Meat Stuffed Potato Dumplings and Sauerkraut

Potato dumplings stuffed with smoked meat and served with creamy sauerkraut are a true comfort food from Czech cuisine. The perfect recipe to warm you up on a cold day!

Although preparing these Czech-style stuffed potato dumplings takes a bit of work, the result is definitely worth it!

You will need potatoes cooked in their skins beforehand as a basis for the potato dough. The delicious filling consists of diced smoked meat fried with onions. And how about some creamy sweet and sour sauerkraut? You make this side while stuffing potato dumplings!

Here's the Czech version of this recipe in case you were curious: Bramborové knedlíky plněné uzeným, s kysaným zelím

MY TIP: Try classic Czech potato dumplings, a tasty side dish that goes perfectly with roasted pork or duck!

➜ Ingredients

For better clarity, I divided the ingredients into three parts:

Potato dumplings

• Potatoes; that have been cooked in their skins and cooled. I always prepare them the day before. So I can start using the potatoes right away after they cooled overnight. If possible, use starchy potatoes such as Russets, Yukon Gold, or Idaho. 
• All-purpose flour; to make the dough
• Farina (Cream of Wheat); makes the dough a little fluffier. Just so you know, the Czechs usually use coarse flour (hruba mouka) for dumplings, which is hard to find abroad. A suitable substitute is a regular flour, with some farina (Czech krupicka) mixed in.
• Egg; the egg helps the potato dough stick together better.
• Salt; to taste

Meat filling

• Smoked meat; fully cooked. I used smoked pork shoulder, which is lightly fatty.
• Onion; onions fried in a pan enhance the flavor of smoked meat
• Pork lard (sadlo); feel free to use rapeseed or sunflower oil if you don’t have lard

Creamy sauerkraut

• A packet of fresh sauerkraut; if you can't find Czech sauerkraut, buy a German or Polish one, which has a similar taste.
• Pork lard; or rapeseed oil
• Onion
• All-purpose flour; to thicken the sauerkraut
• Granulated white sugar; to sweeten the kraut

For serving: Optionally garnish with some finely chopped green herbs and fried onions in fat for better taste and a nicer presentation.

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

➜ Instructions with photos

Make the smoked meat filling

Cut the smoked meat into small cubes. Peel and finely chop the onion.

Melt the lard in a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the onions in it until golden. Don't forget to stir. Add the smoked meat and fry for about three further minutes, stirring occasionally.

Transfer the meat filling from the pan to a bowl and let cool.

Cook the sauerkraut

Drain the sauerkraut, but don't rinse it. Put the sauerkraut in a pot, and pour water over it, so the kraut is submerged. Cover the pot with a lid and let the sauerkraut cook at low heat for half an hour.

Peel and finely chop the onion. Melt the lard in a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the onions in it, constantly stirring, until golden brown. Add the sugar, stir, and let it dissolve, which will happen in a moment.

Add the cooked sauerkraut and about a ladleful of the water in which it was cooked. Dust the sauerkraut surface with flour and stir. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan with a lid, and let it simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Taste and add a little more sugar if necessary.

How to make potato dumplings

Boil the potatoes in their skins and let them cool completely. Peel their skins and grate them finely on a hand grater.

Boil a pot of water that you've salted.

Add the flour, farina (cream of wheat), egg, and salt. Work into a stiff but smooth dough first with a wooden spoon, then with your hands.

Shape the dough into a cylinder and cut it into equal-sized pieces. With your hands, form each piece into patties. Place a spoonful of meat filling in the middle. Fold the edges over the filling and close the dumpling. Gently roll the dumpling between your palms to give it a round shape.

Place the stuffed dumplings in the gently boiling, salted water. Cover the pot with a lid and cook at low heat for 15 minutes. If the potato balls stick to the bottom, carefully loosen them with a fork. Toward the end of cooking, the dumplings should float on the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon into a bowl.

➜ Serving

And now it's time to eat! Spread a ladle of sauerkraut on the plate. Place three to four stuffed dumplings on the bed of cabbage. You can cut the dumplings in half.

Czechs often add fried onions to dumplings and sprinkle them with chopped green herbs such as parsley.

➜ Storage

If you have any leftover stuffed dumplings, place them in a bowl and cover with foil. Store them in the refrigerator in this manner for up to five days.

This type of dumpling freezes perfectly! Store them in the freezer in a resealable container, where they will last at least three months.

MY TIP: Try French potato gratin, known in Czech as Francouzske brambory!

➜ Useful tips

• One quick way to mash cooked and peeled potatoes is with a potato ricer or potato press. This useful tool comes in handy if you like to cook a lot of potato dishes.
• Before making the potato dough, allow the potatoes to cool completely. If they were warm, the dough would soften and not hold together during the dumpling-making process.
• Reheating: Stuffed potato dumplings including sauerkraut are best heated in the microwave. Another popular method is to cut them into halves or quarters and fry them in a little fat in a frying pan with the sauerkraut. The resulting mixture may not be visually appealing, but it tastes fantastic!

More Czech dumplings:

• Bread dumplings – fluffy raised dumplings
• Chlupate knedliky – made of raw potatoes
• Fruit dumplings – sweet, filled with seasonal fruit
• Dumplings and sauerkraut – Czech strapacky

Or browse the category with dumpling recipes.