.
STEP 5: Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut them into ½-inch cubes. Add to the soup together with cooked mushrooms and cook for another 15 minutes until potato cubes soften.
STEP 6: Chop fresh dill, don’t use stems, just soft green leaves.
STEP 7: Remove soup from the stove, pour in the cream, stir. Add vinegar, sugar, ground pepper, and chopped dill. Do not cook anymore. Mix with a wooden spoon, season to your liking with salt/or sugar if necessary.
STEP 8: Let the kulajda soup sit for 5 minutes and serve.
➜ Serving
Serve kulajda warm, and add a halved hard-boiled egg into the soup. If you have some fresh dill left, sprinkle the soup with a few green leaves as a final touch.
You don’t need any bread as a side because kulajda is quite filling on its own.
For a spectacular presentation, use a poached egg instead of a boiled egg. Anyway, you’ll usually get kulajda soup with a boiled egg when ordering it in one of the Prague pubs.
➜ Cook’s Tips
- Add dill only at the end of cooking to kulajda. Fresh dill loses its flavor and vivid color the longer is cooked.
- You also can make kulajda from fresh mushrooms. In this case, sear the roughly chopped mushrooms in a pan with fat. Salt and pepper, and add to the soup. Instead of 3 cups of broth, use 5 cups because you don’t need to cook dried mushrooms ahead.
If you are a fan of mushrooms, try scrambled eggs with mushrooms (Czech smazenice!)
More Czech soups:
- Cauliflower soup – květáková polévka
- Sauerkraut soup – zelňačka
- Garlic soup – česnečka
Tried this recipe?
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Kulajda – Czech Mushroom Soup
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes e. g., Yukon Gold
- ⅓ stick unsalted butter
- 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 handful dried mushrooms e.g. porcini mushrooms
- ¾ cup heavy cream fat content about 30 %
- 3 Tablespoon vinegar 5% acidity
- 3 Tablespoons fresh dill chopped, only leaves, no stems
- 3 cups vegetable broth lukewarm, for soup
- 2 cups water to cook dried mushrooms
- salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 medium hard-boiled eggs
Instructions
- Place dried mushrooms in a pot with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, then set aside.
- Make a roux to thicken the kulajda soup: In a thick-bottomed pot, melt unsalted butter over medium heat. Add all-purpose flour and stir for 1 minute, until it creates a bubbling mass.
- Start adding vegetable broth in batches: begin with ½ cup, stirring well. Continue adding the broth in small increments, stirring thoroughly each time, until all the broth is incorporated. This method will help prevent lumps in the soup.
- Add the mushroom broth to the soup, straining out the cooked mushrooms. Season with salt and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a minimum. Cover with a lid and let it cook for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into ½-inch cubes. Add them to the soup along with the cooked mushrooms and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the potato cubes have softened.
- Chop the fresh dill, using only the soft green leaves and avoiding the stems.
- Remove the soup from the stove, then pour in the cream and stir. Add vinegar, sugar, ground pepper, and chopped dill. Do not cook any further. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon, and season to your liking with salt and/or sugar if necessary.
- Let the kulajda soup sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- The basic recipe makes 4 yields.
- Serve the Kulajda warm, and place a halved hard-boiled egg into the soup. If you have any fresh dill remaining, sprinkle a few green leaves on top as a final touch.
- Remember to add dill only at the end of cooking to kulajda, as fresh dill loses its flavor and vivid color the longer it is cooked.
- You can also make Kulajda with fresh mushrooms. In this case, sear the roughly chopped mushrooms in a pan with fat, season with salt and pepper, and then add them to the soup. Instead of using 3 cups of broth, use 5 cups because you don’t need to cook dried mushrooms ahead of time.
- In fancy Czech restaurants, this mushroom soup is often served with a poached egg instead of a boiled one.
Anci Drahota Michelsen says
just love your recipe
Petra Kupská says
Thank you very much 😊
Teri Wilcox says
Mom used to put a noodle type dumpling in it. She made a stiff dough with well beaten egg and flour. Cut small pieces with a spoon and dropped them in to cook
Petra Kupská says
Yes, this kind of dumpling is very common (and tasty) in Czech cuisine!
Nicole says
This is my favorite soup when I visit the Czech Republic and your recipe is absolutely delicious! I'm so happy to be able to make it at home in the US 🙂 Thank you for another authentic Czech recipe!
Petra Kupská says
Ahoj Nicole, thank you for your nice words! Kulajda soup has a very specific taste, it mixes sweetness and saltiness, mushrooms and dill. However, this combination is very tasty as a result. And I'm glad you enjoyed it too 🙂
Zion says
Thank you so much!!!!
We just made this as part of an international cooking challenge where we make a different recipe from a different country every week.
We're just beginning at cooking, but your recipe was easy to follow and really came out great. The kulajda was definitely filling and tasted very good. Makes me want to visit the Czech republic again.
We also really enjoyed reading your story for how this site was created.
Thank you again!
Petra Kupská says
Oh, thank you so much for your nice words and useful feedback! I am happy to hear that you enjoyed the soup 🙂
Diane says
1/4 cup.of sugar was way too much. This came out way to sweet in my family's opinion.
Kathy says
Absolutely wonderful! Thank you for your wonderful recipes…
Petra Kupská says
I thank you for your nice comment!
Peggy Beckwith says
I lived in Praha for about 4 years and loved every minute of the country, the people, and the food. It must be the best place with the best character of people in the world.your recipe just transported me to heaven briefly. I only wish I could find a place to buy rohliki, my very favorite Czech food. God bless and keep you, dear Petra and all your loved ones, too.
Peggy Beckwith
Petra Kupská says
Ahoj Peggy, thank you very much for your nice words! I love Prague too, I'm going there next week to soak in some Christmas atmosphere. If I could, I'd love to send you some of its vibes!
Jessica says
I am so thankful for your blog! My husband and I visited Prague a few years ago, and this soup was one of our favorites. I have looked and looked for a recipe since then, and am delighted to have found this one! Thank You! I made the recipe exactly as directed and it was delicious.
Petra Kupská says
Aww, thank you for your nice words, Jessica! 🙂
Adam says
I have made this twice now, my wife is Czech and she thinks it as good as any kulijda she has ever tasted. Dekukji moc!
Petra Kupská says
Dekuji za mila slova, Adam! Thank you for your nice words, and I am happy that kulajda was a success with your family!
jari cowley says
I love all of your recipes, but I live in England and some alternatives to the czech originals only give the American equivalent and not the British one. Otherwise your recipes are very easy to follow and normally work well although I still struggle with knedliky, so I bring them back from CZ and put them in the freezer.
jari cowley says
great recipe and works very well
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says
Thank you for your feedback, Jari!
Greetings from the Czech Republic.
Tina says
Perfektni! Dneska sem ji uvarila, 'by voko', protoze sem nedojela az na konec stranky kde jsou mnozstvi k receptu, ale i tak byla vyborna! Diky za tip 🙂
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says
Moc diky za zpetnou vazbu! )
Denise says
We are excited to try the recipe because my brother brought dried mushrooms back from a Prague trip this past summer, but we are surprised about the sugar. Is this a sweet and sour tasting soup?
Don says
My family loves this delicious soup almost as much as I do. I will regularly make a large batch so I have kulajda for lunch, but it rarely lasts longer than two days in the fridge.
Petra Kupská | Cook Like Czechs says
That makes me so happy to hear! Kulajda has a way of disappearing fast, doesn’t it?
I love that your whole family enjoys it too, sounds like you might need an even bigger pot next time!