If you go to a traditional Czech pub for lunch, you can easily come across this tripe soup on the menu. Don't hesitate and give it a shot; it tastes wonderful with some fresh bread. Also, you can boast that you've tried a soup that travel guides say is one of the best examples of Czech food!
➜ What is Czech tripe soup
In Czech cuisine, tripe soup is a hearty soup made with beef stomach (tripe) as the main ingredient. The soup is thickened with an onion roux and seasoned with spices, dominated by ground paprika and dried marjoram.
The Czechs serve this soup for lunch as a first course or as a light lunch or dinner with a slice of bread.
The Czech name of tripe soup is "dršťková polévka", while our neighbors the Slovaks call it "držková polievka."
MY TIP: Fan of Czech soups? Try cesnecka garlic soup, often used as a hangover cure in the Czech Republic!
➜ Ingredients
To make Czech tripe soup from scratch, you will need:
- Beef tripe; cooked. I know that getting cooked beef tripe may be difficult. However, unless you're a more experienced cook, the best way to make soup without hassle is to use cooked tripe. Raw beef tripe needs to be boiled several times in clean water (depending on their quality), which takes a fair amount of time and some skill as well. Please ask your butcher where you can buy cooked tripe or consult him about how to cook fresh tripe properly.
- Pork lard; can be substituted with Canola or sunflower oil
- Yellow kitchen onions
- All-purpose flour; to thicken the soup
- Ground sweet paprika; ideally Hungarian style
- Dried marjoram; for the most classic Czech taste
- Fresh garlic; pressed cloves
- Beef broth
- Salt; the amount of salt depends on the saltiness of the broth you use
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
Optional: You can add an extra leveled teaspoon of hot paprika powder along with the sweet paprika if you like soups with a stronger flavor.
➜ How to make Czech tripe soup
Make ahead: Peel the onions and chop them finely. Peel the garlic cloves and press or mash them. Have the beef stock ready so that it is lukewarm. Cut the cooked tripe into thin stripes about 1 inch (2.5 cm) long.
STEP 1: In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the lard or oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and fry until golden. Stir frequently.
STEP 2: Reduce the heat to one-third and pour in the flour. Continue stirring and frying the flour with the onion for another minute.
STEP 3: Add the sweet paprika powder and stir for a further half minute, no longer.
STEP 4: Add beef broth—the most tricky part of the recipe!
Remove the pot of onion roux from the heat source. Take a hand whisk. Pour about a cup of broth into the pot and whisk briskly to prevent lumps from forming. You'll get a thick mash at the bottom of the pot. Add another cup of stock and whisk again. Finally, slowly add the rest of the liquid, whisking constantly.
STEP 5: Return the pot to the stove and add the tripe and crushed garlic. Bring the soup to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it simmer for 25 minutes.
Stir from time to time, as the flour tends to settle at the bottom of the pot and burn!
STEP 6: At the end of cooking, add the dried marjoram, rubbing it in your palm. So the soup gets most of the marjoram. Salt to your taste if necessary, and you are ready to serve!
➜ Serving
Serve the soup hot for lunch or dinner, with a slice of rye bread on the side. The soup is very filling; if you're not too hungry, you could serve it as a main course.
For a nice display, sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top of the soup.
➜ Storage
Allow the remaining tripe soup to cool completely and store it in a covered pot or another suitable container in the refrigerator. The soup will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Because the soup is thickened with roux, it thickens even more the next day. When reheating, add a tablespoon or two of water and stir. Reheat in microwave or in a pot on the stovetop.
The soup freezes well. Pour it into a suitable, sealable container and store it in the freezer, where it will last for at least three months.
➜ Useful tips
- If you only can get fresh tripe, count on the extra time it takes to cook it.
- Some Czech cookbooks recommend seasoning the soup with ground black pepper or/and crushed caraway seeds (learn, how to grind spices by hand). I did not use these spices, and the soup still tasted wonderful.
- I admit that tripe soup is not for everyone. On the other hand, it is recommended by most tourist guides as an unusual dish you should try in the Czech Republic!
More Czech soups:
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Beef Tripe Soup (Czech drstkova polevka)
Ingredients
- 2 onions mid-sized
- 3 cloves garlic
- 11 ounces cooked beef tripe (310 g)
- 2 Tablespoons pork lard or Canola / sunflower oil
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (45 g)
- 1 Tablespoon sweet paprika powder Hungarian style
- 5 cups beef broth (1.2 l)
- ½ Tablespoon dried marjoram
- salt the amount depends on saltiness of the broth you used
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley greens chopped
Optional:
- 1 teaspoon hot paprika powder
Instructions
- Make ahead: Peel the onions and chop them finely. Peel the garlic cloves and press or mash them. Have the beef stock ready so that it is lukewarm. Cut the cooked tripe into thin stripes about 1 inch (2.5 cm) long.
- In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the lard or oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and fry until golden. Stir frequently.
- Reduce the heat to one third and pour in the flour. Continue stirring and frying the flour with the onion for another minute.
- Add the sweet paprika powder and stir for a further half minute, no longer.
- Add beef broth—the most tricky part of the recipe! Remove the pot of onion roux from the heat source. Take a hand whisk. Pour about a cup of broth into the pot and whisk briskly to prevent lumps from forming. You'll get a thick mash at the bottom of the pot. Add another cup of stock and whisk again. Finally, slowly add the rest of the liquid, whisking constantly.
- Return the pot to the stove and add the tripe and crushed garlic. Bring the soup to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it simmer for 25 minutes. Stir from time to time, as the flour tends to settle at the bottom of the pot and burn.
- At the end of cooking, add the dried marjoram, rubbing it in your palm. So the soup gets most of the marjoram. Salt to your taste if necessary, and you are ready to serve!
Notes
- Makes 4-6 portions.
- SERVING: Serve the soup hot for lunch or dinner, with a slice of rye bread on the side. The soup is very filling; if you're not hungry, you could serve it as a main course. For a nice display, sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top of the soup.
- STORAGE: Allow the remaining tripe soup to cool completely and store it in a covered pot or another suitable container in the refrigerator. The soup will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- Some Czech cookbooks recommend seasoning the soup with ground black pepper or/and crushed caraway seeds. I did not use these spices, and the soup still tasted wonderful.
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
William Milan Uhlarik
Petra, this was delicious. I loved it. Just like my mother and grandmother made growing up in our old neighborhoods in Chicago (Little Village and Pilsen) and Cicero/Berwyn. It was also on the menu of all the Czechoslovak Restaurants there. Thank you for putting your recipe on your website, and a special thanks for your kindness in recognizing us Slovaks who were once part of the former Czechoslovakia by including "držková polievka" which is the name we call it. Best wishes to you and your family for a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Milan, thank you for your nice words. When I was a kid, my dad drove a truck. Czechoslovakia still existed then, so my dad would go to Slovakia from time to time, and sometimes I went with him. I remember we would go to a Slovak pub or a a kind of former "fast food" and ordered "držková polievka s rožkem" (trip soup with a roll). How tasty was this snack in my fond memories 🙂 Happy New Year 2023 to you too!