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    Home » Recipes » Bread

    Topinka Pan-Fried Bread

    Published: Jan 20, 2021 · Modified: Aug 31, 2024 by Petra Kupská | Cook Like Czechs · 1 Comment

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    Topinka, a quick and easy Czech snack, is best fried in an iron skillet and is ready in just a few minutes. Perfect for saving your stale bread!

    Czech topinka fried bread served with a few cloves of garlic.

    Czech Topinka

    When I was growing up in Socialist Czechoslovakia at the beginning of the eighties, stores were closed at weekends. We did the main shopping on Fridays, and we finished the rest of the food supplies on Sundays.

    We usually ate Topinky on Sunday, to reuse the stale wheat-rye bread we still had.

    My mom also fried sausage with some bell peppers and tomatoes, added eggs, and you had a great Topinka topping!

    What Is Topinka Pan-Fried Bread?

    Topinka is a slice of stale Czech rye bread fried on both sides in a hot pan with a generous amount of oil. Fried topinka bread is then rubbed with a peeled clove of garlic and sprinkled with salt to taste.

    Eat topinka bread alone, as a side dish, or as a beer appetizer in Czech pubs and bars.

    Pronunciation

    I recorded a short audio clip on how to pronounce the Czech word "topinka" (fried bread).

    Ingredients

    pan fried bread ingredients

    You don’t need any special ingredients to make topinka, only the stale bread, quality oil, and fresh garlic.

    • Sliced bread; about ½ inch thick. Take care to cut the bread flat; otherwise, it doesn’t fry equally. In Czech, we usually use dense wheat-rye bread, yeasted or made from sourdough.
    • Garlic; you will need fresh garlic, peeled cloves.
    • Lard for frying; if you don’t have any pork lard, use any oil suitable for frying.
    • Salt; a traditional topinka is salted after frying.

    TIP: You can make topinka healthier if you remove excess fat after frying with paper towels.

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

    Instructions

    Get all necessary ingredients ready and let's go to the kitchen for some frying!

    1. Heat the lard/oil in a pan to medium heat.
    2. Put bread slices into the oil and fry them until their lower side turns golden brown.
    3. Flip the bread and fry the other side.
    4. Take the finished topinka out of the oil, rub it with a clove of garlic and salt.

    Don’t wait for anything and serve immediately!

    czech topinka frying in pan

    Cook’s Tips

    • There should be enough oil to submerge half of the topinka fully. If you have each slice about ½ inch thick, the oil layer should have about ¼ inch in height.
    • The oil used to fry the bread must be hot. Otherwise, the topinky soak up the oil and become too greasy.
    • A well-fried topinka must be crispy and golden brown.
    • In my opinion, the best pan for frying topinka bread is an iron skillet. The cast iron heats up evenly and fries the bread just right.

    Serving

    Topinka is eaten fresh right after you take it out of the oil. Eat it alone, rubbed with garlic on both sides. It’s most common to eat it this way.

    You can also use some good toppings, like “Ďábelská směs” popular in the Czech Republic, a mixture of minced meat roasted with tomatoes and chili peppers.

    Topinka bread is also a popular side for steak tartar.

    topinka czech garlic bread

    Frying Pan

    The frying pan’s bottom must be flat, in order for the topinky to fry regularly on their surface. For frying, I use my favorite iron cast skillet from Lodge almost exclusively. Recommended!

    FAQs

    What oil to use?

    The best option is pork lard. If you don’t have it, you can use vegetable oil or any suitable shortening, no problem.

    How to fry the topinka

    First, heat the oil to medium-high, only then place the bread. After 2 minutes, pick the bread up carefully with a fork and check if it’s gold on the entire surface; if yes, flip the topinka and fry the other side.

    Which bread to use

    Use stale any kind of dense bread (not white bread), about 2-4 days old, to prepare topinky. Fresh bread is wasted on the topinky, and they wouldn’t be as crispy.


    More Czech appetizers to discover:

    • Obložené chlebíčky – fancy open faced sandwiches
    • Jednohubky – popular finger food
    • Pochoutkový salát – an excellent deli mayo salad
    • Šumavská topinka – pan-fried bread with scrambled eggs and cheese

    Tried this recipe?

    Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

    Other readers and I love hearing what you think. Stay in touch by following me on Facebook and Pinterest. For more Czech stuff, subscribe to my newsletter!

    czech topinka bread recipe

    Topinka – Czech Fried Garlic Bread

    Author: Petra Kupská | Cook Like Czechs
    A traditional Czech recipe for fried bread, generously rubbed with garlic. Czech original.
    5 from 2 votes
    Prevent your screen from going dark
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    Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time: 5 minutes mins
    Total Time: 15 minutes mins
    Servings: 2

    Tap or hover to scale

    Ingredients 

    • 6 slices stale wheat rye bread
    • 2 Tablespoons pork lard (or canola / sunflower oil)
    • 4 cloves garlic peeled
    • salt

    Instructions 

    • In a skillet, heat up 2 Tablespoons pork lard to medium-high heat.
    • Put 6 slices stale wheat rye bread into the heated fat and fry them until their lower side turns golden brown.
    • Flip the bread and fry the other side.
    • Take the fried Topinka slices out of the skillet, rub each on both sides with peeled garlic, and, if desired, sprinkle with some salt.

    Notes

    • Serve immediately. Topinka tastes best right from the pan!
    • Well done Topinka bread is golden brown and crispy.

    Nutritional estimate pro serving

    Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 399mg | Potassium: 155mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 3mg
    Servings: 2
    Calories pro serving: 367
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: Czech
    Keyword: fried bread, garlic bread, topinka
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    Do you like the recipe?I would be happy for your feedback! Please, rate the recipe and share your opinion or questions in comments bellow. Thank you very much.
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    Comments

    1. Angie says

      January 29, 2021 at 10:10 am

      5 stars
      Thank you for sharing, this is a perfect idea how to re-use stale bread!

      Reply

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    Hi, I am Petra, a born-and-raised Czech and self-taught cook with 25+ years of experience. I am here to show you that you can cook Czech food—even if you live abroad or never learned it growing up. With clear steps and trusted guidance, Czech cooking becomes simple, joyful, and meaningful, right in your own kitchen.

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